Counsellor within the Nightingale Macmillan Unit, Inpatient Palliative & End-of-life Care (Adults)
18.5 hours per week over 2 ½ days
This full-time role is a job share (two posts)
Salary: £39,959 per annum pro rata
Make every moment matter. Lead compassionate psychological care where it matters most.
At Treetops Hospice, we believe that everyone deserves access to outstanding end of life care that honours dignity, compassion and human connection. We are now seeking a Senior Counsellor to play a pivotal role on the Nightingale Macmillan Unit, supporting adults with life‑limiting illness and the families and staff who walk alongside them.
This is a rare opportunity to bring your advanced counselling skills, leadership capability and trauma‑informed approach into a dynamic inpatient palliative care setting, where relationships are deep, work is meaningful, and your impact is immediate.
This senior clinical role provides advanced assessment and specialist trauma informed therapeutic support to adults with life‑limiting illness, as well as to families experiencing anticipatory grief. You will work closely within the MDT, contributing to psychologically safe, trauma‑informed care in a fast‑paced inpatient hospice environment.
You will also play a key leadership role, supporting counselling allocation and prioritisation, contributing to clinical governance, and leading reflective practice and staff debriefs following emotionally challenging events.
Key responsibilities include:
- Delivering advanced counselling assessment
- Providing flexible, bedside therapeutic interventions
- Supporting families during acute distress and rapid deterioration
- Participating in MDT meetings and ward rounds
- Support psychological risk assessment and crisis intervention
- Supporting staff wellbeing through reflective practice and debriefing
- Contributing to service development, audit and evaluation
Essential criteria:
- Accredited counsellor/psychotherapist (BACP, UKCP or equivalent)
- Minimum 2 years’ post‑qualification experience in palliative care, hospice, oncology or complex trauma settings
- Expertise in trauma‑informed practice, anticipatory grief and crisis intervention
- Experience working within multidisciplinary teams
- Excellent communication and documentation skills
Desirable:
- Experience in service development or audit
- Leadership/management qualification
- Specialist training in trauma, family therapy or existential distress
Treetops Hospice is a values‑driven organisation recognised for excellence in trauma informed working and bereavement care. We offer a supportive culture, high‑quality supervision, CPD opportunities, and the chance to make a meaningful difference every day.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure.
A job description and application form can be downloaded from our website.
www.treetopshospice.org.uk
Please send your completed application form with a covering letter to [email protected] FAO: Danielle Hadley
For further information call:
Jules Kirk – 0115 949 6944
Closing Date: Friday 3rd August 2026
Interview Date: Thursday 20th August 2026
If you do not hear from us prior to the interview date, please assume your application has not been shortlisted on this occasion. However, do keep an eye on our website for future employment and volunteering opportunities.
Thank you for your interest in Treetops Hospice.
Pay: £39,959.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Free flu jabs
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Private medical insurance
- Sick pay
Work Location: In person
