Job summary
- Main area
- Palliative Care
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 391-NMUH-8369698
- Employer
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- North Middlesex University Hospital
- Town
- Edmonton
- Salary
- £55,524 - £62,652 per annum inclusive of Outer HCAs
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 25/11/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist Band 7
Band 7
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
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Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 7 CNS to work within our highly skilled, motivated and dynamic team. We aim to make a difference and improve the experience of palliative care patients at various stages of their disease trajectory.
The post will be based within the existing inpatient Palliative Care Team. We offer 7 day face to face support to ensure that people with specialist palliative care needs, will receive the best quality care. The team currently consists of 4 palliative consultants’ equivalent to 2.5 WTE, 1 Band 8a Lead Nurse, 4 WTE Band 7 CNS, 1 WTE band 6 Associate CNS, 1 WTE Band 7 Palliative Care Discharge Coordinator.
The Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) is a specialist clinician with extensive experience and knowledge of caring for patients with advanced life threatening illness. The CNS contributes to the provision of the palliative care service in the acute setting as part of the MDT, working collaboratively with colleagues, patients, carers, other health and social care professionals, statutory, voluntary and independent organisations to ensure optimum patient management.
Main duties of the job
As a senior nurse, the CNS will be expected to:
- manage a caseload autonomously and provide expert advice and support to patients with life limiting illness and potentially facing end of life care issues, and support them and their families, using advanced clinical judgement and knowledge in palliative care.
- participate in providing a 7-day face-to-face service.
- contribute to the weekly Hospital Palliative Care MDT meeting.
- design and deliver specialist palliative care education, as well as end of life care to colleagues and other health and social care professionals.
- take part in regular palliative care team audits and review of clinical practice, to develop research skills and contribute to the development of multi-disciplinary research within palliative care.
- act as a resource, educator and advocate for patients, their carers and healthcare professionals.
- work within statutory legislation and local policies and procedures in relation to palliative care and end of life care.
Working for our organisation
North Mid is part of North Central London integrated care system – consisting of the NHS and Local authority organisations in Camden, Islington, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. As with other ICS’s, we are working increasingly closely with partners and indeed many of our financial and performance objectives are measured at this system level. Whilst all organisations remain as standalone, statutory bodies we have an ICS infrastructure for making shared decisions and agreeing shared approaches.
We are proud of our staff and want to ensure their training allows them to provide excellent clinical care. We are also a training unit for medical students from UCL and St George’s University Grenada, and for nursing and midwifery students from Middlesex and City Universities.
Take a tour of our hospital here
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Acts as a resource of clinical excellence in the speciality of palliative care nursing, and ensure that national and local policies are implemented and followed.
2. Assess, plan, implement and evaluate holistic patient care based on sound rationale and evidence-based practice to influence and implement treatment.
3. Work autonomously demonstrating ability to manage clinical caseload ensuring it reflects the core components of the Clinical Nurse Specialist role.
4. Using advanced communication skills, advise and empower other professionals who are directly involved in the delivery of palliative care.
5. Participate in the triage processes and standards of response to new referrals and taking part in the daily allocations.
6. Maintain and be responsible for electronic and written records in line with the organisational guidelines.
7. Offer skilled emotional and psycho-social support and refer on to other members of the multidisciplinary team as appropriate.
8. Participate in the weekend face to face on call rota and work within a flexible approach that is responsive to patient/client need.
9. Ensure symptoms are optimally managed and anticipatory prescribing needs are identified to provide for imminent changes in condition.
10. Offer bereavement support to patient and families, identifying those at risk of complicated bereavement
11. Recognise and take appropriate action in issues related to Mental Capacity Act and Safeguarding
12. Be able to mobilise other services to contribute to patient care; working closely with the multidisciplinary team to enable best care and a shared understanding of the patient’s needs
13. Develop and maintain close working relationships with all statutory and/or voluntary agencies
14. Promotes evidence based practice with measurable standards and outcomes through the process of audit and benchmarking
15. Partakes in Clinical Discussion Groups/Clinical supervision as provided
16. Participates actively in the delivery of education on Palliative and End of Life Care across the Group
17. Use the extended role as a non-medical prescriber, where appropriate and once authorised, adhering to the Royal Pharmaceutical Societies and by the NMC standards.To audit prescribing practice and ensure prescribing pads are stored safely.
Person specification
Education and professional qualifications
Essential criteria
- First level Registered Nurse (Adult Nursing)
- Evidence of CPD through maintenance of a portfolio
- Mentorship / Teaching qualification
Desirable criteria
- Degree level study – PGCert/ Master’s degree or willingness to work towards this Palliative Care qualification
- Advanced Communication Skills Course or similar
- Physical Assessment Course
Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive experience within palliative/end of life / long term conditions
- Minimum of 3 years’ experience of working Band 6 level or above
- Experience of managing a clinical caseload autonomously
- Experience of delivering educational sessions and developing training programmes
- Willingness to participate in 7 day working / on call rota and flexible in approach in order to meet the demands of the service
- Experience in managing challenging situations and ethical dilemmas
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and experience of research
Skills and aptitudes
Essential criteria
- Advanced written and verbal skills
- Sound organisational skills, including ability to give directions
- Ability to prioritise workload, balancing clinical and non-clinical activities
Desirable criteria
- Previous participation in quality initiatives or audit
Personal Qualities & attributes
Essential criteria
- Reflective practitioner
- Ability to identify own learning and support needs
- Reliable, honest and trustworthy
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Rhona Cunningham
- Job title
- Lead Nurse Palliative Care
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07484973780
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