Hospice creates nurse consultant roles in service overhaul
A hospice charity in South East England is creating consultant nurse positions as part of a “new care model” for its patients.
Pilgrims Hospices, which runs sites across East Kent looking after more than 2,500 people with incurable illnesses, announced this week that it was expanding its nursing and medical workforce.
“We want to dispel the view that there is not a career path in hospice care compared to the NHS”
Pia Amsler
Three new positions for palliative care consultant nurses are being created as part of this expansion.
They will be senior roles “focused on frontline patient care”, with the aim of being an alternative for nurses looking for career progression but who do not want to go through a management pathway.
Dr Pia Amsler, director of medicine for Pilgrims Hospices, said the new posts were set up to help “future proof” the hospice after recruitment difficulties.
She added that it was hoped the hospice would help “dispel” an incorrect assumption that hospices lack career progression for nurses.
The consultant nurses, the hospice said, would have “important decision making powers” within the hospice’s in-patient and community outreach services.
The charity’s plan going forward is for each hospice site to have a shared medical and nurse consultant leadership team plus a medical director who will oversee care.
“Like many hospices nationwide, we face challenges in attracting suitable candidates for key clinical roles,” Dr Amsler said.
“We have undertaken a thorough review of our structure and care model to future-proof our services and create more opportunities for healthcare professionals seeking to advance their careers.
“We want to dispel the view that there is not a career path in hospice care compared to the NHS.”
As well as the new nurse positions, Pilgrims Hospices said it was creating new posts for palliative care consultants and middle-grade doctors.
The new positions formed part of a new care model, the organisation further said, which aimed to attract more nursing and medical professionals into palliative care, offer better career progression for staff and protect the future of its services.
The need for all of this, it added, was in part due to the increasing complexity of patients and the ageing population of the UK.
“We are committed to delivering the highest quality hospice care for the people of East Kent, and have consistently enjoyed strong support from the community for our vital services,” Dr Amsler added.
