Doctor in Palliative Care - Hospice

East of England, East of England

Permanent

£43,923 to £82,400

Doctor - Other

Doctor in Palliative Care - Hospice

Job summary

Part Time Hospice Doctor in Palliative Medicine

Wakefield Hospice

West Yorkshire

An opportunity has arisen for a part time hospice doctor at Wakefield Hospice. Wakefield Hospice is a specialist palliative care unit in West Yorkshire located close to Pinderfields General Hospital and has a full multidisciplinary team including specialist doctors, nurses, therapists and social work. The unit is a training unit for specialist registrars in palliative medicine as well as core medical and foundation trainees. The unit provides undergraduate training for the University of Leeds medical school for 4th year medical students in addition to students in nursing and other disciplines. Wakefield Hospice has a thriving day therapy unit providing both specialist palliative care, dementia daycare and bereavement services. The successful applicant will work with our consultant led team to provide specialist palliative care in our 14 bedded inpatient unit. He/she will work between two days per week on the inpatient unit (Thursday and Friday) and partake in a one in five on call rota.

This post may suit a doctor exploring a career in palliative medicine or a GP with a special interest in palliative medicine.

Salary scale: £43,923 - £82,400 pro rata based on experience. On call 1 in 5 with consultant cover.

One year post full registration experience essential.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work two per week on the in-patient unit and provide on call at the hospice as part of the medical rota. This is currently a one in five non-residential on call. The post holder must be available to return to site on request when on call and will be expected to do ward rounds each day when on call on the weekend.

The post holder will review patients on the day unit if requested by day therapy staff and liaise with their general practitioner if needed.

The post holder will work with medical colleagues at the hospice to ensure that the hospice has adequate medical staffing at all times.

About us

Wakefield Hospice, is committed to providing the highest level of symptom management and care for people who have advanced active, progressive and life threatening illness.

Wakefield Hospice is a purpose-built specialist palliative care unit that opened in April 1990 providing 8 single ensuite bedrooms and 2 four bed ward areas, a day therapy unit, bereavement support and education. Over the years the day care unit developed initially into a day therapy unit and ultimately into a drop-In centre providing therapies, information and care for patients, carers and bereaved families.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities:

The hospice doctor, together with the IMT, FY2 and specialist registrar will be responsible for day to day medical work of the inpatient unit. This will include admission and discharge of patients, twice weekly Consultant ward rounds and attendance at weekly multi-disciplinary meetings. In addition the hospice Doctor is expected to:

review symptoms daily, and change management where indicated
assess and treat newly admitted patients in accordance with hospice policy and practice
maintain good open communication: with other team members with family or main carer
liaise with referring hospital, home care team, or G.P
be particularly sensitive to patient's special needs of a religious or cultural nature
keep the Registrar and/or Consultant informed of patient status and family dynamics, and seek advice when indicated
be aware of the importance of medical support and presence to patient, family, and other team members during the last 48 hours of the patient's life
be aware of his/her own need for support and to allow the team to reciprocate this support

Maintain contemporaneous and legible clinical records in the hospice medical notes and maintain accurate records on the patients electronic SystmOne palliative care record

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Full registration with the General Medical Council
Eligible to work in the UK
Good communication skills
One year post full registration experience
Some experience working in a specialist palliative care unit or team or related discipline
Good multidisciplinary team working skills

Desirable

MRCGP or MRCP
Sense of humour
Basic IT skills
Car driver
Strong outside interests
Awareness of quality improvement and evidence based medicine
Interest in education
Post graduate qualification in palliative care

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.