Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) is a national charity that addresses dying, death and bereavement in Ireland. Their vision is an Ireland where people facing the end of life or bereavement, and those who care for them, are provided with the care and support that they need.
We spoke with the Head of Healthcare Programmes with IHF, Dr Siobhán O’Brien Green about the two senior management posts that have opened up, what traits and qualifications make for a star IHF candidate, and what it’s like to work in this sector.
What jobs are coming up?
Head of Nursing Home Programmes
This is a new role set up to deliver a new national programme in partnership with the HSE and AIIHPC for palliative and end-of-life care in the nursing home sector. “This is a very exciting and dynamic role in supporting the best end of life care and bereavement across the nursing home sector,” said Dr O’Brien Green
Head of Acute and Community Healthcare Programmes
This role will involve augmenting work already underway and will strategically direct, lead and manage all aspects of Healthcare Programmes across home, primary care /community and acute hospitals settings. “This role will involve supporting people who are who are dying in that setting, again providing and enhancing that end of life care.”
What qualifications and traits are required for these roles
“One of the most important traits is commitment and understanding of Irish Hospice Foundation,” said Dr O’Brien Green.
For these two roles, the candidate would benefit from having a background, exposure or experience in a residential care setting- it could be medical, social science, health care administration/ management background.
According to Dr O’Brien Green, it’s also really important to have the ability to network- to reach out and connect and to have a good understanding of the healthcare system.
The benefits of working with Irish Hospice Foundation
A competitive salary is offered for these roles, there’s an employer pension contribution, excellent annual leave, and other supports and benefits.
But for Sioban these roles offer more than what’s written in a contract, “Irish Hospice Foundation is a wonderful team to work with. It’s really about making change across so many different settings. It impacts everyone in Ireland because we all experience death, dying and bereavement, and it’s about making those situations as good as they can be. It’s never been more important since the pandemic- support has never been more meaningful. Staff support, training and workshops have been critical and we’ve been able to meet that need with our teams and new resources. It’s time to be thinking about and working in the area. A lot of people think that our job must be very depressing or sad, but instead, it’s so uplifting and positive because you know you’re helping to deliver the best end of life care across the country.”
To apply click here or visit www.hopspicefoundation.ie//working-in-ihf
