Matron

**Job summary**: Provide advanced level symptom management, care and support to children with life-threatening illnesses and complex health care needs living in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and North East and West Essex as part of the EACH Symptom Management Service. This 24/7 service supports children, young people and their families within the regional Managed Clinical Network (MCN) and acts as a point of contact for symptom control and management issues for professionals and teams in health, social care and education services across the statutory and voluntary sectors. Provide clinical leadership and line management for the symptom management nursing service and deliver clinical leadership support, advice and guidance across EACH. Clinical Responsibilities Develop and ensure implementation of clinical strategies and service redesign solutions to better meet the needs of children and young people with palliative and end of life care needs across EACH and the wider MCN.

Provide holistic and evidence based advanced nursing care to children and young people with complex palliative care, pain and symptom control needs as an integral part of the EACH multidisciplinary team and MCN. Oversee, with other Matrons, the Symptom Management Nursing Service caseload within the EACH catchment area. Act as a point of contact for symptom control and management advice for children and young people across the continuum of care in the full range of settings (home, hospital, hospice, school, residential placement). Assess, rapidly synthesise and manage complex and urgent or distressing situations.

Develop and maintain highly specialist level palliative nursing care knowledge and skills across a range of procedures and practices including medicines management and ensuring clinical hazards are identified and any risks managed. Develop, review and evaluate comprehensive symptom management plans, coordinating and supporting their implementation and use across EACH and within the MCN. Participate in the 24/7 clinical on call and on standby rota delivering the Symptom Management Nursing Service across the EACH catchment area and working collaboratively with the on call medical practitioners in the MCN who provide specialist level telephone advice to the service outside office hours. Collaborate with all members of the EACH multi-professional team and MCN to coordinate safe transfer for end of life care.

Provide clinical advice, expertise and support for Care Coordination Teams in EACH and training opportunities to health, social care and education sector professionals throughout EACH and the MCN to ensure a coordinated multi disciplinary approach to the provision of palliative care for children and young people. Provide support for care coordination/key working/lead professional role responsibilities and undertake this role when agreed with the multi-disciplinary team. Act as an independent prescriber within scope of professional practice (those with relevant qualification). Provide integrative complementary therapy within scope of professional practice (those with relevant qualification) Management Responsibilities Deliver clinical leadership expertise, support, advice and guidance across EACH in the absence of other clinical leaders including, where required, HR processes.

Develop, implement and evaluate Symptom Management Nursing Service specification in conjunction with Nurse Consultant and other Matrons. Ensure symptom management service and clinical standards and resources across EACH are deployed and maintained. Provide line management for the Symptom Management Nursing Service at designated locality. Provide clinical nursing leadership for the regional MCN and other local networks including in the development of end of life care pathways and chairing MDT meetings as required.

Professional Responsibilities Fulfil professional clinical supervision and continuing professional development requirements. Ensuring staff wellbeing through promotion of clinical supervision and consultation and other strategies deployed across EACH. Keep up to date with professional developments in nursing and childrens palliative care. Develop an awareness of own personal responses in relation to the maintenance of a safe environment and identification of potential risk for all personnel, children, young people, families and significant others.

Advocate for and support parents, children and young people. Advocate for the Nursing profession acting as a positive role model which enables change. Education, Development & Governance Activities Deliver and participate in management supervision and annual appraisal ensuring challenging objectives are set and achieved and a personal development plan is agreed. Adopt a reflective approach to personal practice and learn from experience.

Develop, deliver and participate in training for the Symptom Management Nursing Service and the EACH Education and Training programme and other MCN / national / int