Director Palliative Care - Registered Nurse Level 5 Grade 4

Employment Type – Permanent, Full Time Position

Classification –Registered Nurse Level 5 Grade 4

Title- Director Palliative Care - Registered Nurse Level 5 Grade 4

Position Number: 602550

Salary – $159,986 (Plus Super) 

Location – North Canberra Hospital Bruce, ACT

Section – Palliative Care

Closing Date – 19th February 2024

What can we offer you: 

• City living without the traffic – click her to see why you should live in Canberra.
• Competitive pay rates and excellent working conditions. 
• Salary Packaging with many options that provide full fringe benefits tax concessions.
• Flexible working conditions. 
• 11.5% Superannuation. 

About the Hospital:

North Canberra Hospital (formerly Calvary Public Hospital Bruce) and Clare Holland House are now run and operated by Canberra Health Services (CHS)

This is a significant milestone as the ACT Government moves towards delivering a new billion-dollar hospital on Canberra’s Northside.

The current North Canberra Hospital is a level 4 hospital that provides a range of acute and sub-acute services including community based care to the residents of the northside of Canberra and Southern NSW. North Canberra Hospital (NCH) is a 270 public hospital located in Canberra’s expanding northside. North Canberra Hospital operates a 24 hour Emergency Department.  Inpatient services include general medicine, surgery, maternity, mental health and critical care.

Other service modalities include day surgery, specialist outpatient clinics, Hospital in the Home and the Geriatric Rapid Acute Care Evaluation service that reaches into aged care facilities across the ACT.

The new Northside Hospital will be built on the existing Calvary Hospital campus in Bruce. It will be a modern, state-of-the-art hospital for patients, visitors and its workforce and will provide more beds and increased services. Until then, it's business as usual at the NCH, and we'll keep providing high-quality care to our patients and community.

About the role:

Palliative care services at North Canberra Hospital (NCH) aim to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing a life limiting - illness. This is achieved through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of the early identification, impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual symptoms.

Based at Clare Holland House, these Palliative Care Service provide tertiary and integrated level Palliative Care to the community of the ACT and surrounding districts. The service has a number of service arms providing comprehensive specialist Palliative Care and integrated care across the palliative spectrum.

The Clare Holland House Inpatient Unit (CHH IPU) is a 20 bed specialist Palliative Care unit offering multidisciplinary inpatient care. Patients are admitted to the unit for the management of complex physical symptoms, psychosocial issues, and emotional, existential distress, for respite and end of life care. This unit is a short stay facility with care being provided to those patients whose complexity of illness are unable to be managed in a primary care setting.

Community Specialist Palliative Care Service (CSPCS) provides multidisciplinary specialist Palliative Care in a number of settings to patients with a life limiting illness living at home within the ACT. 

This leadership role is a great opportunity for an experienced leader in Nursing to step into and make their own or a senior clinician to stretch themselves and explore their passion for health service management.

The Director of Palliative Care provides strategic and operational direction to the Palliative Care services. They are responsible for the effective management of clinical services in partnership with the Palliative Care Medical Director. The position reports operationally through the Executive Director of Palliative Care and Allied Health and the position forms a key part of the Palliative Care services management and assist in the development and implementation of the strategic plan for NCH.

Under limited direction of the Executive Director of Allied Health and Palliative Care, you will:

• Provide strategic direction, planning and leadership for NCH Palliative Care services. 
• Develop and manage financial, physical and human resources for the service. This includes achieving and reporting on service performance measures and outcomes. 
• Monitoring service demand and integration of services within and between designated programs/ services and other service providers and developing appropriate responses. 
• Achieve high quality services in all program areas. Ensure systems of clinical governance are in place in designated service areas and monitor their continued effectiveness and that there is alignment with the National Safety & Quality Health Care standards. 
• Provide policy and operational advice to the Health Service for designated service areas. 
• Participate as a member of the relevant Palliative Care Forums to develop strong links across Divisions between the development of Palliative Care strategy, operational management, professional practice and learning, research & innovation. 
• Representation of the service and ACT Government Health Directorate at appropriate Territory and National forums.
• Supporting the Executive Director in the overall management and leadership of Palliative Care Services within NCH and across CHS. 
• Undertake portfolio responsibilities on behalf of the Executive Director of Allied Health & Palliative Care as required.

About you:

Behavioural Capabilities

• Strong organisation and time management skills with the ability to work as a team and independently.
• The ability to work in a fast paced environment and deliver quality outcomes.
• A strong commitment to patient safety, best practice and evidenced-based care.
• Adaptability and flexibility to accommodate change and provide responsive services to meet patients’ and service needs.
• 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.

Position Requirements / Qualifications

• Registered as a Nurse with Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) with no restrictions
• Relevant post graduate qualification in nursing, health management or related field
• Strong leadership experience and capability, including capacity to build and inspire cohesive high performing teams.
• Broad experience and demonstrated high level ability in health service delivery and knowledge of contemporary professional practice.
• Current Drivers Licence 

Please note: this position is a multi-classified position and will also be advertised as a HPO6 position. 

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

• Prior to commencing this role, a current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 is required.
• Undergo a pre-employment National Police Check.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.

How to apply:

Applications must be submitted through the e-recruitment system;

• Applications must include a copy of a current CV and details for at least 2 professional referees
• A pitch outlining your skills, knowledge, and experience and why you should be considered for this role. You should take into consideration the selection criteria (below) when drafting your response. 
• Where possible include specific relevant examples of your work.

To be eligible for permanent employment within the ACT Public Service you must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident”

What you require:

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

Your statement of claims against the selection criteria should summarise how your skills and experiences would enable you to fulfil the responsibilities of the position. It is therefore in the interests of candidates to present their application in a way that demonstrates significant outcomes associated with each of the criteria, as well as the capabilities and behaviors that underpin them. 

• Extensive experience in effectively planning and managing complex Palliative Care and/or health services within a multi-disciplinary health service across a range of health care settings. This includes working collaboratively with allied health and medical partners.
• Strong commitment to and extensive experience supporting inter-professional collaboration and interprofessional learning.
• Proven ability to manage financial, physical and human resources including workforce innovation.
• High level understanding of current issues facing health systems and the demonstrated ability to provide leadership, direction and policy advice on a range of operational and strategic issues.
• Highly developed oral and written communication skills, ability to liaise, consult and negotiate effectively with internal and external service providers and stakeholders.
• Demonstrate a commitment to work, health and safety (WH&S) and the positive patient experience and displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of Respectful, Reliable, Progressive and Kind.

If you would like further information regarding this opportunity, please contact Todd Kaye, *********@act.gov.au

A merit pool will be established from this recruitment process and will be used for the next 12 months to fill various positions both on a temporary and permanent basis with full-time and part-time opportunities available.