New team at the Glasgow Children’s Hospital

The team will be a first for Scotland, and bring together dedicated nursing and medical staff to provide the best possible support for children who need palliative care at the hospital. The team will be funded by CHAS, and employed by the NHS.

The core team will consist of a consultant in paediatric palliative medicine, two clinical nurse specialists and a team administrator.

We have started the recruitment of the two clinical nurse specialists and the consultant – details of how to apply are below. This is an incredible opportunity to support children and families who need care the most.

Hearing that your child may die young is devastating for parents and children. Right now, every single person in the hospital pulls out every stop to make that devastating experience as manageable as it can be. The new specialist team will work alongside medical and nursing colleagues to ensure palliative and end of life care in this hospital is the very best it can be.

The clinical nurse specialists will be working closely with hospital staff across professions and specialisms, supporting children and families and helping share knowledge and skills. Glasgow Children’s Hospital is Scotland’s largest children’s hospital and a national provider of specialised care. Across Scotland, there are nearly 6,000 children with a life-shortening condition that are in contact with hospital teams regularly. Many of these children use the Glasgow children’s hospital.

In the hospital, there is currently one consultant oncologist with palliative care sessions and a CHAS Diana Children’s Nurse. In addition, a paediatric oncology outreach team supports families at end of life when there is a cancer diagnosis.

The consultant will spend time in wards throughout the hospital, supporting colleagues through discussing complex symptoms, helping with anticipatory care planning, and providing emotional support to the whole family. They will also help with transfers to home or Robin House for end of life care, and ensure ongoing bereavement care is provided for families.

Recruitment for the two roles of Clinical Nurse Specialists is open now, and closes on Friday 19 April 2019. Please find more information, and apply via NHS Scotland Recruitment portal here: http://bit.ly/2DcjSKG.

The consultant post is open for applications until 10 May 2019 – details are also on the NHS Scotland Recruitment portal.