Position Overview

This position offers the opportunity to join the Specialist Palliative Care Service at Clare Holland House, part of Canberra Health Services. As a Staff Specialist in Palliative Care, you will provide high-quality, patient-centred medical care across a range of settings including the inpatient unit, outpatient clinics, community and home-based services, and hospital consultancy.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will play a key role in delivering compassionate end-of-life care, supporting patients, families, and carers, and contributing to education, training, and clinical leadership within the service. The role also includes participation in the on-call roster to ensure continuity of care for patients and their families.

This is an opportunity to work in a fully accredited, well-established service that is recognised for its strong focus on quality, collaboration, and training. You will also contribute to the ongoing development of palliative care services, research, and education in line with Canberra Health Services’ values of being reliable, progressive, respectful, and kind

Key responsibilities

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following under limited direction of the Clinical Director, you will:

1. Provide high quality patient focused clinical care to NCH patients and leadership within the palliative medicine department.
2. Conduct appropriate medical assessments and treatments in liaison with other palliative care professionals as required ensuring adequate documentation is entered in the patients’ medical records and referrals are made to other health professionals and organisations
3. Preparedness to participate in any on-call service including on-call rosters.
4. Provide leadership and managerial support, as part of a broader leadership team, for the day to day operations of the NCH Palliative Care service and Palliative Care medical team.
5. Provides clinical support for Nurse Practitioner(s) at Clare Holland House and the Aged Care Clinical Nurse Consultant
6. Provide clinical support and supervision to junior medical staff at Clare Holland House
7. Engage in education to internal and external bodies as required, this includes formal and informal education as well as the in-service Palliative Care education program
8. Ensure systems are in place for the day-to-day running of the palliative care service including the recording and maintenance of statistics, continuity of patient care, and communication with external providers
9. Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

Competencies

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

In addition to meeting the core competencies for General Medicine to be recognised as a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Physicians (FRACP), the preferred candidate will have:

• Adaptability and flexibility to accommodate change and provide responsive services to meet patients’ needs.
• Embrace contemporary practices, research, and ensure the delivery of services to the highest professional standards.
• Displays critical thinking skills and forms sound conclusions based on evidence and sound judgement.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to develop and maintain networks across Canberra Health Services and with external parties.
• Ability to work within multi-disciplinary and management teams and adapt quickly to a changing environment.
• Experience in the practice of Palliative Care Medicine.
• Strong organisational skills with a high degree of drive.
• Good understanding of the principles of quality and safety to deliver exceptional care.

In addition to a commitment to work, health and safety (WH&S) and contributing to the CHS positive patient focus displaying behaviours consistent with the organisational values of Reliable, Progressive, Respectful and Kind.

About you

CHS is committed to workforce diversity and to creating an inclusive workplace. As part of this commitment, we welcome applications from all diversity groups. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and people who identify as LGBTQIA+ are particularly encouraged to apply.

Position Requirements / Qualifications

Mandatory

• Be registered or eligible for registration as a medical practitioner with the Australian Health Practitioner’s Regulation Agency, with no conditions, undertakings or reprimands (AHPRA).
• Hold a Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Physicians  (FRACP) or an equivalent higher specialist qualification.
• Not be the subject of an unresolved scope of clinical practice review of by Medical Dental Appointments Advisory Committee or a current inquiry by AHPRA.
• Applicants who have completed the fellowship exam and are in the last 3 months or pending successful completion by July 2025 are also invited to apply.
• The successful applicant will need to be available for on call, weekend and after-hours work
• CHS is leading the drive to digitally transform health service delivery in Australia through the implementation of a territory wide Digital Health Record. Computer literacy skills are required which are relevant to this role as you will be responsible for completing required documentation and becoming a proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems; once proficient, you will need to remain current with changes, updates and contingencies.
• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in alignment to the CHS Exceptional Care Framework, Clinical Governance Framework, Partnering with Consumers.

Desirable

• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.
• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in alignment to the CHS Exceptional Care Framework and all other related frameworks.

Please note prior to commencement successful candidates will be required to:

• Undergo a pre-employment National Police Check.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Credentialing and scope of clinical practice requirements for medical professionals.

What you Require (Key Selection Criteria)

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your CV and experience.

1. Provide high-standard palliative clinical care across inpatient, community, consultancy, and home-based settings.
2. Undertake core clinical responsibilities, including outpatient clinics, ward rounds, MDT participation, clinical support in HBPC/PEACE, home visits when required, and participation in the on-call roster.
3. Deliver compassionate, patient-centred care while working effectively and collaboratively as both a leader and member of multidisciplinary teams to ensure high patient satisfaction and outcomes.
4. Contribute to quality improvement, risk management, audits, education, training, and research, while maintaining a commitment to ongoing professional development and service delivery enhancements.
5. Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, Work Health and Safety and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful, and kind.

Work Environment Description

The following work environment description outlines the inherent requirements of the role and indicates how frequently each of these requirements would need to be performed. Please note that the ACT Public Service is committed to providing reasonable adjustments and ensuring all individuals have equal opportunities in the workplace.