Specialist Palliative Care Clinical Nurse

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Palliative Care Clinical Nurse

The closing date is 16 October 2026

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest integrated care providers in England, serving a population of around 600,000 people. We are a high performing organisation with a track record of success and have been rated as Outstanding by the CQC for our Palliative and End of Life Care. This substantive permanent Band 7 post offers an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced Registered Nurse to work within the Specialist Palliative Care in the Community setting.

The post covers core hours of 09:00‑17:00 and works across a seven day period, weekends and bank holidays are rostered across the team as per CDDFT policy. Core hours are 09:00‑17:00.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will provide a consistent high quality specialist palliative care service for patients and families. With significant post registration experience including recent experience in palliative care.

As a Clinical Nurse Specialist within the Specialist Palliative Care Community team the post holder will need to be able to:

Demonstrate excellent communication and leadership skills and will need to be committed to developing practice.

Working collaboratively as part of a team and building effective relationships with the role colleagues, you must also be able to work on your own initiative.

Assess, plan, implement and evaluate care for patients and carers.

Provide specialist advice.

Provides day to day supervision and/or clinical supervision to others.

About us

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester‑le‑Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under‑represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

Job responsibilities

The role of the Clinical Nurse Specialist within the SpecailistPalliative Care team requires a suitably qualified and experienced registered nurse to be able to utilise their extensive knowledge of palliative care and complex symptom management to offer high quality patient centred care, whilst supporting their peers and colleagues. Be able to have a positive impact on care and confidently deal with difficult and complex situations with sensitivity and compassion. Be confident and influence change. Offer support and supervision to Band 6 Palliative Care Nurses in the team.

Experience

• Experience working as a Nurse
• Relevant post registration experience, in cancer, palliative care or relevant specialty
• Experience of multi professional working
• Leadership and management experience
• Experience of teaching
• Demonstrates proactive approach to palliative and end of life care
• Previous experience of working as a clinical nurse specialist
• Experience of audit and research Understanding of Macmillan Cancer Support and its role across the UK

Special Requirements

• Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post
• Well presented application
• Assertive and confident yet approachable and supportive manner
• Professionally credible
• Flexibility in approach to work and in range of duties/ hours of work
• Demonstrates initiative and enthusiasm
• Diplomatic
• Calm and objective
• Self Motivated
• Recognition of own limitations
• Driving posts musty have valid Full UK driving licence

Qualifications

• Highly developed knowledge of Palliative Care Pain and Symptom control management
• First level degree in related subject
• Post-basic qualification in cancer/palliative care or relevant subject
• Sound knowledge of national and regional policies influencing palliative care services
• Advanced communication skills training or willing and able to undertake
• Knowledge of cancer treatment modalities & implications
• Independent Nurse Prescriber or able and willing to undertake
• Evidence of teaching qualification (Cert Ed or equivalent)
• Good understanding of organisational priorities of relevant organisations
• Awareness of current political and organisational climate
• Evidence of Masters level learning or prepared to work towards
• UCPD in Physical Assessment skills
• Evidence of Counselling qualification
• Understanding of audit methodologies
• Research qualification

Special Skills & Knowledge

• Ability to think strategically and see the bigger picture
• Ability to demonstrate track record of practice development
• Excellent communication and counselling skills both in clinical settings and with other healthcare professionals
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing at all levels of understanding.
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of an integrated team
• Well developed influencing negotiation and facilitation skills
• Organised and able to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to respond sensitively to situations of conflict
• Confident & effective teaching / presentation skills
• Flexible and innovative
• Skills in supervision and mentorship
• Commitment to continuing personal development
• Ability to lead and influence change
• Ability to obtain and critically evaluate information to enable decision making
• Ability to motivate, inspire and lead
• Ability to deal with difficult and complex situations with sensitivity & compassion
• Ability to think and plan strategically
• Demonstrates proactive approach to palliative and end of life care Previous experience of working as a clinical nurse specialist
• Experience of audit and research

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.

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

£49,387 to £56,515 a yearper annum / pro rata

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