Consultant in Palliative Medicine

35 years of delivering excellent care, St Elizabeth Hospice continues to drive

forward innovation and development of services. The successful candidate will

join an established team whose Consultants are involved in research and system

wide service development, and committed to the continual improvement of

clinical care.

will be employed by St Elizabeth hospice, supported by NHS Terms and

Conditions. Nine sessions are available plus out of hours responsibility. There

is flexibility around how the job plan is delivered; interested candidates are

strongly encouraged to approach us for discussion.

Hours: Part

time - 36 hours per week (0.9 WTE)

Interview Date: 24th November 2026

To work together with the other

palliative medicine consultants in the provision of medical services to

patients of St Elizabeth Hospice, Ipswich Hospital, James Paget Hospital and

East Coast Community Healthcare and to support the related multidisciplinary

staff. To develop services and improve

integrated working between local Palliative Care providers (Hospice, Hospital

and in the wider community of the Integrated Care Systems). This post will

predominantly support provision of community palliative care services.

This post is 0.9 WTE. Terms and

Conditions will be based on the current NHS Consultant Contract (see Job Plan

below) with the postholders contract held at the Hospice. There will be

honorary contract with the relevant partner organisations as required.

The new post holder will join a

growing medical team who work collaboratively and supportively to cover

services across the two service areas, and rotation of area of responsibility

is usual.

provision is 4.9 WTE of which 0.2 WTE supports Ipswich hospital alongside

another 1.65 WTE consultant. There will be cover from the other consultants for

leave and as need arises. There are also 3 full time Nurse Consultants embedded

within the team, one of whom provides clinical and service development support

for Great Yarmouth and Waveney services.

There are two Specialty

Registrars on the East of England Palliative Medicine Specialty Training

Scheme. There are also four middle grade doctors providing support to both the

IPUs as well as the outpatient clinical areas.

There are 6 GP vocational training scheme doctors on attachment rotating

with other specialties and two foundation year doctors.

The team works closely alongside

the full multidisciplinary team including nurses, Clinical Nurse Specialists,

healthcare assistants, nurse associates, Physiotherapists, Occupational

Therapists, counsellors, spiritual care workers and volunteers.

The On call commitment is currently

approximately 1 in 8 second on call with 5% availability supplement. This

provides telephonic medical and symptom control advice to St Elizabeth Hospice,

Ipswich Hospital, West Suffolk Hospital and St Nicholas Hospice Care in Bury St

Edmunds, James Paget Hospital (Gorleston), and community calls in Suffolk and

the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area. This may involve taking calls from GPs,

hospital doctors, nurses or allied healthcare professionals. There is no formal

expectation of face to face reviews on call but should the consultant be on

site during that time then this time will be deducted from their clinical PAs

in the next week and remunerated accordingly. There may be the need to do

occasional first on-call on an emergency basis and this will be compensated by

a PA off in lieu for each PA done as first on-call (week night equals 1 PA and

weekend equals 6 PAs).

Formal consultant appraisal is

completed by the hospice appraisal team with St Elizabeth Hospice as the

designated body and the Medical Director of the Hospice as Responsible Officer.

The postholder will be supported through the appraisal and revalidation

process.

All new consultants can be

mentored by an established consultant within the organisation or by one of the

consultants from the neighbouring Palliative Care service providers to enable

them to settle into the post and to support them in their initial years as a

consultant. Established consultants will also have access to mentoring or

support as needed.

The postholder will have shared

administrative support from a pool of administrators and will have a dedicated

computer station in a shared office. Additional office facilities will be

available if attending other sites of work. IT team support is available.

About our services

population of Ipswich, East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, and supported

almost 4,000 patients and their families last year. It was established in 1989

and has an 18-bedded inpatient unit in Ipswich as well as a substantial

community team, a virtual ward and a 24/7 telephone advice line called OneCall

which is at the core of the Palliative and End of Life Care Co-ordination Hub.

The hospice delivers outpatient

clinics, therapy, counselling and physiotherapy services, with a comprehensive

bereavement programme called LivingGrief that supports families across East

Suffolk. It also delivers an education programme collaboratively with St Helena

Hospice in Colchester and Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford, and works with the

University of Suffolks Health and Wellbeing Institute.

The hospice is committed to

encouraging Compassionate Communities as a public health approach to improving

cultural confidence in supporting one another through the experience of dying,

death and grief. Active research links are being established with University of

Suffolk (UoS), University of East Anglia (UEA) and University of Cambridge. A

research facilitator works as part of the team supported by NIHR funding.

Since 2019, the hospice has been

sub-contracted by East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH) to deliver specialist

palliative care in Great Yarmouth and Waveney, six specialist palliative care

beds within Beccles Hospital, a specialist community team and providing

in-reach support to the James Paget University Hospital. Outpatient clinics

operate out of Beccles Hospital, the Louise Hamilton Centre in Gorleston,

Martham Health Centre and the Pear Tree centre in Halesworth. Our strategic

partner ECCH hold the contract for Community Services for Great Yarmouth and

Waveney, as part of the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System.

transition programme for young adults moving on from the care of the local

childrens hospice (EACH). This transition programme is called Zest and offers exchange

days, medical support, social activity days and nurse-led short break respite

care. There are currently 50 young adults registered with Zest and is being

gradually extended to a wider geographical footprint.

works closely with Ipswich Hospital and is a full member of the Ipswich and

East Suffolk Alliance. In Great Yarmouth and Waveney the hospice has

representation on the Place Board. It is anticipated that the hospice will be

fully represented on both Suffolk and Norfolk Die Well programme boards

following the outcome of the ICB restructure.

The Hospice has a Chief Executive

and a Senior Leadership Team which includes the Medical Director, Director of

Care, Director of Income Generation and Chief Operating Officer.

employees and 1,500 volunteers, including 800 volunteers in our 36 retail

stores and two Moments coffee shops. We also have a social enterprise

domiciliary care agency called St Elizabeth Care Agency, whose profits

contribute to the hospices charitable funds.

Professional and Managerial

1.

call will be based on NHS terms and conditions, and will be at 5% based on a

frequency of 1 in 8. Should the frequency reduce then the availability

supplement will be reiewed. There is no formal expectation of face to face

reviews on call but should the consultant be on site during that time then this

time will be deducted from their clinical PAs in the next week. The job plan

will then be reviewed to determine if a designated PA is needed for on call.

2.

assist in the supervision of junior medical and other staff in the hospice,

ensuring that medical care and practice follow professional guidelines and St

Elizabeth Hospice Policies and Procedures. This includes acting as named

clinical supervisor for trainees on GP training scheme.

3.

support effective liaison and communication with relevant disciplines in

respect of all aspects of palliative and end of life care.

4.

attend multidisciplinary team meetings at St Elizabeth Hospice or in the

community (such as GSF meetings).

5.

establish and provide outpatient clinics and day services at St Elizabeth

Hospice or at other community sites as required and to undertake domiciliary

visits as necessary.

6.

be responsible with the other consultants for the admission, inpatient care and

discharge of patients at hospice inpatient sites.

7.

develop and maintain knowledge and skills to a level appropriate to the

responsibilities of the post.

8.

work with colleagues in the development and provision of education and training

in palliative care at St Elizabeth Hospice inpatient sites, Ipswich Hospital,

James Paget Hospital and the community.

9.

contribute to the initiation and conduct of research projects in Palliative

Care. Any agreed research activity will be in discussion with the medical

director with appropriate SPA allocated to support the research project from

existing SPA allowance or additional SPA if part time employees. Sessions as

researchers with local research units may require acting as principle investigator or chief

investigator and to maintain good clinical practice (GCP) training.

10.

initiate and participate in audit and quality improvement activity regarding

palliative and end of life care in the hospice, hospital and community, and

participate in all aspects of the hospice governance programme such as incident

review and responding to complaints and concerns.

11.

represent the Hospice on local and national bodies as appropriate.

12.

consultant appraisal for revalidation will be completed by the hospice

appraisal team with St Elizabeth Hospice as the designated body with the

Medical Director of the Hospice as Responsible Officer. The hospice supports

the requirements for continuing professional development (CPD) as laid down by

the Royal College of Physicians and is committed to providing time and

financial support for these activities.

St Elizabeth Hospice is committed to safeguarding

and protecting the adults and young people that we work with and has a

zero-tolerance approach to abuse, neglect and discrimination of any person. As

such, all posts are subject to a rigorous safer recruitment process, including

the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We have a range of

robust safeguarding policies in place which promote safeguarding across the

hospice and staff are expected to undertake regular, mandatory safeguarding training

to equip them with the knowledge and skills to identify and respond to

potential risks.

Personal Attributes

Desirable: - Familiarity with information technology and general computer skills.

Management & Teaching

Essential: - Possession of basic management skills.; - Experience of postgraduate teaching.

Desirable: - Management course and /or qualification.; - Teaching skills course and /or qualification.

Qualifications

Desirable: - Other Higher Degree or Diploma (eg Diploma or MSc in Palliative Medicine or MD).

Experience

Administration & Audit

Desirable: - Familiar with current structure of NHS and conversant with recent initiatives and changes.; - Presentation or Publication of Audit results.

Research and publications

Essential: - Knowledge of the principles of medical research and of the palliative care literature.

Desirable: - Research experience.; - Publication of research and /or review article(s).