Job summary
Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, Cumbrias Childrens Hospice is seeking an enthusiastic and motivated doctor to join our specialist palliative care team as a Junior Palliative Medicine Clinical Teaching Fellow.

This unique post combines hands-on clinical experience in specialist palliative medicine with dedicated opportunities to develop teaching, leadership, research and educational skills. The role is ideally suited to doctors who have completed Foundation Training and are considering a career in Palliative Medicine, General Practice, Internal Medicine, Oncology, Geriatric Medicine, Paediatrics, Emergency Medicine, or Medical Education.

Working within an experienced multidisciplinary team, you will gain valuable experience caring for patients with complex symptoms and advanced illness across both adult and childrens inpatient units, whilst contributing to the education and development of medical students and other healthcare professionals.

What We Offer

• Dedicated time for teaching and educational development.
• Extensive experience in specialist palliative medicine.
• Opportunities to undertake quality improvement, audit, and research projects.
• Support in developing a teaching portfolio.
• Supervision from experienced palliative medicine clinicians and medical educators.
• Opportunities to attend regional and national educational events.
• A welcoming and supportive multidisciplinary team.
• Excellent work-life balance in the beautiful surroundings of Cumbria and the Lake District

Main duties of the job
The Role
The successful candidate will divide their time between clinical duties and educational activities.

Clinical Responsibilities
You will:

• Participate in the assessment and management of patients with palliative and end-of-life care needs.
• Work alongside specialist clinicians in the inpatient units.
• Develop expertise in complex symptom control, communication skills, and advance care planning.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary team meetings and case discussions.
• Support patients and families facing complex physical, emotional, social, and spiritual challenges.
• Contribute to clinical governance activities, clinical research and mortality reviews
• May be a requirement to participate in the out-of-hours on-call rota

Educational Responsibilities
You will:

• Help plan and deliver teaching sessions for medical students and other healthcare professionals.
• Support undergraduate education
• Facilitate bedside teaching, case-based discussions, simulation sessions, and small-group learning.
• Develop educational resources and teaching materials.
• Contribute to quality improvement and educational innovation projects.
• Receive support and mentorship to develop your own skills as a medical educator.

About us
Eden Valley Hospice provides specialist palliative and end-of-life care for adults, children and young people with life-limiting illnesses across North Cumbria. Our multidisciplinary team delivers compassionate, patient-centred care focused on symptom management, psychological support, advance care planning, and improving quality of life.

We are committed to excellence in clinical care, education, professional development, and research, providing an environment where doctors can develop confidence, autonomy, and specialist skills within a supportive team.

Our Values in Action
At Eden Valley Hospice & Jigsaw Cumbria's Children's Hospice, everything we do is guided by our core values:

• Caring: delivering compassionate care tailored to each individual
• Respect: valuing dignity, choice, and individuality
• Innovative: continuously improving and developing our services
• Inclusive: creating a welcoming environment for all

Job responsibilities
Overall aims
The post is designed for doctors who have completed Foundation Training (or equivalent) and wish to enhance their clinical, teaching, leadership and professional development. The post will combine supervised clinical work within Eden Valley Hospice with dedicated time for teaching, educational development and quality improvement activities.

The postholder will work closely with the multidisciplinary Specialist Palliative Care Team, contributing to the assessment, care planning and management of patients with life-limiting illnesses across both inpatient and community settings. The role will also support the delivery of educational programmes for medical students, doctors in training and other healthcare professionals.

Key Responsibilities
Clinical

• Assess and review patients referred to specialist palliative care services.
• Participate in the care of patients admitted to the hospice inpatient units.
• Assist in the management of complex symptoms including pain, breathlessness, nausea, fatigue and psychological distress.
• Develop skills in advance care planning and end-of-life care discussions.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary team meetings and clinical decision-making.
• Support the provision of holistic care addressing physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.
• Liaise with GPs, hospital teams, community nursing teams and other healthcare professionals.
• Maintain accurate and timely clinical documentation.
• Participate in clinical governance, audit and quality improvement activities.
• Undertake duties in accordance with hospice policies, professional standards and GMC guidance.

Teaching and Educational

• Support the design, organisation and delivery of educational programmes.
• Deliver teaching sessions to medical students and other learners.
• Facilitate bedside teaching and case-based discussions.
• Contribute to induction and educational activities for hospice staff.
• Develop innovative teaching materials and educational resources.
• Participate in simulation, communication skills training and multidisciplinary education where appropriate.
• Assist with evaluation and quality improvement of educational programmes.
• Maintain a portfolio of teaching activity and reflective practice.

Quality Improvement, Audit and Research

• Undertake at least one quality improvement or clinical audit project during the fellowship.
• Present findings locally and, where appropriate, at regional or national meetings.
• Contribute to service development initiatives.
• Participate in collection and analysis of clinical data where required.
• Support research activity within the hospice where opportunities exist.

Professional Development

• Participate in regular clinical and educational supervision.
• Maintain a professional portfolio.
• Attend relevant educational meetings and training opportunities.
• Participate in appraisal processes.
• Demonstrate ongoing commitment to professional development.

Clinical Governance

• Participate in incident reporting and learning processes.
• Adhere to hospice policies and procedures.
• Maintain confidentiality and information governance standards.
• Support safe, effective and compassionate patient care.
• Work within GMC Good Medical Practice standards.

Fellowship Learning Outcomes
By the end of the fellowship the post holder will be expected to demonstrate:

• Competence in the assessment and management of patients with specialist palliative care needs.
• Improved confidence in difficult conversations and advance care planning.
• Experience in delivering high-quality medical education.
• Participation in quality improvement and service development.
• Development of leadership, communication and multidisciplinary working skills.
• A portfolio of educational and clinical achievements suitable for future specialty training applications.

Person Specification
Personal Attributes
Essential

• Compassionate and professional approach
• Enthusiasm for education and training
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Flexible and adaptable
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

Qualifications
Essential

• Primary Medical Qualification (MBBS, MBChB or equivalent)
• Completion of Foundation Training (FY2) or equivalent.

Experience
Essential

• Demonstrable experience of working within NHS clinical settings.
• Experience of multidisciplinary team working.

Desirable

• Previous experience in:
  • Palliative Medicine
  • General Practice
  • Oncology
  • Geriatric Medicine
  • Acute/Internal Medicine
  • Emergency Medicine
• Previous teaching experience
• Experience undertaking audit or quality improvement projects

Skills and Knowledge
Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to teach and support learners effectively
• Good organisational and time management skills
• Awareness of principles of palliative and end-of-life care
• Commitment to patient-centred care

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).

Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw Children's Hospice is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.