Pendleside Hospice recruiting for two new key medical roles

Pendleside Hospice is to extend its care for inpatients by boosting its medical team with two new key roles.
Nurses working in the inpatients wing of Pendleside are extendingtheir day-to- day practicesNurses working in the inpatients wing of Pendleside are extendingtheir day-to- day practices
Nurses working in the inpatients wing of Pendleside are extendingtheir day-to- day practices

The Covid-19 outbreak highlighted the need for seven-day working across all clinical services so the hospice is seeking an additional Hospice Physician and an Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

During the coronavirus crisis two Advanced Nurse Practitioners who had become university lecturers at UCLan Alice Thompson and Gillian Oakley offered their services to support the opening of extra beds at the hospice during the crisis.

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Now Gillian, a senior lecturer in non-medical prescribing, is returning to her university role at UCLan full time while Alice, is to split her time between university and working as an ANP at Pendleside two days a week on a permanent basis.

Helen McVey, Pendleside’s chief executive, said: “For some time Pendleside has realised that to be responsive to patients’ needs the hospice needed to operate a seven-day a week, 24 hours-a-day service across all of its services, as it is often weekends and out of hours that patients report feeling most vulnerable.

“The Covid-19 outbreak really highlighted the need for seven-day working across all services and we have responded to this need during the crisis.

“Throughout the last few months we have been joined by two Advanced Nurse Practitioners and university lecturers Alice and Gillian who put themselves forward to support the medical team during the crisis.

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“This was so successful that we have now decided to expand the medical team on a permanent basis and we are currently recruiting an additional Hospice Physician and Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

"In addition, Alice Thompson enjoyed her work at Pendleside so much that she has agreed to join the hospice on a permanent basis as an ANP two days a week."

Gillian said: “When I first heard the call for nurses to return to the NHS to help with the Covid-19 response I felt compelled to ‘do my bit’. Having left clinical practice four years earlier to undertake an academic role, I felt I had the skills and knowledge to enable me to be of use, particularly around end-of-life care.

“I joined the Pendleside team as an ANP as they had increased their inpatient capacity from 10 beds to 18 to help address the crisis I have been working one day per week over a 12-week period on the inpatient unit while still managing my teaching commitments at UCLan.

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“All the staff were extremely welcoming and helped me to fit in with the team. The medics on the unit ensured I wasn’t overwhelmed with the workload and supported me throughout the 12-week period.

"I have seen the dedication and commitment of staff working under such challenging conditions and the sacrifices individuals have made to provide care and support to the community in which we live.”