The closing date is 30 July 2026

Job summary
At Southern Hospice Group and Chestnut Tree House (CTH), we believe every baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition deserves outstanding, compassionate care, wherever they are.

Following on from a successful proof-of-concept, Southern Hospice Group (SHG) has been awarded the contract to establish a 24/7 consultant led childrens palliative and end of life care service for Sussex.

The neonatal CNS is a vital member of our CNS Team, ensuring that babies with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions receive compassionate, specialist, family centred care from the earliest stages of life. This role is essential in delivering equitable, high quality palliative care from diagnosis onwards, ensuring that every baby and family has access to expert support wherever care is delivered.

Working with our Nurse Consultant and Lead Consultant, this is a fantastic opportunity to be part of the clinical team that shapes and delivers a fully integrated 24/7 paediatric palliative care service across Sussex, working across home, hospice, community and hospital settings to improve continuity of care.

You will use your specialist clinical skills, experience, knowledge and expertise to provide excellent care to babies, children and young people and their families/carers across Sussex. You will provide high quality symptom and palliative care, working closely with Chestnut Tree House (Childrens Hospice) and community teams to provide a seamless comprehensive service.

Main duties of the job

• Helping families to navigate complex decisions and co-ordinate care across hospital and community settings to access timely palliative care that focuses on quality of life, symptom management and family well-being.
• Working collaboratively with neonatal intensive care units, maternity services, paediatric teams, hospices and primary care.
• Supporting advanced care planning, facilitating smooth transfers between services and supporting the delivery of compassionate care and support wherever it is needed.
• Acting as a specialist neonatal nursing resource for symptom and palliative care, monitoring and evaluating the effects of prescribed treatments.

About us
Southern Hospice Group is the UKs largest local Hospice Group, comprising two adults hospices and one Childrens Hospice. We are committed to providing exceptional and compassionate care to adults, children and their families across Sussex. Bringing our teams and resources together as one organisation means we can focus on new and plans for our people and patients and provide even greater opportunities for our workforce.

Chestnut Tree House is the childrens hospice for Sussex and Southeast Hampshire, providing specialist palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions.

St Barnabas House provides specialist palliative care to adults in the Worthing, Adur, Arun and Henfield areas through a range of services, including in-patient care and community living well services.

Martlets provides essential care to adults affected by terminal illness in Brighton and Hove and surrounding areas. Our expert teams provide the very best care and support, helping patients and their loved ones to live life to the full during the precious time they have together.

We warmly welcome applications from all sections of our community. We also invite applications from suitably experienced people from all industry sectors who can demonstrate the skills, ability and enthusiasm to work with a people-centric organisation like ours.

Job responsibilities

• Providing professional and clinical leadership in the provision of symptom and palliative care across care settings for BCYP under the care of COAST palliative care team.
• To work in partnership with CTH In house and Community teams and the wider MDT, demonstrating excellent communication to ensure high quality seamless care for Children and Young people.
• Acting as an expert clinical resource for symptom and palliative care for BCYPs, their families and health care professionals across care settings. These settings will include hospice, hospital, home, school and GPs.
• Providing support to BCYPs and their families where required through community visits to hospital, home or hospice along with relevant healthcare professionals.
• Maintaining an awareness of the diverse nature of the COAST catchment area in order to provide child/family centred care.
• Demonstrating a high degree of professional autonomy, using clinical judgement to provide advice, always referring to the nurse consultant or medical consultants as required. Clinical
• Actively involved with the on-going development of the COAST service, in particular the symptom management service and contributing to development through research, audit and quality improvement.
• Providing clinical support and continuity of care to babies, children and young people with symptom and palliative care needs.
• Taking joint responsibility with the consultant for the development of individual and generic symptom management plans in liaison with the CTH contracted GPs and external nursing / medical providers.
• Supporting and educating families with symptom and palliative care needs in conjunction with the Consultant in Palliative Medicine, the Symptom Management Team and other members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).
• Jointly monitoring and evaluating the effects of prescribed treatment, adjusting medication within agreed protocols and in conjunction with the medical team.
• Facilitating the completion of Advance Care Plans including resuscitation plans (when competent), symptom management plans and ambulance directives liaising with all appropriate stakeholders.
• Working in partnership with all members of the MDT, encouraging and promoting effective team working from all disciplines within CTH.
• Work in collaboration with the in-house and community teams, taking the lead as needed, to facilitate hospital discharges for end of life, compassionate extubation, step down care and symptom management to ensure a smooth transition and excellent liaison. Undertake family and professional meetings at referring hospitals as needed.
• Coordinating transition to adult services when appropriate in conjunction with the transition coordinator.
• Providing educational and supportive strategies to meet the needs of the BCYPs with complex symptoms.
• Follow all hospice safeguarding policies and procedures ensuring escalation of safeguarding concerns in a timely manner.
• Acting as a knowledgeable resource for specialist advice and facilitating practice, knowledge and skill in relation to the specific needs of patients and families receiving palliative care and provide appropriate bereavement support.
• Attending relevant outpatient clinics and MDT meetings.
• Contributing to the clinics run by the team at the hospices with the Consultant in Paediatric Palliative Care.
• Ensuring written communication and correspondence is to a high standard and shared with relevant professionals on contacts with CYPs.
• Participate in the community on call provision with progression to the symptom management on call rota (separate arrangement) when fully competent.

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Specialist experience in neonatal/paediatric palliative care
• Proven experience of teaching
• Significant experience of palliative care, end of life care, symptom management, peri-natal/neonatal or community care
• Proven leadership and management experience
• Demonstrable experience in audit, quality improvement
• Proven experience of effective multi-professional working

Qualifications
Essential

• Registered Nurse (Child)
• First level degree in related topic
• Post graduate qualification in palliative care, childrens community nursing, neonatal or relevant subject
• Evidence of master's level learning
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Physical Assessment course
• Nurse prescriber or willingness to work towards within 12 months of appointment
• Advanced communication course or similar

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website. From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Leanne Asling, hroperations@southernhospicegroup.org.uk, 01903706317.