St Peter’s Hospice
Consultant in Palliative Medicine (0.8 WTE plus on-call commitment

We are looking to welcome a Consultant in Palliative Medicine to join our medical team at St Peter’s Hospice from March 2020

As Bristol’s only adult hospice we have been providing expert palliative care, across a wide range of services, to patients and families for more than 40 years.

Most of our clinical care is community based; our Clinical Nurse Specialist teams and Hospice at Home service work in partnership with local health and social care providers to provide advice and support to more than 500 patients at any one time. We have a recently refurbished 15-bed Inpatient Unit and a range of Day Services including a Day Hospice programme, Wellbeing service and Fatigue & Breathless Management group.

We run an Education department which has a strong record of supporting health professionals throughout our community, and through our Clinical Community Engagement lead we are exploring how to better reach those traditionally less able to access palliative care, including those with non-malignant disease.

The post-holder will be primarily based on the Inpatient Unit – with opportunities for work in the community or Day Services if desired – working in a multi-professional team, which includes doctors in training.

St Peter’s Hospice is a well-loved and supported local charity with a strong network of fundraising and volunteering support. Bristol is a great place to live and work, and is in easy reach of beautiful surrounding countryside.

For more information and to apply, please visit our website. For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Anjali Mullick or Dr Candida Cornish on 0117 915 9470.

Closing date: Monday 21 October.

Vacancies: Chair of the Palliative Medicine Specialty Certificate Standard Setting Group

The Association of Palliative Medicine and the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK are seeking to appoint a new Chair of the Palliative Medicine SCE Standard Setting Group.

The successful applicant will Chair meetings of the Standard Setting Group and have overall responsibility for ensuring a pass mark is agreed to the appropriate standard. The Chair will lead discussions and evaluate each item to ensure the quality of questions is high and of an appropriate standard. They will also be responsible for the appointment and training of group members and monitoring of their performance.

A full list of the post’s responsibilities is set out in: The Responsibilities and Duties of Members of the MRCP(UK) and SCE Standard Setting Groups. In addition a copy of the remit and responsibilities of the examining board can be found on the MRCP(UK) website.

Applicants should meet the following criteria to be eligible to apply:

• hold the MRCP(UK) or an equivalent postgraduate diploma
• be practising as a specialist in palliative medicine, and a member or fellow of one of the three Colleges
• be registered with a licence to practise and in good standing on the GMC specialist register
• be actively engaged in the training of junior doctors in the UK (or within the last two years)
• be up-to-date as appropriate with relevant national guidelines, CPD requirements, employer’s equality and diversity training and appraisal process

In addition, it is a requirement for members of the Palliative Medicine SCE Standard Setting Group that they fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

• Be a member of the Question Writing Group or the appropriate Examining Board
• Have considerable knowledge of the examination
• Have experience of standard setting and question writing in an academic environment
• Have an understanding of the principles behind criterion referencing and the Hofstee method, statistical methods used and interpretation of analyses performed on individual items
• For this position experience of SCE SSG membership is desirable.

This is a non-salaried position though all reasonable expenses and travel costs will be met by MRCP(UK) Central Office in line with the Federation expenses policy. The tenure of the appointment is five years.

Applications for the post, including a CV and one-page covering letter outlining your suitability for the post should be submitted to The Policy Office by 17:00pm 30^th October 2019.

All applications will be considered by a panel consisting of the Chair and representatives of the Examining Board.

The next Palliative Medicine Standard Setting Group will take place on 18 & 19 June 2020 and the successful applicant will be required to attend. The Palliative Medicine Standard Setting Group will take place at Royal College of Physicians of London.

Cambridge Academic Clinical Fellowship in the research theme of Medical Education (specialties of Palliative Medicine, General Practice or Psychiatry)

Applications will shortly be sought for a three-year Academic Clinical Fellowship at the University of Cambridge in which the successful candidate will focus their research in Medical Education. Applications will be invited from candidates in either Palliative Medicine or General Practice or General Psychiatry, with the best candidate from any of these specialties being awarded the post. A successful candidate in Palliative Medicine will be appointed at ST3 and work 75% as a clinical Trainee in Palliative Medicine on the East of England SpR rotation, with 25% protected academic time in the University of Cambridge Palliative and End of Life Care group.
The ACF will have the opportunity not only to undertake Palliative Medicine clinical training but also to acquire skills and experience in Palliative Care research, Medical Education research and medical student teaching.

The group leads the teaching of medical students in Palliative Care and has a programme of work in medical education as part of a wide Palliative and End of Life Care research programme. There are three potential medical education research projects for the ACF:
a) Preparing medical students for patient care in the final days of life. Developing and evaluating an innovative online educational resource for final year students.
b) UK Foundation Year doctors’ preparation for palliative care. Working with colleagues across the UK to develop and deliver a national survey of FY doctors
c) First year medical students’ understanding of medical professionalism. Working with colleagues in the Preclinical Medical School in Cambridge and other medical schools to develop and undertake a multi-centre study
The post is fully funded by the NIHR. The aim of the Fellowship is to provide the framework from which the ACF will develop applications for further funding leading to a higher degree (PhD or MD). The Fellow will be given full support, encouragement and guidance towards achieving this and will have the opportunity to undertake a research methods MPhil to underpin their subsequent doctoral research.
Potential applicants for the Palliative Medicine form of the post are encouraged to contact:

Dr Stephen Barclay or Dr Anna Spathis for an informal discussion.

The post will be advertised on Oriel from 07.10.2019

Closing date 04 November 2019