Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care
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Job Overview
This is an exciting opportunity to join an innovative integrated care model that is redefining the delivery of palliative care. CNWL NHS Foundation Trust, a leading community healthcare provider, partners with University College London Hospitals, one of the UK's most prestigious hospital networks, to deliver seamless, high-quality palliative care across hospital and community settings.
As Nurse Consultant in Symptom Control and Palliative Care, you will join a multidisciplinary team of clinical experts — working alongside medical consultants, clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), a psychologist, and social worker in the hospital. The team is integrated with the community team which has a nurse consultant and medical consultants, CNSs, and AHPs. You will help shape care across hospital and community boundaries, with your impact being felt across a wide range of specialisms, including oncology, haematology, teenage and young adult services, and neurology.
Why You'll Love This Role
- Play a pioneering role in a unique integrated care model that bridges hospital and community services.
- Work at UCLH, an internationally renowned teaching hospital with access to leading-edge treatments and research.
- Help shape the future of palliative care alongside innovative multidisciplinary teams in one of London's most dynamic healthcare environments.
- Join a supportive team looking forward to welcoming a further nurse consultant into their hospital service.
Main duties of the job
What You'll Do
- Provide senior nursing leadership for hospital palliative care services, in line with CNWL and UCLH strategies.
- Deliver expert clinical care for patients with complex needs, managing your own caseload.
- Lead service development and quality improvement projects, driving innovation across the system.
- Champion education and training, inspiring staff and students to achieve excellence.
- Contribute to research, audit, and policy development, raising the profile of palliative care nationally and internationally.
- Act as a clinical consultant and advisor, supporting complex case management and safeguarding practice.
Working for our organisation
Why Join Us
- Work across prestigious central London hospitals as part of an innovative, community-led model.
- Access professional development opportunities, research involvement, and national networking.
- Benefit from competitive NHS terms, including the NHS Pension Scheme and flexible working options.
Job Summary
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Palliative Care Nurse Consultant role primarily supports the ongoing development of the UCLH Palliative Care Service. The post holder may also be expected to support the Camden and Islington ELiPSe Palliative Care Service.
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The service has two teams in the inpatient setting across UCLH NHS Foundation Trust and community settings across the boroughs of South Camden and Islington. It is commissioned to provide expert advice and guidance, support and leadership in the care of people with specialist palliative care needs. Whilst this role leads nursing across the service, the post holder will undertake their clinical sessions as part of the UCLH palliative care team and will act as the expert and is expected to support work and projects across Trusts as appropriate.
The nursing clinical and leadership expertise of the post holder will facilitate a whole systems approach closely involved with strategic development and service improvement, as well as the advancement of relationships with key colleagues. In addition, quality improvement in the palliative care service across CNWL NHS FT will be a key aspect of the role, using a patient-focused and evidence-based approach. Co-production with experts by experience will be central to the role.
Responsibility for non-clinical work, i.e. service improvement, clinical governance, peer review, audit, education, and research, is also done collaboratively with the other Nurse Consultant for Palliative Care, medical consultants, and with the Operations Lead; and named individuals taking responsibility for different elements of the clinical governance portfolio and the education programme delivered by the service.
The postholder will have four main areas of responsibility:
- expert practice
- professional leadership
- service development
- research and education
The post holder will provide strategic clinical leadership for palliative nursing and work with the operational management (in conjunction with the other Nurse Consultant, clinical leads, consultants, team leaders, and the Head of Service) of the palliative care service and other Goodall services. The post will support the development of palliative and end of life nursing, linking closely with relevant ICB’s as well as educational commissioners and providers when required. This will include promoting improved health outcomes and quality of life.
The postholder will take an active part in supporting the governance arrangements across palliative care to ensure the highest possible clinical standards are delivered and that the care is proactive, innovative, and progressive.
They are also expected to collaborate with the other nurse consultants and have an overview of competencies, and to deliver specialist training to ensure that nursing staff are clinically competent. We are therefore looking for a very strong leader who is visible, with a high level of emotional intelligence and an expert-level of palliative care knowledge, extensive drive, and focus to be able to quickly deliver innovative solutions to the ambitious outcomes expected across the division.
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Person specification
Knowledge, Training and Experience
Essential criteria
- Educated to Masters level or working towards, and equivalent level of experience of working at a senior clinical level in specialist palliative care.
- Extensive community and hospital clinical experience working in an 8A/B in specialist palliative care in a community and acute hospital setting.
- Extensive knowledge of specialist areas, including oncology and haematology acquired through post-graduate learning or equivalent experience or training plus further specialist knowledge or experience to master’s level equivalent.
- Evidence of post-qualifying and continuing professional development.
- Must understand the background to and aims of current palliative and end of life care policy nationally and appreciate the implications of this on engagement.
- Member of relevant professional body.
- Have an appreciation of the relationship between the NHS England and individual provider and commissioning organisations.
Communication Skills
Essential criteria
- Developed expert communication skills for delivering key messages to a range of stakeholders both internal and external (including outside the NHS) to the organisation, some at very senior level.
- Excellent presentational skills for conveying complex concepts.
- Ability to use informed persuasion to influence others.
Analytical
Essential criteria
- Ability to identify risks, anticipate issues, and create solutions and to resolve problems in relation to project or service delivery.
- Able to lead an integrated specialist team and lead complex MDT decisions.
- Ability to understand a broad range of complex information quickly and making decisions where opinions differ/no obvious solution.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Evidence of planning and delivering programmes and projects and services on time.
- Abilities for financial and staff management.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills.
Autonomy
Essential criteria
- Ability to work without supervision, providing specialist advice to the organisation, working to tight and often changing timescales.
- Interpreting national policy for implementation.
Financial and Physical Resources
Essential criteria
- Previously responsible for a budget, involved in budget setting, and working knowledge of financial processes.
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