Consultant in Palliative Care

We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity to work as a Consultant in Palliative Medicine within the King’s College Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Service based at Denmark Hill. This is a fixed term contract for 12 months. Currently the post is funded for 7 PAs but there may be the opportunity for this to be increased.

The Palliative Care Team offers an advisory service to patients with palliative care needs and promotes excellence in end of life care across the Trust.

We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic individual who will contribute to the development of this dynamic multi-professional team and build on partnerships across the locality, including our local hospices. The post will sit within a collaborative network across our Clinical Academic Group within King’s Health Partners. A wealth of opportunities exist to be involved in research via established links with the Cicely Saunders Institute. This post joins a 1 in 16 category B on call rota.

The current consultant team have specialist interests and links with haematology, hepatology, neurology, paediatrics and intensive care. We are looking to build on these, but also strengthen links with acute medicine/frailty, including supporting the opening of the new acute medical assessment unit.

The consultant team work collaboratively with palliative care colleagues across all sites to deliver excellence in palliative care and contribute to the team’s governance, education and research programme.

The proposed Job Plan (attached) will be reviewed within 3 months of the postholder commencing in post and will be tailored according to the successful applicants' interests and needs of the department. The post has been established to support the increased activity and demand within the team, whilst plans are made to review and increase the substantive consultant establishment.

The On-Call commitment is for a 1:16 rota (Category B). Telephone advice is provided to King’s, St Thomas’, Guys and Lewisham Hospitals and Guys and St Thomas’ Community Palliative Care Teams.

Employees are expected to undertake work on any of the Trust’s sites as required by the service, but only after agreement with the clinical lead. As a senior employee, you will work in close co-operation with, and support other clinical, medical professional and managerial colleagues in providing high quality healthcare to the Trust’s patients. Integral to these responsibilities:

- The provision of a first-class clinical service
- Effective leadership to all staff engaged in the specialty
- Sustaining and developing teaching and research in conjunction with King’s College London / KHP
- Undertaking all work in accordance with the Trust’s policies and procedures
- Conducting clinical practice in accordance with contractual requirements and within the parameters of the Trust’s service plans
- Maintaining the confidence of business plans and development strategies formulated for the specialty, the Care Group or the Trust

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.
- Together with the other consultants and multi-professional team, to provide a service for patients with life threatening and life limiting illness across all areas of the Trust. This includes all aspects of treatment and relevant management duties for the proper functioning of the Care Group.
- Shared responsibility with the other consultants across KHP for providing 24 hours, 7 days a week cover for the palliative care team on a rota basis. Responsible also for covering colleagues’ periods of annual leave and short-term sickness.
- Provide clinical supervision of junior medical/dental practitionersas a shared re