Job summary
The Triage Facilitator will support specialist clinical telephone triage service for unplanned and virtual ward community palliative care referrals across the Staffordshire St Giles Hospice catchment area. The service currently operates seven days a week between 08:00 and 20:00, with phase two extending provision to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The role will provide clinical triage leadership, supporting the management of complex care pathways, contributing to audit and service development, and providing staff supervision in line with organisational and professional standards.

The post holder will undertake timely specialist palliative care assessments by telephone in response to urgent presentations, prioritise incoming patients and referrals using agreed clinical guidelines and pathways, identify urgent or unmet needs, and coordinate safe and responsive care and support plans, including action within two hours of urgent referral acceptance where required.

This is a development post, appointed at St Giles Pay Scale E with opportunity to progress to St Giles Pay Scale F once the non-medical prescribing qualification has been achieved and relevant competencies have been demonstrated.

Referrals may be received from 111/999, GPs, allied health professionals, community, hospice, acute and virtual ward teams, as well as directly from patients, families and carers.

Main duties of the job

• Produce work of a high standard and always promote quality.
• Uphold St Giles Hospice policies and its commitment to equal opportunities for all current and potential members of staff and patients.
• Keep up to date on all matters relating to St Giles Hospice procedures and policies.
• Adhere to the professional standards set by the relevant professional body, ensuring registration remains current and engaging in continuous professional development.
• Uphold the Hospice philosophy, which is based on an interdisciplinary approach, and participate fully in this model of care.
• Maintain accurate, timely and contemporaneous records in line with professional standards, information governance requirements, consent, confidentiality and data protection legislation.
• Recognise and escalate concerns relating to deteriorating patients, urgent symptom management, medication-related queries, risk, safeguarding, or unsafe situations in accordance with Hospice policies and agreed clinical pathways.
• Comply with lone working, community working and personal safety procedures where duties require contact with patients, families, carers or professionals outside the Hospice setting.
• Work in accordance with the NMC Code, maintain current professional registration, and take responsibility for revalidation and continuing professional development.

About us
All staff must commit to our vision and values and exhibit behaviours in line with these.

We have adopted five core values that have been developed through engagement with our volunteers, staff, patients and families. These are the values that characterise all that we do and our behaviours with our patients and families, and each other.

Our values:

• We care
• We are trustworthy
• We work together
• We are creative
• We take pride

These values underpin everything we do, and we expect all staff at St Giles, in all capacities - employees, bank staff, contractors, agency staff, those who hold honorary contracts, students and volunteers - to share and uphold these values. Each value is supported by behavioural standards and employees will be expected to display these behaviours at all times.

We also expect that everyone who works here shall act in such a manner as to justify public trust and confidence and to uphold and enhance the good standing and reputation of St Giles Hospice. Individuals must therefore always carry out their duties with due regard to the Hospices Equality and Diversity Policy.

Job responsibilities

• Prioritise and triage patients presenting with a range of conditions including palliative, EOL and acute conditions, making any necessary referrals in an appropriate manner.
• Support the team in implementing and evaluating personalised care planning, providing individual specialised treatment plans, ReSPECT and advanced care planning for patients.
• Support the team in providing specialist palliative care and support to patients and their families in the place they call home, as required and in accordance with evidence-based clinical practice.
• Process and interpret pathology and other diagnostic results as required.
• Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies.
• Liaise with external services and agencies and the patients usual community teams to ensure the patient continues to be supported appropriately.
• Liaise with virtual ward teams to support timely assessment, shared care planning, escalation and safe community-based management where appropriate.
• Delegate clinical responsibility appropriately, ensuring safe practice and that the task is within the individuals scope of practice.
• Work closely with the St Giles at Home community teams in supporting the needs of all patients under the community services.
• At times where service requirements / patient demands, may require seeing patients in the community for face-to-face assessments.

General management, supervision, teaching and training

• Maintain and develop clinical skills and specialist palliative care knowledge through active participation in caseload management, in-house training, relevant external study days, and continuing professional development.
• In conjunction with the line manager, establish and develop effective relationships with internal and external colleagues, agencies, and organisations to promote the clinical services offered by the Hospice.
• Participate in clinical supervision.
• Attend meetings within the hospice as required.
• In conjunction with other clinical departments, participate in the delivery of training programmes regarding referral processes and the advice line for Hospice staff, external referrers and other interested groups.
• Provide cover for colleagues as required and appropriate.
• Maintain strict confidentiality in relation to staff, patient, and service information within St Giles Hospice.
• Participate in risk assessment and contribute to the clinical and corporate governance agenda as appropriate.
• Support and participate in shared learning within the system.
• Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate.
• Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach.
• Participate in regular annual staff performance and development review.
• Produce work of a high standard and always promote quality.
• Uphold St Giles Hospice policies and its commitment to equal opportunities for all current and potential members of staff and patients.
• Keep up to date on all matters relating to St Giles Hospice procedures and policies.
• Adhere to the professional standards set by the relevant professional body, ensuring registration remains current and engaging in continuous professional development.
• Uphold the Hospice philosophy, which is based on an interdisciplinary approach, and participate fully in this model of care.
• Maintain accurate, timely and contemporaneous records in line with professional standards, information governance requirements, consent, confidentiality and data protection legislation.
• Recognise and escalate concerns relating to deteriorating patients, urgent symptom management, medication-related queries, risk, safeguarding, or unsafe situations in accordance with Hospice policies and agreed clinical pathways.
• Comply with lone working, community working and personal safety procedures where duties require contact with patients, families, carers or professionals outside the Hospice setting.
• Demonstrate emotional resilience and seek appropriate support, supervision and debriefing when managing distressing, complex or sensitive conversations with patients, families, carers and professionals.
• Work in accordance with the NMC Code, maintain current professional registration, and take responsibility for revalidation and continuing professional development.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Adult Registered Nurse/relevant HCP qualification
• Health Assessment qualification or working towards.
• Evidence of level 7 studies (or working towards)
• Experience in palliative care
• Knowledge of:
• Specialist palliative care and end-of-life care
• Community working and services
• Clinical assessment
• IT literacy
• Clinical audit
• Health and safety

Desirable

• Palliative care/end-of-life care qualifications
• Clinical supervision
• Data collection
• Clinical Governance
• Teaching skills

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).

St Giles Hospice is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.