About this role
Job summary
St Margaret's Hospice Care has a fantastic opportunity for an Advice line Clinical Nurse Specialist (ADL CNS) to join our team.
- Salary: £31,935.19 - £38,456.24 per annum, depending on experience (based on a full time salary of £39,919.74 - £48,070.31)
- Additional Payments: 30% Unsocial Hours on Saturday and 60% on Sunday & bank holidays
- Working Pattern: Part time, 30 hours per week
- Contract: Permanent
- Location: Taunton or Yeovil site
Main duties of the job
You will work within our advice line team focusing on our referral, triage process and advice line calls. It is based in our Taunton or Yeovil SMH site.
The role is predominantly telemedicine with expectation of conducting home visits, and working closely with our central referral centre.
Your day-to-day work will include
Base at Taunton or Yeovil St Margaret's hospice care site.
Work with a team to respond to advice line queries, referrals and action as appropriate.
You need to hold knowledge and skills within palliative care at a specialist level and carry qualification to reflect this.
You will triage new referrals and signpost appropriately based on the individual needs and liaise with other services, internal and external.
About us
You won't just be joining a fantastic team - you'll become part of a welcoming, community-minded charity making a real difference every day.
We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment alongside a range of benefits including:
Holiday entitlement
- 33 days including bank holidays, rising to 35 days after 1 year, and increasing with length of service (pro-rata if part-time)
- For Band 5 clinical roles, annual leave entitlement may include reckonable service from previous clinical roles at Band 5 or above, where joining us directly from the NHS or another hospice.
- Ability to buy and sell annual leave
Pension scheme
- NHS pension continuation where applicable*
- 6% employer / 5% employee contribution for non-NHS staff
Additional Benefits
- Life assurance cover (2x salary)*
- Health Cash Plans
- Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 GP access, counselling, wellbeing support, and legal/financial advice
- Blue Light Discount Card
- Enhanced maternity leave*
- Excellent learning and development opportunities
- Free on-site parking in Yeovil and Taunton
- Opportunities to volunteer and support fundraising initiatives
*Eligibility criteria applies
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Advice Line Clinical Nurse Specialist will provide timely, specialist palliative and end of life care advice, triage and clinical support to healthcare professionals, patients, families and carers contacting the Advice Line Service. Working autonomously within a holistic and person-centred framework, the post holder will use advanced clinical assessment, reasoning and decision-making skills to identify need, prioritise risk, support symptom management and enable early, proactive intervention. The role will promote safe, coordinated care across hospice, community, primary care and wider health and social care services, ensuring patients and those important to them receive responsive advice, compassionate support and appropriate escalation or referral at the earliest opportunity.
Responsibilities
Practice and clinical leadership
- Work autonomously and as a resilient member of the wider clinical team, supporting service development, new models of working and continuous improvement within the Advice Line Service.
- Provide specialist palliative and end of life care advice, triage, assessment and clinical support across a seven-day service, working flexibly across agreed shift patterns.
- Take and analyse relevant clinical histories in a clear, succinct and logical manner, using remote and face-to-face assessment where required.
- Use advanced assessment, physical assessment and clinical reasoning skills to identify need, prioritise risk, support symptom management and inform safe clinical decision-making.
- Plan, implement and evaluate specialist palliative and end of life care interventions, ensuring advice and support are evidence-based, person-centred and proportionate to need.
- Undertake home visits where clinically appropriate, following lone working procedures and ensuring safe, effective communication with colleagues.
- Independently assess patients needs and priorities, working with patients and those important to them to support care planning and preferred place of care wherever possible.
- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of symptom control, palliative care emergencies and escalation pathways, providing safe advice to patients, carers and health and social care professionals.
- Prescribe within scope of competence and local policy where an independent/non-medical prescribing qualification is held.
- Understand community medication administration processes and safely administer just-in-case subcutaneous medication when required during a clinical visit.
- Discuss treatment escalation planning, advance care planning and individual wishes with patients and those important to them, ensuring information is shared appropriately through relevant systems.
- Act as a specialist palliative and end of life care resource for internal and external professionals, supporting safe, coordinated care across hospice, community, primary care and wider health and social care services.
Communication, coordination and partnership working
- Work collaboratively with clinical, administrative and operational colleagues to provide a responsive, compassionate and patient-centred Advice Line Service.
- Refer and signpost patients, carers and professionals to appropriate hospice, community, primary care, social care and voluntary sector services, supporting continuity of care.
- Contribute to, arrange or lead multidisciplinary discussions and meetings where required, including with primary care networks, Gold Standards Framework meetings and wider community partners.
- Maintain effective links with community services, including rapid response, district nursing, village agents, Living Better teams and Hospital at Home, to support integrated care across Somerset.
- Manage complex and sensitive communication with patients, families and carers using advanced interpersonal skills, recognising emotional distress and supporting informed decision-making.
- Identify barriers to communication and take action to adapt communication approaches, improve understanding and support inclusive access to advice and care.
- Provide timely professional communication, including written updates and letters to healthcare professionals, to support continuity, escalation and shared care planning.
- Recognise the emotional impact of caring for people who are dying and actively engage in supervision, debrief and reflective practice to maintain personal resilience and professional effectiveness.
Clinical governance, documentation and digital practice
- Maintain accurate, contemporaneous and professional electronic records in line with NMC guidance, organisational policy and information governance requirements.
- Use relevant clinical systems and digital platforms, including SystemOne, SIDER, RIO and EPRO, to gather current information, record clinical activity and support safe decision-making.
- Contribute to St Margarets digital strategy by supporting processes that improve clinical communication, service responsiveness, data quality and patient experience.
- Work within the NMC Code, professional standards, hospice policies and agreed clinical pathways.
- Recognise, assess and manage risk to patients, families, staff and self, taking appropriate action and escalating concerns in line with organisational policy.
- Comply with health, safety, risk management, infection prevention and lone working requirements, reporting actual or potential concerns and contributing to practical solutions.
- Work within safeguarding frameworks for adults and children, recognising concerns, taking appropriate action and escalating in line with policy.
- Support a culture of learning, openness and accountability by contributing to audit, incident learning, service review and quality improvement activity.
Education, development and support for others
- Maintain specialist clinical knowledge and skills through evidence-based practice, reflective learning and continuing professional development.
- Maintain professional registration, revalidation requirements and a reflective portfolio of evidence in accordance with NMC requirements.
- Participate in mandatory training and undertake additional skills development relevant to the role and service needs including owning and developing through progression pathways.
- Provide informal and formal teaching, coaching and support to hospice colleagues, external professionals, students and learners to promote excellence in palliative and end of life care.
- Contribute to induction, mentorship, supervision and assessment of new staff, students and visiting learners, including those on clinical placements or specialist learning programmes.
- Develop and deliver relevant education programmes internally and externally, responding to identified learning needs across health and social care partners.
- Provide learning opportunities through supervision, debrief, reflective discussion and contribution to mortality reviews or service learning where appropriate.
Service improvement, reporting and data
- Use data, audit, feedback and service insight to understand demand, quality, outcomes and opportunities for improvement within the Advice Line Service.
- Work with the Head of Community Services and wider team to ensure reporting and analysis inform service planning, strategic development and improvements for patients, carers and professionals across Somerset.
- Contribute to the organisations objectives to improve health and wellbeing outcomes, widen access, reduce inequalities and identify gaps in service provision.
- Support and challenge colleagues constructively to maintain high standards of professional practice, safety, compassion and service responsiveness.
Person Specification
Outcome & Results
Essential
- Ability to work autonomously
- Managing time, work commitments and priorities.
- Recognises and understands own roles and responsibilities
- Able to prioritise and respond appropriately.
- Use data and audit to ensure best practice and willingness to meet organisational objectives
- Shares and communicates information through effective multidisciplinary working with other health care services/providers.
Leading in your area
Essential
- Relevant post-registration experience in cancer, palliative care or relevant speciality.
- In-depth specialist experience in care of patients with complex needs.
- Experience of mentorship and teaching
- Computer literate, able to use word documents, database and e-mail communication.
- Role model to showcase the high standards of the organisation.
Self Awareness
Essential
- Recognises own limitations.
- Ability to work flexibly and respond to changing or conflicting priorities.
- Effectively manages multiple tasks and priorities
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Work within a framework of resilience
Education
Essential
- Registered Nurse (NMC register)
- Post qualification to degree level with a willingness to work to masters level
- Education (teaching) certificate or willingness to work towards.
- Experience in mentoring others.
- Experience in working to a high standard of Palliative & EOL care supported by post registration certificate (or willingness to work towards)
- Hold current drivers licence home visits if appropriate.
- Commitment to professional development.
- Experience in triage process and telemed.
Desirable
- Post grad Community Specialist qualification
- Independent prescriber or willingness to undertake in practice
- PACR - physical assessment clinical reasoning course
- Advanced communication course
- Leadership/management course
Working with others
Essential
- Calm and objective.
- Resilient and adaptable under pressure.
- Is assertive not aggressive
- Treats confidential information sensitively and in line with policy
- Positive role model to the team and service with professional integrity
- Excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills, the ability to relate to a diverse range of people.
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 Margaret's Somerset Hospice
Address
Taunton Hospice Hub
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 5HA
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.st-margarets-hospice.org.uk/home-page (Opens in a new tab)