Job summary St Elizabeth Hospice is an independent charity and hospice, which improves life for people in the East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney areas living with a progressive or life-limiting illness. Our most recent Care Quality Commission report rated the hospice as Outstanding. Established in 1989, the hospice has built a reputation for delivering high-level care to patients and the community it serves. Through medicine and therapy, they ease pain; give life purpose and make life liveable. Last year the charity supported over 4,000 patients and their families. As St Elizabeth Hospice embarks on its transformative journey, we are seeking a Virtual Ward Clinical Lead to be accountable for the provision of qualified clinician oversight and input to patients under the care of the Virtual Ward at St Elizabeth Hospice, ensuring the delivery of safe high quality care services. This is a chance to make a real difference to peoples lives. Reporting to the Associate Director of Care Operations, the role will provide line management to the Virtual Ward Team Leader, to support their development and the delivery of outstanding patient care within patient homes underpinned by robust clinical governance arrangements. Main duties of the job The hospices work is centred on the individual's needs and they provide specialist support wherever it is needed; whether that is in the home, another setting in the community, in hospital or in the hospice itself. Support is provided to patients and their families via the In-Patient Unit, the Community Care Unit including outpatients clinics, home visits from the Community Nursing, Medical and Therapy Teams, the OneCall 24/7 telephone helpline and bereavement support. We are seeking a visionary leader to join our team as the Virtual Ward Clinical Lead. You will have a passion for improving the lives of patients and their families. Are you an enthusiastic Registered Nurse with current NMC registration, demonstrable knowledge of palliative care and management experience? To thrive in this role, you will need to demonstrate the ability to plan, deliver and evaluate appropriate care for palliative care patients and their families. If you are a dynamic and innovative leader who is passionate about making a difference, we invite you to apply for this exciting opportunity. Interview Date: 27th August 2025 Hours : 37.5 hours / 5 days per week. Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm or 9am to 5pm About us If you would like an opportunity to find out more about working at the hospice and how it can fit your own career aspirations, we recommend an informal visit/discussion prior to you completing your application. The hospice offers a generous benefit package, including: 27 days annual leave entitlement Pension scheme Life Cover Cycle to Work Scheme Car Leasing Scheme Health Service Discounts Occupational Sick Pay Blue Light Card Employee Assistance Programme 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. Details Date posted 05 August 2025 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 7 Salary Depending on experience Contract Fixed term Duration 6 months Working pattern Full-time Reference number B0291-25-0028 Job locations 565 Foxhall Road Ipswich Suffolk IP3 8LX Job description Job responsibilities JOB SUMMARY To be accountable for the provision of qualified clinician oversight and input to patients under the care of the Virtual Ward at St Elizabeth Hospice, ensuring the delivery of safe high quality care services. To provide line management to the Virtual Ward Team Leader, to support their development and the delivery of outstanding patient care within patient homes underpinned by robust clinical governance arrangements. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES To have clinical oversight of the Virtual Ward Caseload. To take overall responsibility for ensuring that patients on the Virtual Ward have regular reviews including face-to-face and telephone access to qualified clinicians to support safe care. To ensure that all patients admitted to the Virtual Ward have a care plan in place, including manual handling advice and risk assessments which have been produced by a clinician. To ensure that there is appropriate regular oversight, monitoring and updating of care plans as the patient condition changes. To provide line management to the Virtual Ward Team Leader, ensuring regular one-to-one meetings, annual appraisal and performance management. To work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to ensure the virtual ward is staffed consistently and safely by suitably qualified care staff to meet the needs of the patient population, leading on recruitment, and supporting the Virtual Ward Team Leader with induction of team members as needed. Ensure there is adequate line management support to all Community Healthcare Assistant (CHCA) and Care Support Worker (CSW) team members, ensuring all team members have access to regular one-to-one meetings, ad hoc support, de-briefs as appropriate, and an annual appraisal. To provide expert professional clinical advice and support to multi-disciplinary team members to support them in the delivery of outstanding care to patients and families under the care of the Virtual Ward. To work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to ensure appropriate development the CHCA workforce through the identification of their learning needs to support their career development and ensure the CHCA team are suitably skilled in aspects of care delivery for palliative and end-of-life patients. Ensure there are systems in place that support the efficient and effective delivery of care to support patient flow through the virtual ward as evidenced by the length of stay and volume of patients supported. Ensure there are systems in place to support the efficient delivery of a domiciliary care service, working with the Care Co-Ordinator team to ensure appropriate day-to-day route planning and patient allocation for the Virtual Ward CHCA staff, taking into consideration appropriate use of INT bases and car sharing. Lead on allocated incident and complaint investigations, ensuring these are robustly investigated with comprehensive action plans are drawn up to address any deficiencies in care. To work with the Community Team Leads to ensure appropriate information sharing occurs between the virtual ward and clinical community staff to ensure safe and effective patient care. To attend relevant clinical governance and operational meetings. Lead on the production and updating of allocated policies and procedures utilizing relevant research. In collaboration with the Virtual Ward Team Leader, ensure there are mechanisms such as regular team meetings and written communications that support care delivery, including the feedback from patients and learning from incidents and complaints. Responsible for the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) arrangements for the Virtual Ward, ensuring adherence with relevant IPC policies and procedures, raising any risks to the IPC group and that IPC related audits are carried out according to the agreed audit programme. In conjunction with the Associate Director of Care Operations to ensure the CHCA team are supported to carry out their role by the provision of a range of support mechanisms such as ensuring appropriate access to clinical staff for advice on patient care. Work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to monitor the standard of care delivery on the Virtual Ward, utilizing clinical audit and patient feedback to identify and co-produce areas for development, leading on relevant quality improvement projects. To work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to ensure the care staff have all the necessary equipment and supplies required to support the delivery of patient care. To promote a safeguarding is everyones business culture, and where necessary act as a safeguarding deputy. GENERAL Where you are a member of a professional body you are required to conform to the professional standards set by that body. You are required to ensure your registration is current and practice continuous professional development. Because of the special nature of the Hospice and its work, the post holder may on occasion be asked to undertake other duties to help maintain our high standard of care. Job description Job responsibilities JOB SUMMARY To be accountable for the provision of qualified clinician oversight and input to patients under the care of the Virtual Ward at St Elizabeth Hospice, ensuring the delivery of safe high quality care services. To provide line management to the Virtual Ward Team Leader, to support their development and the delivery of outstanding patient care within patient homes underpinned by robust clinical governance arrangements. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES To have clinical oversight of the Virtual Ward Caseload. To take overall responsibility for ensuring that patients on the Virtual Ward have regular reviews including face-to-face and telephone access to qualified clinicians to support safe care. To ensure that all patients admitted to the Virtual Ward have a care plan in place, including manual handling advice and risk assessments which have been produced by a clinician. To ensure that there is appropriate regular oversight, monitoring and updating of care plans as the patient condition changes. To provide line management to the Virtual Ward Team Leader, ensuring regular one-to-one meetings, annual appraisal and performance management. To work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to ensure the virtual ward is staffed consistently and safely by suitably qualified care staff to meet the needs of the patient population, leading on recruitment, and supporting the Virtual Ward Team Leader with induction of team members as needed. Ensure there is adequate line management support to all Community Healthcare Assistant (CHCA) and Care Support Worker (CSW) team members, ensuring all team members have access to regular one-to-one meetings, ad hoc support, de-briefs as appropriate, and an annual appraisal. To provide expert professional clinical advice and support to multi-disciplinary team members to support them in the delivery of outstanding care to patients and families under the care of the Virtual Ward. To work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to ensure appropriate development the CHCA workforce through the identification of their learning needs to support their career development and ensure the CHCA team are suitably skilled in aspects of care delivery for palliative and end-of-life patients. Ensure there are systems in place that support the efficient and effective delivery of care to support patient flow through the virtual ward as evidenced by the length of stay and volume of patients supported. Ensure there are systems in place to support the efficient delivery of a domiciliary care service, working with the Care Co-Ordinator team to ensure appropriate day-to-day route planning and patient allocation for the Virtual Ward CHCA staff, taking into consideration appropriate use of INT bases and car sharing. Lead on allocated incident and complaint investigations, ensuring these are robustly investigated with comprehensive action plans are drawn up to address any deficiencies in care. To work with the Community Team Leads to ensure appropriate information sharing occurs between the virtual ward and clinical community staff to ensure safe and effective patient care. To attend relevant clinical governance and operational meetings. Lead on the production and updating of allocated policies and procedures utilizing relevant research. In collaboration with the Virtual Ward Team Leader, ensure there are mechanisms such as regular team meetings and written communications that support care delivery, including the feedback from patients and learning from incidents and complaints. Responsible for the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) arrangements for the Virtual Ward, ensuring adherence with relevant IPC policies and procedures, raising any risks to the IPC group and that IPC related audits are carried out according to the agreed audit programme. In conjunction with the Associate Director of Care Operations to ensure the CHCA team are supported to carry out their role by the provision of a range of support mechanisms such as ensuring appropriate access to clinical staff for advice on patient care. Work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to monitor the standard of care delivery on the Virtual Ward, utilizing clinical audit and patient feedback to identify and co-produce areas for development, leading on relevant quality improvement projects. To work with the Virtual Ward Team Leader to ensure the care staff have all the necessary equipment and supplies required to support the delivery of patient care. To promote a safeguarding is everyones business culture, and where necessary act as a safeguarding deputy. GENERAL Where you are a member of a professional body you are required to conform to the professional standards set by that body. You are required to ensure your registration is current and practice continuous professional development. Because of the special nature of the Hospice and its work, the post holder may on occasion be asked to undertake other duties to help maintain our high standard of care. Person Specification Qualifications Essential Registered General Nurse with current NMC registration. Palliative care qualification or equivalent at degree level. Desirable Leadership / management qualification e.g. Level 5 ILM. Specific Skills Essential Ability to plan, deliver and evaluate appropriate care for palliative care patients and their families. Ability to assess patient needs that may be complex and subject to change. Excellent communication and organisational skills, with the ability to deal with complex matters. Ability to supervise the work of others including registered and unregistered staff as well as volunteers. Experience Essential Related post qualification experience at Band 6 or above with management experience. Palliative care or long-term condition experience. Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team. Experience of supervising staff. Experience of delivering quality improvement initiatives. Experience of the management of a community caseload of patients and supervising staff. Good understanding of the key components of clinical governance. Desirable Experience of budget management. Personal Qualities Essential Demonstrable experience of team working and leadership/management and potential to develop. Be willing and able to develop own knowledge and skills and to contribute to the development of others. Ability to withstand sensitive and potentially stressful situations. Be adaptable, flexible, responsive & positive to change and service development. Person Specification Qualifications Essential Registered General Nurse with current NMC registration. Palliative care qualification or equivalent at degree level. Desirable Leadership / management qualification e.g. Level 5 ILM. Specific Skills Essential Ability to plan, deliver and evaluate appropriate care for palliative care patients and their families. Ability to assess patient needs that may be complex and subject to change. Excellent communication and organisational skills, with the ability to deal with complex matters. Ability to supervise the work of others including registered and unregistered staff as well as volunteers. Experience Essential Related post qualification experience at Band 6 or above with management experience. Palliative care or long-term condition experience. Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team. Experience of supervising staff. Experience of delivering quality improvement initiatives. Experience of the management of a community caseload of patients and supervising staff. Good understanding of the key components of clinical governance. Desirable Experience of budget management. Personal Qualities Essential Demonstrable experience of team working and leadership/management and potential to develop. Be willing and able to develop own knowledge and skills and to contribute to the development of others. Ability to withstand sensitive and potentially stressful situations. Be adaptable, flexible, responsive & positive to change and service development. 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). Additional information 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 Employer's website https://www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab) Employer details Employer name St Elizabeth Hospice Address 565 Foxhall Road Ipswich Suffolk IP3 8LX Employer's website https://www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab). Location : 565 Foxhall Road, IP3 8LX Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom