Canberra Health Services (CHS) is focused on the delivery of high quality, effective, person centered care. It provides acute, sub-acute, primary and community‐based health services, to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and surrounding region.

North Canberra Hospital (NCH) is a level 4 hospital that provides a range of acute and sub-acute services including community-based care to the residents of the north side of Canberra and Southern NSW. The Specialist Palliative Care Service at Clare Holland House (CHH) provides Tertiary Level Palliative Care to the people of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and surrounding region. This service is offered through several arms including:

• 27 bed Specialist Palliative Care Inpatient Unit
• Home Based Palliative Care (HBPC) under Community Specialist Palliative Care Services (CSPCS)
• Palliative Care Specialist Outpatient Clinics (under CSPCS umbrella)
• Residential Aged Palliative Care Nursing Consultancy working in clinical collaboration with the CHH medical team (under CSPCS umbrella)
• Participation in relation to palliative care support for external multidisciplinary specialty clinics as required (e.g. Motor Neurone Disease, Renal Supportive Care, Winnunga Aboriginal Health) (under CSPCS umbrella)
• Acute Hospital Consultancy Service at North Canberra Hospital
• North Canberra Hospital Centre for Palliative Care Research based at CHH
• Clinical palliative advisory support for University Canberra Hospital (UCH) as required
• Clinical palliative advisory support for community medical practitioners as required

Clare Holland House is a fully accredited service with RACP/Chapter of Palliative Medicine and currently provides 3.0 FTE advance trainee registrar positions. Rotations in the Inpatient Unit, Community Service and with the Acute Hospital Consultancy Service within CHH are accredited. This service is accredited as a training site for the FAChPM Clinical Foundation in Palliative Medicine and as a Special/Extended Skills rotation for FRACGP training.

The Clinical Director is an experienced medical professional with specialty qualifications in palliative care. The Medical Director leads their medical professional group including specialists, trainees and junior medical officers. They have a critical role in supporting education and training for their workforce and in this position, they have a key clinical leadership role within the organisation.

This position plays a significant role in ensuring sustainable and high-quality patient care delivery across the Territory and surrounding area in managing sustainable services, management of risk, workforce and medical governance. Strong professional leadership of the medical workforce and the ability to deliver on both the strategic and operational elements of the Clinical Director role are vital. Well-being is a focus for NCH and a key objective for this role is to focus on the workforce experience through employee support, talent acquisition and retention and strengthening working conditions and culture.

There is opportunity for the Medical Director to undertake clinical work within their specialty area, noting that this would make up no more than 60% of workload.

• Provide high quality patient focused clinical care and clinical leadership, as part of the Executive Team, to all lines of business within the Palliative Care services and to develop and deliver Clinical Services and Operational Plans.
• Represent the Division and participate in strategy and planning across the Division and with external stakeholders to optimise future service delivery for the Division.
• Proactively develop a positive and collaborative workplace culture.
• Through strengthening the Division’s reputation as a great place to train and work, create a sustainable and effective medical workforce, with growth in clinical, research and teaching across all areas of the Division.
• Lead and facilitate professional development and training requirements, including training accreditation, for medical staff within the Division. Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders with regards to training and education as needed.
• In conjunction with the CHS Palliative Care leadership team, provide governance of quality and safety activities, guideline development, service redesign and model of care development and ensure that appropriate clinical governance structures are in place for the Department and the Division.
• In partnership with the Executive Director, ensure timely workforce planning of medical staff and effective line management of medical staff including rostering, leave planning and performance management.
• Take an active part in budget planning and financial management with other members of the Division’s leadership team.
• Preparedness to participate in any on-call service including on-call rosters.
• Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.
• Maintain the established relationship with Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology.

• Strong leadership skills and role modelling of respectful behaviours consistent with the Service’s vision and values.
• Adaptability and flexibility to accommodate change and provide responsive services to meet patients’ needs.
• Extensive experience in palliative care medicine.
• Displays critical thinking skills and forms conclusions based on evidence and sound judgement.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to develop and maintain networks across CHS and with external parties.
• Ability to work within interdisciplinary and management teams and adapt quickly to a changing environment, including managing confidential and sensitive information.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following.

Essential

• Be registered or be eligible for registration as a medical practitioner with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), with no conditions, under investigations or reprimands.
• Hold a Fellowship of the Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine (FAChPM) or an equivalent higher specialist qualification
• The successful applicant will participate in the weekend and after-hours on call roster.
• 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.

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.

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to the following.

Essential

• Extensive technical and professional competence in the specialty practice of Palliative Care
• Strong engagement with junior medical officers, a sound understanding of all levels of medical workforce and an ability to engage with different medical specialities to address their needs.

Desirable

• Demonstrated experience in the management of clinical services.
• Meet criteria for senior staff specialist appointment in ACT
• RACMA associate / fellowship or similar training in medical leadership.
• Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer or higher from an Institute of Higher Learning.
• Current drivers’ licence.
• Demonstrated experience in clinical supervision, teaching and professional development of junior medical staff and other relevant staff to foster safe clinical practice and development of the medical profession.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including effective negotiation and conflict resolution, and an ability to liaise effectively at all levels of work, and interact as part of a diverse professional team.
• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in alignment to the CHS Exceptional Care Framework and all other related frameworks.

• 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.

All employees are required to:

• Adhere to the Canberra Health Services Values and the ACT Public Service Code of Conduct
• Act in accordance and comply with all relevant Safety and Quality policies and procedures.
• Comply with all relevant clinical and/or competency standards.
• Be available for weekend and/or 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.

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

1. Proven experience as a senior medical clinician who has led and implemented clinical services across hospital and community settings with the ability to deliver patient centred care that is safe, timely and effective and contribute to the strategic planning and the development of contemporary health services.
2. An active commitment to teaching and education of medical, nursing and allied health professionals. While demonstrating the ability to provide and promote leadership to all medical practitioners within the Division.
3. Proven ability to lead sustainable systems within a changing environment that support clinical governance and demonstrated experience in the application of quality and safety improvements, including clinical reviews, audits, service evaluations and incident management.
4. Demonstrated high level of stakeholder management with strong interpersonal and communication skills to build trusted professional relationships which have enabled organisational change, effective workforce planning and performance.
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.

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.

Administrative	Frequency
Telephone use	Frequently
General computer use	Frequently
Extensive keying/data entry	Occasionally
Graphical/analytical based	Occasionally
Sitting at a desk	Frequently
Standing for long periods	Occasionally

Psychosocial demands	Frequency
Distressed People e.g. Emergency or grief situations	Frequently
Aggressive & Uncooperative People e.g. drug / alcohol, dementia, mental illness	Occasionally
Unpredictable People e.g. Dementia, mental illness, head injuries	Occasionally
Restraining e.g. involvement in physical containment of clients/consumers	Never
Exposure to Distressing Situations e.g. Child abuse, viewing dead / mutilated bodies; verbal abuse; domestic violence; suicide	Frequently

Physical demands	Frequency
Distance walking (large buildings or inter-building transit)	Occasionally
Working outdoors	Never

Manual handling	Frequency
Lifting 0 - 9kg	Occasionally
Lifting 10 - 15kg	Occasionally
Lifting 16kg+	Occasionally
Climbing	Never
Running	Never
Reaching	Occasionally
Kneeling	Occasionally
Foot and leg movement	Frequently
Hand, arm and grasping movements	Frequently
Bending/squatting	Occasionally
Bend/Lean Forward from Waist/Trunk twisting	Frequently
Push/pull	Occasionally
Sequential repetitive movements in a short amount of time	Occasionally

Travel	Frequency
Frequent travel – multiple work sites	Occasionally
Frequent travel – driving	Occasionally

Specific hazards	Frequency
Working at heights	Never
Exposure to extreme temperatures	Never
Operation of heavy machinery e.g. forklift	Never
Confined spaces	Never
Excessive noise	Never
Low lighting	Never
Handling of dangerous goods/equipment e.g. gases; liquids; biological.	Never
Slippery or uneven surfaces	Never