About this role
Job summary
An opportunity has arisen to join the St Elizabeth Hospice team in Ipswich. You will join a dynamic, friendly and established team of medical and nurse consultants and the wider multi-disciplinary team. Your post will provide input predominantly to the community of Ipswich and East Suffolk. You will join at a very exciting time in the region as new services are designed and implemented. St Elizabeth Hospice is playing an active part in neighbourhood health pilots in the new combined Norfolk and Suffolk ICB and worked collaboratively to achieve Compassionate Community accreditation for Suffolk.
St Elizabeth Hospice is rated CQC outstanding and provides services in a large geographical area, offering urban and rural diversity and places of outstanding natural beauty. This coastal area of the country supports a good work-life balance and is easily accessible to London and beyond. There are strong links between local acute and palliative care providers and with medical schools in the Universities of East Anglia, Suffolk and Cambridge. Teaching opportunities abound.
Main duties of the job
After 35 years of delivering excellent care, St Elizabeth Hospice continues to drive forward innovation and development of services. The successful candidate will join an established team whose Consultants are involved in research and system wide service development, and committed to the continual improvement of clinical care.
You will be employed by St Elizabeth hospice, supported by NHS Terms and Conditions. Nine sessions are available plus out of hours responsibility. There is flexibility around how the job plan is delivered; interested candidates are strongly encouraged to approach us for discussion.
Hours: Part time - 36 hours per week (0.9 WTE)
Interview Date: 24th November 2026
About us
St Elizabeth Hospice is committed to safeguarding and protecting the adults and young people that we work with and has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, neglect and discrimination of any person. As such, all posts are subject to a rigorous safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We have a range of robust safeguarding policies in place which promote safeguarding across the hospice and staff are expected to undertake regular, mandatory safeguarding training to equip them with the knowledge and skills to identify and respond to potential risks.
Job description Job responsibilities
Job summary:
To work together with the other palliative medicine consultants in the provision of medical services to patients of St Elizabeth Hospice, Ipswich Hospital, James Paget Hospital and East Coast Community Healthcare and to support the related multidisciplinary staff. To develop services and improve integrated working between local Palliative Care providers (Hospice, Hospital and in the wider community of the Integrated Care Systems). This post will predominantly support provision of community palliative care services.
General
This post is 0.9 WTE. Terms and Conditions will be based on the current NHS Consultant Contract (see Job Plan below) with the postholders contract held at the Hospice. There will be honorary contract with the relevant partner organisations as required.
The new post holder will join a growing medical team who work collaboratively and supportively to cover services across the two service areas, and rotation of area of responsibility is usual.
Current Medical consultant provision is 4.9 WTE of which 0.2 WTE supports Ipswich hospital alongside another 1.65 WTE consultant. There will be cover from the other consultants for leave and as need arises. There are also 3 full time Nurse Consultants embedded within the team, one of whom provides clinical and service development support for Great Yarmouth and Waveney services.
There are two Specialty Registrars on the East of England Palliative Medicine Specialty Training Scheme. There are also four middle grade doctors providing support to both the IPUs as well as the outpatient clinical areas. There are 6 GP vocational training scheme doctors on attachment rotating with other specialties and two foundation year doctors.
The team works closely alongside the full multidisciplinary team including nurses, Clinical Nurse Specialists, healthcare assistants, nurse associates, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, counsellors, spiritual care workers and volunteers.
The On call commitment is currently approximately 1 in 8 second on call with 5% availability supplement. This provides telephonic medical and symptom control advice to St Elizabeth Hospice, Ipswich Hospital, West Suffolk Hospital and St Nicholas Hospice Care in Bury St Edmunds, James Paget Hospital (Gorleston), and community calls in Suffolk and the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area. This may involve taking calls from GPs, hospital doctors, nurses or allied healthcare professionals. There is no formal expectation of face to face reviews on call but should the consultant be on site during that time then this time will be deducted from their clinical PAs in the next week and remunerated accordingly. There may be the need to do occasional first on-call on an emergency basis and this will be compensated by a PA off in lieu for each PA done as first on-call (week night equals 1 PA and weekend equals 6 PAs).
Formal consultant appraisal is completed by the hospice appraisal team with St Elizabeth Hospice as the designated body and the Medical Director of the Hospice as Responsible Officer. The postholder will be supported through the appraisal and revalidation process.
All new consultants can be mentored by an established consultant within the organisation or by one of the consultants from the neighbouring Palliative Care service providers to enable them to settle into the post and to support them in their initial years as a consultant. Established consultants will also have access to mentoring or support as needed.
The postholder will have shared administrative support from a pool of administrators and will have a dedicated computer station in a shared office. Additional office facilities will be available if attending other sites of work. IT team support is available.
About our services
St Elizabeth Hospice serves the population of Ipswich, East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, and supported almost 4,000 patients and their families last year. It was established in 1989 and has an 18-bedded inpatient unit in Ipswich as well as a substantial community team, a virtual ward and a 24/7 telephone advice line called OneCall which is at the core of the Palliative and End of Life Care Co-ordination Hub.
The hospice delivers outpatient clinics, therapy, counselling and physiotherapy services, with a comprehensive bereavement programme called LivingGrief that supports families across East Suffolk. It also delivers an education programme collaboratively with St Helena Hospice in Colchester and Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford, and works with the University of Suffolks Health and Wellbeing Institute.
The hospice is committed to encouraging Compassionate Communities as a public health approach to improving cultural confidence in supporting one another through the experience of dying, death and grief. Active research links are being established with University of Suffolk (UoS), University of East Anglia (UEA) and University of Cambridge. A research facilitator works as part of the team supported by NIHR funding.
Since 2019, the hospice has been sub-contracted by East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH) to deliver specialist palliative care in Great Yarmouth and Waveney, six specialist palliative care beds within Beccles Hospital, a specialist community team and providing in-reach support to the James Paget University Hospital. Outpatient clinics operate out of Beccles Hospital, the Louise Hamilton Centre in Gorleston, Martham Health Centre and the Pear Tree centre in Halesworth. Our strategic partner ECCH hold the contract for Community Services for Great Yarmouth and Waveney, as part of the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System.
St Elizabeth Hospice delivers a transition programme for young adults moving on from the care of the local childrens hospice (EACH). This transition programme is called Zest and offers exchange days, medical support, social activity days and nurse-led short break respite care. There are currently 50 young adults registered with Zest and is being gradually extended to a wider geographical footprint.
In East Suffolk, the hospice works closely with Ipswich Hospital and is a full member of the Ipswich and East Suffolk Alliance. In Great Yarmouth and Waveney the hospice has representation on the Place Board. It is anticipated that the hospice will be fully represented on both Suffolk and Norfolk Die Well programme boards following the outcome of the ICB restructure.
The Hospice has a Chief Executive and a Senior Leadership Team which includes the Medical Director, Director of Care, Director of Income Generation and Chief Operating Officer.
St Elizabeth Hospice has 400 employees and 1,500 volunteers, including 800 volunteers in our 36 retail stores and two Moments coffee shops. We also have a social enterprise domiciliary care agency called St Elizabeth Care Agency, whose profits contribute to the hospices charitable funds.
Key responsibilities:
Professional and Managerial
1. On call will be based on NHS terms and conditions, and will be at 5% based on a frequency of 1 in 8. Should the frequency reduce then the availability supplement will be reiewed. There is no formal expectation of face to face reviews on call but should the consultant be on site during that time then this time will be deducted from their clinical PAs in the next week. The job plan will then be reviewed to determine if a designated PA is needed for on call.
2. To assist in the supervision of junior medical and other staff in the hospice, ensuring that medical care and practice follow professional guidelines and St Elizabeth Hospice Policies and Procedures. This includes acting as named clinical supervisor for trainees on GP training scheme.
3. To support effective liaison and communication with relevant disciplines in respect of all aspects of palliative and end of life care.
4. To attend multidisciplinary team meetings at St Elizabeth Hospice or in the community (such as GSF meetings).
5. To establish and provide outpatient clinics and day services at St Elizabeth Hospice or at other community sites as required and to undertake domiciliary visits as necessary.
6. To be responsible with the other consultants for the admission, inpatient care and discharge of patients at hospice inpatient sites.
7. To develop and maintain knowledge and skills to a level appropriate to the responsibilities of the post.
8. To work with colleagues in the development and provision of education and training in palliative care at St Elizabeth Hospice inpatient sites, Ipswich Hospital, James Paget Hospital and the community.
9. To contribute to the initiation and conduct of research projects in Palliative Care. Any agreed research activity will be in discussion with the medical director with appropriate SPA allocated to support the research project from existing SPA allowance or additional SPA if part time employees. Sessions as researchers with local research units may require acting as principle investigator or chief investigator and to maintain good clinical practice (GCP) training.
10. To initiate and participate in audit and quality improvement activity regarding palliative and end of life care in the hospice, hospital and community, and participate in all aspects of the hospice governance programme such as incident review and responding to complaints and concerns.
11. To represent the Hospice on local and national bodies as appropriate.
12. Formal consultant appraisal for revalidation will be completed by the hospice appraisal team with St Elizabeth Hospice as the designated body with the Medical Director of the Hospice as Responsible Officer. The hospice supports the requirements for continuing professional development (CPD) as laid down by the Royal College of Physicians and is committed to providing time and financial support for these activities.
Person Specification
Personal Attributes Essential
Effective communicator. Able to work in a close-knit team and co-operate with all medical, nursing and other healthcare staff. Flexible, able to cover colleagues absence. Professional attitude towards work, reliability, good record of attendance and tidy personal appearance. Car driver with driving licence (driving will be an essential part of day to day work in this area).
Desirable
Familiarity with information technology and general computer skills.
Management & Teaching Essential
Possession of basic management skills. Experience of postgraduate teaching.
Desirable
Management course and /or qualification. Teaching skills course and /or qualification.
Qualifications Essential
Registered medical qualification MRCP, MRCGP or equivalent. Full registration with GMC and name on Specialist Register for Palliative Medicine on date of taking up appointment.
Desirable
Other Higher Degree or Diploma (eg Diploma or MSc in Palliative Medicine or MD).
Experience Essential
Wide experience in all aspects of palliative care, culminating in entry onto the GMC specialist register via CCT, CESR or European community rights. Experience in medical procedures such as paracentesis.
Desirable
Experience of general medicine and other specialties such as oncology, care of the elderly, general practice. Advanced Communication skills course or qualification.
Administration & Audit Essential
Experience in day-to-day organisation of specialist palliative care services. Thorough understanding of principles of medical audit and quality improvement. Experience in undertaking and completing audit projects.
Desirable
Familiar with current structure of NHS and conversant with recent initiatives and changes. Presentation or Publication of Audit results.
Research and publications Essential
Knowledge of the principles of medical research and of the palliative care literature.
Desirable
Research experience. Publication of research and /or review article(s).
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name St Elizabeth Hospice
Address 565 Foxhall Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP3 8LX
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)