Sobell House Fellow

The post holder's duties will be primarily at Churchill Hospital, Oxford, or Katharine House Hospice, Banbury, but it is a condition of all appointments that post holders will be willing to work in any of the Trust's locations and outreach into the community if required.

The aim of these fellowships is to offer a 60/40 split of clinical service provision with protected time to undertake either Educational or Quality Improvement project work over the course of a year. It is anticipated that this post will provide an excellent opportunity for senior trainees looking to take an OOP to gather in depth experience of Palliative Medicine, or to broaden their experience of education or governance.

The post holder will perform the duties of Fellow to the Palliative Medicine team which is based at Sobell House in the Churchill Hospital and Katharine House Hospice in Banbury. The post holder will work within one or more area of the service either:

On the specialist inpatient wards in Sobell House or Katharine House which comprise 30 beds offering intensive symptom management and end of life care for adults with life limiting conditions

in the Hospital Palliative Care Team offering a consultative specialist advisory service for adults with life limiting conditions under the care of specialist colleagues in the acute hospitals of the John Radcliffe, Churchill, Nuffield Orthopaedic or Horton Hospitals in Oxfordshire

in the Community Palliative Care Team working in concert with primary care to enable symptom control and ACP for adults with life limiting conditions who are in their usual place of residence throughout Oxfordshire and South Northamptonshire

in the newly commenced RIPEL project which offers Home Hospice care and enhanced responsiveness to for adults with life limiting conditions who are suffering uncontrolled symptoms or a crisis in care.

The post holder will participate in the on-call rota alongside our current Specialist Registrars and Specialty Doctors.

Sobell House is an NHS Specialist Palliative Care Service and is an integral part of the Oncology Directorate within the Surgery and Oncology Division in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Sobell House has served the community of Oxfordshire for over 40 years. Sobell House Hospice Charity supports the work of the Hospice and the Trust. Visit the website at Sobell House Hospice Charity is supplying the funds to support these fellowship roles financially.

The successful candidate will be part of a medical team comprising 8 consultants, 3 Associate Specialists, 6 Specialty Doctors and a number of doctors training in Palliative Medicine and General Practice. The scope of work covered by the medical team includes clinical care in the specialist services as above and also includes support for the Living Well programme and supportive care services, lymphoedema and bereavement based on 2 sites (Headington, Oxford and Adderbury, Banbury), leadership of end of life care across the Trust, education and research.

Members of the multidisciplinary team who work across the settings include nurses, allied health professionals, music therapist, art therapist, chaplain, social workers and support staff including volunteers. We have sessional support from a consultant psychiatrist.

An indicative timetable and Job Plan is outlined below. The final Job Plan for the post will be agreed with the clinical director upon appointment and will be subject to renegotiation at least annually.

The expectation is that for a Fellow employed full time that 40% of their working time would support their professional development in non-clinical areas which might be either Education and Training or Quality Improvement. At the commencement of employment one of these themes would be chosen jointly by the Departmental Clinical Lead and the incoming fellow and a project planned with the aim of completing a defined piece of work in this time e.g. curricular redesign of incorporating Palliative Medicine skills into trust mandatory training.

Day

Time

Location

Work

Categorisation

Monday

Inpatient hospice

Ward round

DCC

Inpatient hospice

Ward work

DCC

Tuesday

Inpatient hospice

Ward round

MDT meeting

DCC

Inpatient hospice

Ward work

DCC

Wednesday

Flexible

Education Work

SPA

Flexible

Education Work

SPA

Thursday

Flexible

Education Work

SPA

Flexible

Education Work

SPA

Friday

Inpatient hospice

Ward round

DCC

Inpatient hospice

Ward work

DCC

This is an indicative job plan the actual initial job plan worked will be negotiated with the Clinical Lead upon appointment.

Annual and study leave arrangements must be co-ordinated within the specialty to ensure there is an acceptable level of cover. Leave form is available on the ORH intranet. This must be signed by the Clinical Lead and submitted to designated managerial staff. Clinic cancellations require at least 6 weeks' notice.