Palliative Care Physician presso Svha

Job Description:

Work for one of Australia’s leading health service groups

Supportive, engaged, dynamic team

Part-time Locum 3 VMO sessions per week from late September 2025 to at least August 2026, with a potential for further extension

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) – Caritas Christi Kew, St George’s and Fitzroy campuses
 

About the Role

We are looking for a dedicated, flexible Palliative Care Consultant to join the Department of Palliative Care, deployed into a range of areas though with a primary focus on taking a leadership role based at Caritas Christi Kew and our outreach consult service to St George’s Hospital.

As the successful applicant, you will become part of a dynamic multidisciplinary team which works across consult and inpatient care, specialty clinics and home, virtual and community services. You will be involved in the teaching of medical students from the University of Melbourne, junior medical and other staff, including participation in the supervision and mentoring of Advanced Trainees. You will be expected to become involved in hospital activities, including committees and other quality improvement or research activities.
 

Classifications for this position will range depending on experience, according to the Medical Specialists Enterprise Agreement 2022-2026 or its successor.
 

Candidates may express interest in the role, even if their availability in terms of dates and hours does not absolutely align with requirements, as there may be some flexibility.

Experience across acute, subacute and community settings is preferred and an interest in service improvement and management would be desirable.
 

A detailed position description is available, and enquiries can be made to A/Prof Mark Boughey, Clinical Director of Palliative Care (9231 1389) or [email protected].
 

Your Contribution

• Enthusiastic, self-motivated individual with a strong clinical, safety and quality focus, excellent interpersonal skills and a proactive approach to service development and improvement
• Full Registration with the Medical Board of Australia
• Fellowship of the Australasian Chapter of Palliative Care (FAChPM)
• Driver’s Licence
• Current National Criminal History check (or willing to obtain)
   

What we offer
• Salary Packaging – Increase your take home pay!
• Employee Assistance Program
• Ability to join Fitness Passport - Your pass to an extensive choice of fitness facilities
• Discounts and Promotions always available through our Foundation
• Career development & advancement encouraged
• Culture of continuous improvement
 

About the Department of Palliative Care

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne provides a comprehensive suite of services for its Palliative Care related clinical, training, educational and research environments. For people with life limiting illnesses, the focus of care is interdisciplinary, holistic and supportive, with due consideration of providing care in the environment of their choice. Services include the specialist inpatient palliative care unit, organisational wide consultancy services, with outpatient and community based consultations. Our services continue to foster and enhance the development and expertise of palliative care provision, reflected in the integrative approach with our Department of Psychosocial Cancer Care, the Centre for Palliative Care and the University of Melbourne Palliative Nexus.

Working at St Vincent’s
St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) is a leading teaching, research and tertiary health service. SVHM provides a diverse range of adult clinical services and is driven by values of Compassion, Justice, Integrity and Excellence.
 

Application
Please attach your resume and cover letter to your application.
Shortlisting for this position will commence immediately. We encourage you to apply promptly as the advertisement may close early should a suitable applicant or applicants be sourced.

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and abilities. Inclusion is essential to our mission and diversity reflects the community we serve.

Please visit our website, for further information regarding our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment at SVHM.

SVHA has a duty of care under work health and safety legislation to eliminate and/or control the risk of transmission of vaccine preventable diseases in healthcare settings. You may therefore be required to undergo mandatory immunisations/vaccinations (including flu vaccinations).

This position is subject to a Victorian government direction regarding vaccination against COVID-19. Successful applicants must meet these vaccination requirements. Please contact us if you would like to know more.
 

Working at St Vincent’s
St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) is a leading teaching, research and tertiary health service. SVHM provides a diverse range of adult clinical services and is driven by values of Compassion, Justice, Integrity and Excellence.

 

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM) is a leading teaching, research and tertiary health service, which employs more than 7,500 staff across 18 sites throughout Melbourne.

Part of Australia's largest not-for-profit Catholic health and aged care network, St Vincent's Health Australia, SVHM provides a diverse range of adult clinical services including acute medical and surgical services, sub-acute care, medical diagnostics, rehabilitation, allied health, mental health, palliative care, correctional health and community residential care.

SVHM's mission is to provide high quality and efficient health services to the people of Victoria in accordance with the philosophy of St Vincent’s Health Australia.  This mission is based on the values of compassion, justice, integrity and excellence. 

Job Title: Palliative Care Consultant

Reports to: Clinical Director of Palliative Care

Program: Continuing Care

Department: Palliative Care
 

Industrial Agreement: AMA Victoria – Victorian Public Health Sector – Medical Specialists Enterprise Agreement 2022 -2026 or its sucessor

Classification: Specialist Year 1 –Year 9 (HM33 - HM41) Full Time), (HN19 – HN59) (Fractional)

Risk Category: A

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne provides a comprehensive suite of services for its Palliative Care related clinical, training, educational and research environments. For people with life limiting illnesses, the focus of care is interdisciplinary, holistic and supportive, with due consideration of providing care in the environment of their choice. Services include the specialist inpatient palliative care unit, organisational wide consultancy services, with outpatient and community based consultations.

Our services continue to foster and enhance the development and expertise of palliative care provision, reflected in the integrative approach with our Department of Psychosocial Cancer Care, the Centre for Palliative Care and the University of Melbourne Palliative Nexus.
 

The Department of Palliative Care is continuing to expand its range of activities with strategic initiatives already seeing growth in terms of the breadth of clinical responsibilities and support activities, with a quality improvement and management focus, and coordination of university medical student learning.

Under the supervision of the Clinical Director of Palliative Care, the Palliative Care Consultant shares responsibilities with the existing team across in patient services at Caritas Christi Kew with a focus on supporting and building the consultation service outreach to St George’s Hospital, Kew as well as taking a leadership role with a focus on improvement and management activties and leadership.

There may also be a role in our community service, Palliative Care @ Home, which involves home visits from our Fitzroy campus.

There will be involvement in teaching of medical students from Melbourne University, junior medical and other staff, including participation in the supervision and mentoring of Advanced Trainees. There is an expectation of involvement in other hospital activities, including committees.

The Palliative Care Consultant will also participate in the afterhours on-call roster.

The Palliative Care Consultant will contribute to the leadership and development of new initiatives and be expected to adopt a constructive and flexible approach to their implementation.

RESPONSIBILITY AREA 1: Clinical Service

Responsible for the delivery of clinical services as a leader within the multidisciplinary team. To adopt a high level of accountability for the delivery of palliative care services to all areas of the health service, as well as specified external activities.  They will assist in the formulation and implementation of relevant policies and procedures that will allow for benchmarking against comparable public and private sector services both nationally and internationally.
 

Key Performance Indicators

• Demonstrate contribution to Department quality of care and help manage and report against activity targets

• Contribution to and maintain adherence to Hospital policies and procedures relevamt to palliative medical care

RESPONSIBILITY AREA 2: Education & Research

1. Education

• Ensure personal and staff competence and job satisfaction by supporting internal training programs and encouraging developmental opportunities. This would involve planning and implementation of:

• Continuing medical education

• Continuing education and support of Medical, Nursing, Allied Health and all other staff

• Participates in performance reviews as required by the Director of Palliative medicine

Key Performance Indicators:

• Regular attendance at department, hospital and specialty educational meetings and forums

• Ongoing involvement and support of the multidisciplinary team

• Ongoing involvement in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

• Ongoing supervision and training of junior medical staff including education of registrars and HMOs.

2. Research

Clinical and service research is expected. It is desirable that a minimum of one audit, published work or external presentation is undertaken yearly. Expectations will be developed in conjunction with the annual performance review.

RESPONSIBILITY AREA 3: Improving Performance

1. Quality

Pursue excellence and participate in the development and maintenance of high quality service by implementing incremental improvements on a continuing basis.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Promotion of best practice care, systems and processes.

• Implementing improvement initiatives appropriate to the unit.

• Actively support compliance with accreditation standards and continuous improvement objectives.

• Participates in clinical reviews and encourages review of clinical outcomes.

2. Planning

Participate in development of departmental goals and strategies on an ongoing basis.  Co-operate with other medical and non-medical specialists in the planning and delivery of appropriate aged care within the health service and external sites.

It is expected that you will:

• Participate in department, directorate and health service improvement planning.

• Contribute to the development and implementation of a departmental operational plans.

• Contribute to the development and implementation of a service wide strategic plan.

RESPONSIBILITY AREA 4: Information Management

Is familiar with Hospital information systems and processes to ensure dissemination of information in a timely and accurate manner.

Key Performance Indicators

• Completion of letters and reports within a clinically and organisationally acceptable time frame

• Maintenance of patient confidentiality and confidential information of strategic importance to the Hospital

RESPONSIBILITY AREA 5: Workplace Health and Safety

• Maintains own health and safety in the workplace and adheres to policies and procedures:

• Demonstrates understanding of workplace Health and Safety requirements

• Involvement in fire and emergency code training

• Commitment to Quality and Accreditation procedures and policies

• Understanding of emergency response procedures

Key Performance Indicators:

Participates in all required annual online training including fire and safety and cultural awareness.

• Accesses, completes and understands Organisation Policy & Procedures in relation to Workplace Health & Safety.

• Own practice demonstrates integration of workplace safety policies and legislation.

• Participates fully in department quality activities

RESPONSIBILITY AREA 6: Consumer Involvement

Actively engage consumers in the planning, delivery and evaluation of SVHM care and services.

Key Performance Indicators:

• High level of consumer satisfaction with the level and nature of participation.

• Consumers are aware of their rights, responsibilities and how to provide feedback on the service provided.

General

• Perform duties of the position to best of their ability and to a standard acceptable to SVHM

• Comply with all SVHM policies, procedures, by laws and directions

• Treat others with respect and always behave professionally and in accordance with the SVHM Code of Conduct

• Only access confidential information held by SVHM when this is necessary for business purposes, maintaining the confidentiality of that information once accessed

• Participate in the annual SVHM performance review process

• Display adaptability and flexibility to meet the changing operational needs of the business

• Comply with applicable Enterprise Bargaining Agreement provisions

• Display a willingness to develop self and seek to improve performance

Clinical Quality and Safety

• Attend clinical orientation upon commencement

• Maintain clinical registration and any required indemnity cover

• Provide junior medical staff with appropriate supervision and training in order to ensure safe clinical care.

• Always work within approved scope of practice under supervision by more senior clinical staff as appropriate.

• Take personal responsibility for the quality and safety of work undertaken

• Take all necessary care and precautions when undertaking clinical procedures

• Complete annual clinical competencies

• Maintain skills and knowledge necessary to safely and skilfully undertake clinical work

• Consult with peers and other experts and refer to other healthcare workers when appropriate and in a timely manner

• Collaborate and clearly communicate with patients/clients and the healthcare team

• Participate in clinical risk management and continuous quality improvement activities as part of day-to-day work

Person Centred Care

• Ensure consumers receive information in an appropriate and accessible format

• Actively support consumers to  make informed decisions about their treatment and ongoing care

• Ensure consumers are aware of their rights responsibilities and how to provide feedback

Health and Safety

• Protect the health and safety of self and others, complying with all health and safety related policies, procedures and directions

• Complete required Fire and Emergency Training annually

• Complete required Workplace Culture and Equity Training annually

• Attend general hospital orientation within 3 months of commencement

• As required, comply with fit-testing and PPE requirements

• Participate in reporting and analysis of safety and quality data including risks or hazards,

• Report any hazards, near misses and incidents (regardless of whether an injury occurred or not) into Riskman

• Identify and report any variance to expected standard and minimising the risk of adverse outcomes.
   

The incumbent of this position will be expected to possess the following core capabilities:

Capability

Demonstrated behaviour

Personal

Personal effectiveness

Takes responsibility for accurate, timely work results

Learning Agility

Identifies personal development needs and seeks information from a range of sources

Outcomes

Patient/Resident/client centred

Strives to meet and exceed expectations, demonstrating sound judgement

Innovation and Improvement

Contributes to improvement by reviewing strengths and weaknesses of current processes

Strategy

Driving Results 

Manages own work load to deliver results

Organisational Acumen

Understands the interdependencies between units/departments

People

Working with and Managing others

Takes responsibility for ensuring productive, efficient teamwork

Collaboration

Works collaboratively and supports others within  the team and other stakeholders

• MBBS or equivalen)

• Vocational registration with specialist qualification in Palliative Medicine (FAChPM and or FRACP Palliative Medicine.

• AHPRA registration as a specialist medical practitioner

• Indemnification with a recognised/approved medical defence association

Skills and competencies which the incumbent must possess:

Commitment to the values of the Sisters of Charity being, Compassion, Justice, Human dignity, Excellence, Unity and commitment to the Hospital’s Code of Ethical Conduct. Excellent skills and competencies as a clinician and excellent communication skills with patients, their families and one’s colleagues. Leadership qualities to develop trusting staff relationships and generate team confidence. Commitment to continuing Education/self-development and Quality Improvement activities as supported by the Hospital’s staff education initiatives. Membership of Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine (or equivalent) desirable

SVHM Employee Health Screening and Immunisation Policy outlines the requirements for staff working in SVHM facilities.

Table 1: Vaccine Preventable Diseases for which vaccination and/or assessment is required within SVHM

Chicken pox (varicella)

Hepatitis B

Measles

Mumps

Rubella

Whooping cough (pertussis)

Diphtheria

Tetanus

Influenza

Tuberculosis

COVID-19

NOTE: Vaccination requirements may differ according to individual jurisdictional requirements and policy directives and where there is a conflict the higher directive will apply. 

SVHM has grouped individuals according to their risk of transmitting vaccine preventable diseases and their risk of exposure to blood or body substances (Table 2).

Table 2: Health Care Worker Risk Categorisation

Risk Category

Description

Vaccination requirement

Category A

Vaccination is required for this category of health care worker. Healthcare workers within this category have the potential to transmit Vaccine Preventable Diseases to vulnerable patients most at risk of mortality and morbidity from these diseases within SVHM.

This includes employees with direct physical contact with patients/clients, deceased persons, blood, body substances or infectious material or surfaces/equipment that might contain these or contact that would allow acquisition and/or transmission of a specific infectious disease by respiratory means.

This includes laboratory workers.

Required

Category B

Vaccination is recommended for this category of HCW. This includes individuals who do not work with the risk of exposure to blood or body substances, their normal work location is not in a clinical area (e.g. chef, administrative staff) and only attends the clinical area for short periods of time. Essentially, these individuals have no greater level of risk than that of the general community.

Recommended

Prior to any person being appointed to this position it will be required that they disclose full details of any pre-existing injuries or disease that might be affected by employment in this position.
 

National Police Check:

I understand that it is a condition of my employment to provide SVHM with a current National Police Certificate PRIOR TO COMMENCING WORK and this is at my own cost.

I understand that regardless of the frequency, if I am working and or visiting in a designated ‘high risk area’ of SVHM (as defined in the SVHA Pre-employment/Appointment Safety Checks Policy) I will be subject to periodic Police Checks every three years at my own cost.
 

Required Immunisations:

Individuals who will be working in Category A positions will only be able to commence employment following assessment of their vaccination status. The decision to proceed with the commencement of employment will be at the discretion of the ICP in consultation with the Hiring Manager and may in some instances, require additional vaccinations to ensure full compliance with the SVHM Employee Health Screening and Immunisation Policy.

I understand that if additional vaccinations are required to comply with pre-employment prerequisites, this will be at my own cost. Where a state jurisdiction overrides this, the facility will bear the cost.

Closing Date:

Reconciliation Action Plan:

At St Vincent's we acknowledge the importance of creating a work environment that is welcoming, safe, equitable and inclusive for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Employees. As part of our Commitment to Reconciliation and Closing the Gap in employment related outcomes, we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

For further information, visit https://www.svha.org.au/about-us/reconciliation or get in contact at [email protected]

View Reconciliation Action Plan

Code of Conduct:

View Code of Conduct