KW JD70 PRACTITIONER created 30/06/05 by CC/JTM revised 05/06/13, 12/2/15 by SO 1/6

JOB DESCRIPTION – HOSPICE PRACTITIONER

Title: Hospice Practitioner (Palliative Medicine) Salary: £4569 to £6196 per session per annum dependent on

past experience. Hours of Work: 1 day (2 sessions) per week to include Wednesdays and

1:5 weekend non resident oncall with potential option for full 1:5 oncall requirement at a later date.

Accountable to: Medical Director Responsible to: Director of Clinical Services Supervising Consultant: Dr Stephen Oxberry Introductory notes:

Kirkwood Hospice is a well-established specialist palliative care unit, serving the people of Huddersfield and North Kirklees. Since its opening, the medical team at the Hospice, under the direction and leadership of its Medical Director, has been at the forefront of developments within palliative care in general and the speciality of palliative medicine as it evolved. Over the years, the place of palliative medicine within the healthcare setting has evolved and innovative and joint appointments in neighbouring trusts have developed accordingly.

Kirkwood Hospice meets the staffing and service criteria for Specialist Palliative Care as outlined in N.I.C.E. guidance. The Hospice has 16 inpatient beds, admitting an average of 300 patients per year, approximately 40% of whom are discharged home. It has an active support and therapy day care unit, with regular day care and drop-in services.

The community palliative care team comprises four Nurse Specialists, based at Kirkwood Hospice. They work in conjunction with other specialist nurses and palliative care teams in the area, helping to maintain patients in their own homes. There is a Family Counselling and Bereavement Service and an active complementary therapy service.

Kirklees has a population of 400,000 and includes two District General Hospitals, which are also designated Cancer units, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and Mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust. Both Trusts have dedicated hospital based consultant-led palliative care teams who refer appropriate patients to the hospice.

The employer and employee share responsibility to review and amend this job description in order to reflect any changes in role/development.

KW JD70 PRACTITIONER created 30/06/05 by CC/JTM revised 05/06/13, 12/2/15 by SO 2/6

The employee must attend/complete yearly mandatory training provided by the Hospice.

The employee must maintain a safe working environment in accordance with the Hospice fire and health & safety policies and report any hazardous incident to team leader/sister.

Employees should be aware that Kirkwood Hospice produces confidential information relating to patients, staff and commercial information. All employees have responsibility for ensuring the security of information and to comply with the Data Protection Act (1998), Access to health Records and Computer Misuse Act (1998).

The post holder requires a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).

Job summary: The sessional Hospice Practitioners work closely with the existing, enthusiastic, experienced, multi-professional team to help ensure continuity of high level medical care for Hospice patients. This will include in-patients, patients attending the Support and Therapy Centre and patients being supported by specialist nurses in the community. The majority of the postholders time is envisaged to be spent on the inpatient unit involving new patient clerking, ward reviews, consultant ward rounds, MDT attendance, phlebotomy and medicines management. The post will be attractive to doctors wanting to update/maintain their skills in Palliative Care. The hospice cares for patients with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses and previous broad experience of management of patients with life limiting illnesses is essential. The employee must maintain registration with the G.M.C. and have membership of a Medical Defence Union. It is not essential, but is desirable, if the applicant has worked in a specialist palliative care environment previously. If not, an understanding of the ethos of palliative care through previous clinical experience of patients with palliative care issues, and ability to maintain the values of Kirkwood Hospice will be expected. On call will be 1 in 5 with prospective cover. Weekend on call currently runs from 5.00 pm Friday to 9.00 am Monday. Week day out of hours cover is from 5.00 pm to 9.00 am the next day. The post is non-resident. Main Duties and Responsibilities: Clinical Role:

To provide with the medical team, medical care to inpatients at Kirkwood Hospice.

To provide medical input to support and therapy centre patients at Kirkwood Hospice

KW JD70 PRACTITIONER created 30/06/05 by CC/JTM revised 05/06/13, 12/2/15 by SO 3/6

To provide support to primary care teams including domiciliary visits where appropriate.

To participate in the 1 in 5 on-call rota (non-resident). The on-call commitment is to Kirkwood Hospice inpatient unit.

To ensure that patient medical and electronic records are completed accurately in accordance with professional standards, hospice policy and legal requirements.

To be involved in audit and research programmes as appropriate.

To actively participate in multi-professional discussions and meetings.

To ensure that the high standard of medical care and support for carers and families at the Hospice is maintained.

Professional/Management:

To work closely with the Medical Director to ensure medical provision throughout the Hospice is maintained.

To maintain standards and quality of care throughout the services delivered by the Hospice, by participating in standard setting and audit, and attending relevant meetings.

To support the development of clinical governance, including evidencing a commitment to clinical audit, risk management, staff development, peer review and appraisal within the Hospice governance framework.

Engage with procedures necessary for appraisal and revalidation. The responsible officer for hospice practitioners at Kirkwood is the Medical Director of the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust.

Education:

To participate in the appraisal system of medical staff at the Hospice.

To participate in and contribute to in-house education opportunities and attend external study days as appropriate

Study and Training: The hospice is committed to CPD, and will grant appropriate study leave with funding for this purpose whenever possible. Post holders have their own annual study leave budget calculated pro-rata dependent on sessions worked. There are post-graduate medical centres with excellent facilities at Dewsbury District Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Medical Libraries are situated in both education centres and at Kirkwood. Multi-disciplinary education is available at the Hospice. An interest in research would be encouraged. Involvement in clinical audit will be an essential part of this post. Appraisal and Revalidation: All doctors have an annual revalidation ready appraisal.

KW JD70 PRACTITIONER created 30/06/05 by CC/JTM revised 05/06/13, 12/2/15 by SO 4/6

If this is intended to be the applicant’s sole place of employment, or if the majority of their work is at Kirkwood Hospice and they are not on the performers list, then Kirkwood Hospice will act as the designated body for revalidation. The Responsible Officer for Kirkwood as a designated body for revalidation is the Medical Director at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust. As part of the employment process the successful applicant will have to have their revalidation arrangements whilst under employment with the hospice confirmed prior to commencement, and the applicants previous Responsible Officer will be contacted if this is required. General Responsibilities Policies And Procedures The post holder is required to familiarise themselves with all Kirkwood Hospice policies and procedures and to comply with these at all times. Failure to comply with any of Kirkwood Hospices policies may result in disciplinary action. Infection Control All staff have a responsibility to act and follow Kirkwood Hospice and Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust infection control policies and procedures and be aware the importance of protecting themselves, patients and visitors and in maintaining a clean and healthy environment. Health And Safety All staff have a responsibility to identify and assess risk. Staff are actively encouraged to report all incidents including near misses. In order to ensure all incidents are reported, an open culture operates in which staff are free to report incidents in the knowledge that they will be supported. The post holder is responsible for the identification, assessment and analysis of risks and implementing action plans to reduce risk and minimize the impact of known risks and ensure they are familiar with all risk management and health and safety policies and procedures. Equal Opportunities All employees are expected to be aware of, and adhere to, Kirkwood Hospice’s Equal Opportunities Policy and carry out their associated duties and responsibilities under this policy. Job Description And Flexibility To undertake any other duties or general tasks as may reasonably be required. To demonstrate flexibility and work in other areas including externally as required by Director of Clinical Services commensurate with the post holders banding and expertise. The post holder is required to be flexible in developing their role in agreement with Director of Clinical Services or Medical Director in keeping with the principles of the Kirkwood Hospice strategic business plan. Staffing One Consultant, joint appointment with Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Trust and Kirkwood Hospice together providing 0.8 WTE hospice and 0.2 WTE HRI. A second consultant based primarily in the Trust provides 0.3 WTE at the hospice.

KW JD70 PRACTITIONER created 30/06/05 by CC/JTM revised 05/06/13, 12/2/15 by SO 5/6

1 GP Registrar currently full-time. 3 part time Hospice Practitioners (Palliative Care), total 18 sessions (excluding this post). This post will partly cover absence for maternity leave. Medical secretarial support is available and appropriate office accommodation is provided.

KW JD70 PRACTITIONER created 30/06/05 by CC/JTM revised 05/06/13, 12/2/15 by SO 6/6

PERSON SPECIFICATION – HOSPICE PRACTITIONER

Desirable/Essential

How assessed

1. Full registration with the G.M.C. also

Registered with a Licence to Practice.

Essential

Certificates and direct check

2. M.R.C.P./M.R.C.G.P.

Desirable

Certificate

3. Post FY1 experience.

Essential

CV

4. Knowledge of holistic care, and the

principles of palliative care

Essential

CV, Interview and references

5. Committed multi-disciplinary team

member, able to recognise and utilise the skills of others within a team to meet complex patient and family needs.

Essential

CV, interview, references

6. Demonstrable excellent written, IT and

verbal communication skills.

Essential

Interview, references

7. Excellent time management skills.

Essential

Interview, references

8. Ability to provide leadership and direction

relating to own discipline.

Essential

Interview and references

9. A friendly, open, approachable personality

with a sense of humour.

Essential

Interview and references

10. An enthusiasm for introducing new

initiatives in working practice.

Desirable

Interview, CV and references

11. Awareness of the need for good structures

of support to cope with death and dying within the field of Palliative Medicine.

Essential

Interview, references

12. A commitment to personal development

and continuing medical education.

Essential

Interview, references.

13. Previous experience of working in

specialist palliative care.

Desirable

CV, references