Specialist Palliative Care Team Leader

  • University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
  • Kendal, Cumbria
  • Jun 28, 2026
Full time Education

Job Description

Main area District Nursing Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours 37.5 hours per week (Full time, part time and job share considered) Job ref 047-UHMB

Site Westmorland General Hospital Town Kendal Salary £49,387 - £56,515 Per Annum, Pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 07/07/:59

'Creating a great place to be cared for and a great place to work'

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay has a firm commitment to strengthening the diversity of our workforce, and therefore welcome and encourage applications from likeminded people who can support our ambition to become effortlessly inclusive. We are particularly keen to hear from protected groups - including BAME, LGBT+ and people with a disability.

Job overview

We are very excited to be looking at appointing an enthusiastic, flexible and highly motivated Band 7 Team Leader for our Specialist Palliative Care team here at Morecambe Bay. This is an exciting time to join the Community, Cancer, Diagnostics and End of Life Division and the Specialist Palliative Care service.

You will be managing the Specialist Palliative Care team which consists of the acute teams at Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital and the Community teams supporting the Furness and South Lakes areas. Based at Fairfield Lane in Barrow and Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal.

The successful candidate will also work closely with the Clinical lead who is one of our Consultants in Palliative Medicine and the service Matron.

You will be responsible for the day to day overall operational workload for the team, ensuring timely appraisals, mandatory training compliance, sickness management and all relating human resource activity with the support of the Matron, Directorate Manager and HR/workforce team.

You will work as part of a well established service which provides high quality care, advice and guidance.

There is 1 x 37.5 hour post available and the hours to be worked are over 5 days per week.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be required to work as an integral part of the Specialist Palliative Care team; flexible working will be required to meet the needs of the patients and team.

Whilst working with other health care professionals the post holder will develop the ethos of integrated care across the whole system and seamless services ensuring that patient care is delivered to the highest possible standard.

As the Team Lead you will work closely with the senior management team to develop an effective and highly performing team.

You will liaise closely with other service providers from both statutory and voluntary agencies on a frequent basis to gather information, advise on additional care needs to ensure appropriate plans are in place.

Other key relationships include GPs, hospital colleagues, community colleagues, care staff, community pharmacists. Such relationships require effective interpersonal skills and communication in identifying the needs accurately, using knowledge and experience in problem solving and identifying solutions to ensure services are co-ordinated and delivered in timely manner appropriate to the patient needs.

You will be responsible for managing a small caseload of highly complex patients and working with the team to ensure high quality assessment and treatment for all.

Working for our organisation

We operate from three main hospitals - Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal, as well as a number of community healthcare premises including Millom Hospital and GP Practice, Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, and Ulverston Community Health Centre.

FGH and the RLI have a range of General Hospital services, with full Emergency Departments, Critical/Coronary Care units and various Consultant-led services.

WGH provides a range of General Hospital services, together with an Urgent Treatment Centre, that can help with a range of non-life-threatening conditions such as broken bones and minor illnesses.

All three main hospitals provide a range of planned care including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery. In addition, a range of local outreach services and diagnostics are provided from community facilities across Morecambe Bay.

Our community services for adults are provided in people's homes, community centres, clinics, GP Practices, community hospitals and our main hospitals. Our aim is to work with people to help them remain independent, improve their health and manage their conditions through high quality care, advice and support.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To read more information about the advertised role, and the main job duties/responsibilities please open the Job Description and Person Specification located under the supporting documents heading.

Person specification
  • Registered Nurse
  • Significant recent community experience
  • Evidence of relevant post graduate education in related areas - which may be varied, e.g. frailty, falls, long term condition management ,neurological, rehabilitation, oncology.
  • Community specialist practitioner course
  • Previous management courses
Community Specialist Practitioner
  • Previous experience of senior position band 6 within DN team
Experience
  • Post graduate experience including community and acute settings
  • Highly advanced levels of assessment and goal planning skills in elderly rehabilitation, frailty, falls, long term condition management and orthopaedic conditions.
  • Evidence of being able to practice and manage complex patients and able to evaluate effectiveness of own practice.
  • Awareness of current initiatives within the Local and National health economy and of applicable guidelines, frameworks, protocols.
  • Understanding of adult protection issues.
  • Good working knowledge of the Clinical Governance agenda.
  • Knowledge of other service providers.
  • Experience of audit.
  • Ability to travel across the Bay independent of public transport.
  • Previous senior position in related field.
  • Teaching and communication skills.
  • Experience of working within an inter-disciplinary service.
  • Research and Development experience.
Skills, ability and knowledge
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to handle difficult emotional situations.
  • Ability to work as part of a team.
  • Ability to work independently.
  • Excellent organisational skills, including time management, negotiating and decision making skills.
  • Ability to organise workload of self and others.
  • IT skills.
  • Ability to provide professional/clinical leadership at postgraduate level.

PLEASE NOTE THAT SHORTLISTED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED BY EMAIL.

The Trust promotes flexible working opportunities where ever possible to enable staff to balance their work and home life. We are committed to Equal Opportunities and aim to be Effortlessly Inclusive.

The trust operates a No Smoking Policy. Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our Person Specification will be shortlisted for Interview. We reserve the right to close a job advert early where sufficient applications have been received.

The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert. If the post is subject to Disclosure & Barring Service checking, a charge of £49.50 for Enhanced and £21.50 for Standard clearance and an additional £4.90 administration fee will be made to the successful candidate(s). This currently only applies to roles Band 6 and above and Medical & Dental posts.

Anyone newly appointed to the trust under the Agenda For Change contract will be subject to the completion of a satisfactory 6 month probationary period. This will give the new staff member an opportunity to become familiar with the role and working environment.

We have introduced a new system called Pre-Onboarding, specifically to support you right the way through to your first few months in your new role with us at UHMB. This bespoke site has lots of useful information to help you settle into your new role including: what to expect from the recruitment clearances process, where to get a uniform, when you'll get paid etc. As well as information on a number of our services i.e. Infection Prevention, Anti-fraud, Inclusion and Diversity, Care Certificates and much more. To access click on this link

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.