Virtual Ward Practitioner – Virtual Ward
Job Type: Permanent
Location: Katharine House Hospice, Stafford
Salary: £43,317 - £52,164 per annum
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Application deadline: 20th September 2026
Telephone Interview date: 24th September 2026
Face to face interview date: 01st October 2026
Katharine House Hospice is an open- culture organisation, underpinned by clear strategic aims, vision and values. By joining Katharine House Hospice, you will be part of a dedicated team of professionals who are committed to delivering person- led, responsive and cost- effective services of the highest quality. Staff at Katharine House Hospice are well motivated, with professional development pathways, and given opportunities to be reflective in their roles through supervision and reflective practice. The Hospice offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including a contributory pension scheme, or option to retain NHS pension, generous holiday allowance, funded study, free parking, perks and much more.
We value people – so much so, it’s one of our three key values as a charity.
Katharine House Hospice are currently looking to recruit Virtual Ward Practitioner as part of our new Virtual Ward service, delivering specialist palliative and end of life care to patients in their own homes, supported by remote monitoring, and multidisciplinary working. At Katharine House Hospice our vision is to be admired as a centre of excellence for palliative and end-of-life care. Our many different services provide patients, their families and carers with physical, emotional, social, psychological and spiritual support, at home or at the hospice. You will be part of a geographically dispersed workforce, ensuring patients receive care that is equivalent to, or exceeds, that delivered within an inpatient setting.
You will play a critical role in:
-
Admission avoidance and early discharge pathways
- Delivering care closer to home
- Supporting system flow and reducing pressure on adult palliative services
- Driving innovation and transformation in healthcare delivery
The right candidate will possess excellent communication and organisational skills, a motivation for continual learning and sharing of knowledge, with the drive to ensure our patients receive the highest possible standard of care. You will work as part of the Virtual ward team which provides support through the 24/7 advice line and rapid response service. This runs alongside the established Palliative Care Nurse Specialists team and Hospice at Home. You will be supported by a Virtual Ward Clinical Lead, who will offer ongoing support, supervision and guidance to help you feel confident and well supported in your role. There will be opportunities to develop and grow your palliative care expertise and undertake funded degree or masters level study. If you would you like to be part of our friendly, supportive team delivering high standards of specialist palliative care, which endeavours to go the extra mile in supporting our patients and their families, then we would love to hear from you. This role will be full time although four days will be considered.
33 days per annum, which includes bank holidays (pro rata for part time), increasing after five and 10 years’ service.
We match contributions up to 7% to a Aegon scheme.If you’re currently contributing to the NHS pension scheme you can continue to do so.
Reassurance should the worst happen. 2 x salary to your family.
-
Employee assistance programme
Providing support for your wellbeing.
-
Training and development opportunities
Continuous learning and professional growth.
Support during times of illness.
-
Healthcare cash benefit plan
Contributory plan to help cover health-related expenses.
If you’re passionate about people and want to contribute to a mission that matters, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now and help us continue to provide exceptional care and support to those who need it most.
If you’d like to know more about this role, without commitment, please contact the HR department on 01785 218257, or email [email protected]
The closing date is 20th September 2026, however we may close this advert earlier, subject to response rates.
If you require any reasonable adjustment to participate in this process, please do not hesitate to contact HR on the number above.
How to apply
To the link below to submit an application via indeed.
“We help local adults with complex, progressive illnesses from diagnosis to the end of life through free, high quality, specialist palliative care, advice and guidance, and we support those close to them.”
Department and Role Objectives
This role is part of a new Virtual Ward service, incorporating advice line, rapid response and virtual beds. The post holder will work within a team led by the Virtual Ward Clinical Lead. The role requires you to be responsive when supporting with unplanned patient activity, which is generated through our 24/7 advice line and the wider community team. There will be a requirement to conduct rapid interventions, which for much of the time will be face to face, but maybe over the telephone, either in the patient’s own home or in our outpatient facility at the hospice.
The purpose of the service is to provide specialist palliative advice and guidance to patients, their families and allied healthcare professionals to support with urgent matters, such as complex symptom management and guidance, spiritual, psychological and social issues, to support with a patient’s preferred wishes surrounding care and death and to avoid unnecessary hospital escalations.
The role will allow the post holder the opportunity to undertake any required training and development, with structured supervision and support. Continued professional development is supported and encouraged. There will be funded opportunities to build on your academic portfolio. Our service functions 24 hours, 7 days a week and you will work as part of an established hospice clinical team, where we have a strong ethos of flexible working to suit the needs of our patients and families.
Core Responsibilities
Key Area - Responsibilities & Outputs
Leadership
-
Able to demonstrate leadership through clinical expertise. Aim to deliver high standards of person-centred care and using underpinning philosophy of specialist palliative care.
- Have the skills and confidence to contribute to the delivery of specialist education and training to other professionals in a formal and informal setting.
- Provide support and leadership to all staff including students, HCA’s and colleagues from other disciplines.
- With support from a mentor, be able to contribute to the development and promotion of the Virtual Ward service.
- Contribute to quantitative and qualitative data collection of the virtual ward service.
- Understand and utilise relevant clinical guidelines.
- Takes professional responsibility for ensuring effective communication between all service providers across the care pathway.
- After an initial period, will actively participate in multi-professional meetings, acting as patient advocate and representing the Virtual Ward view.
Clinical Services
-
To support the delivery of a 24/7 advice line and conduct rapid intervention visits for unplanned activity.
- To ensure all patients admitted to the Virtual Ward receive a comprehensive assessment, including clinical risk, frailty and social needs.
- To work alongside your team to ensure the continued co-ordination of the content and delivery of the community patients care plans and ensure the quality and provision of specialist palliative care of patients and their families.
- To assess the needs of patients and their carers and identify their respective physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual needs.
- To work within a team framework, collaborating with colleagues and members of other disciplines.
- To use a reactive and sensitive approach with patients and families during times of unplanned activity and respond timely to their needs.
- To conduct a triage assessment aligning to a time frame for responsiveness.
- To assess people’s information needs and provide relevant information to meet those needs.
- To ensure provision of appropriate clinical interventions and utilise clinical information appropriately.
- To follow the hospice and professional body registration (NMC/HCPC) standards on medicines management and work within the scope and practice of Katharine House Hospice policies and Standard Operating Procedures.
- To liaise and communicate professionally with colleagues from members of the MDT at Katharine House Hospice.
- To participate in clinical audit and research programmes.
- To foster positive working relations with other healthcare professionals and lead by example.
- Take a collective lead in clinical governance, initiating areas of audit to improve practice.
- To support colleagues, volunteers and students in managing bereavements, and provide support for distressed patients, bereaved relatives and visitors.
Development
-
To ensure personal compliance with hospice mandatory training requirements.
- To work alongside your clinical lead to set objectives for your development and achieve these.
- To keep abreast of advances in palliative care/ nursing/ paramedic practices and research and take responsibility for your personal continuous professional development and registration.
- Through the ongoing professional development process, to plan your continuing professional and self-development, attending internal and external study days and courses as appropriate.
- To lead in supervision, debriefing and reflective practice sessions.
- To lead and engage in new ways of working, such as the use of technology.
- Develop clinical skills with a breadth and depth of knowledge to fulfil the specialist role.
- Work across professional boundaries and develop a robust rationale for decision making and problem solving.
- Influence the development of others through education and training.
- Develop and use clinical expertise, clinical acumen and creative reasoning to provide specialist palliative care.
- Maintain and utilise advanced clinical skills necessary to carry out role.
- With support and supervision begin to develop the necessary skills to promote self-management, learning to prioritise and work independently and as part of a team.
Person Specification
Qualifications
-
Registered Nurse or a practitioner with a professional body - Essential
- Degree level study - Essential
- Advanced communication skills qualification or willingness to undertake - Essential
- Mentorship qualification - Essential
- Independent Non-Medical Prescribing Qualification - Desirable
- Physical and Health Assessment Qualification - Desirable
- Masters level study - Desirable
- Additional Community Nursing/ Paramedic Experience/ qualification - Desirable
Experience
- 3 years post registration experience - Essential
- Proven experience and knowledge of palliative and End of Life care including symptom management - Essential
- Experience in triage and undertaking primary assessments - Essential
- Ability to work autonomously and contribute towards treatment planning - Essential
- Community experience - Essential
- Experience in Audit and research projects - Desirable
- Experience of standard setting - Desirable
- Experience of formal teaching - Desirable
- Evidence of a supportive role in advance planning and completion of ReSPECT documentation - Desirable
- Awareness of palliative emergencies and know when to escalate these - Desirable
Skills, Knowledge and Abilities
-
Must demonstrate excellent interpersonal and communication skills - Essential
- Have Information and Technology skills - Essential
- Demonstrate clinical skills in palliative care to provide support as needed - Essential
- Demonstrate leadership qualities - Essential
- Show initiative and make clinical decisions - Essential
- Ability to motivate others and have teaching commitment - Essential
- Ability to liaise effectively with various disciplines - Essential
- Demonstrate diplomacy, in a calm and objective manner - Essential
- Ability to prioritise - Essential
- Ability to be receptive, responsive and agile to changing situations - Essential
- Ability to integrate into existing established team and demonstrate a flexible approach - Essential
- Maintain a smart, professional appearance at all times - Essential
- Car owner and driver - Essential
- Demonstrate experience in items to consider when undertaking advance planning - Desirable
- Knowledge of community networking and services to support community patents - Desirable
Other
-
Enhanced DBS clearance required - Essential
Katharine House Hospice’s aim is to enable people with incurable illnesses to live life as fully as possible and make the most of the time that they have, as well as supporting their loved ones. Our care is free and provided where and when it is needed most – in the community, at home, or at our hospice.
