About this role
Job summary
Senior Clinical Practitioner- Hospital/ Community Specialist Palliative Care. Community Services Division
We are pleased to offer and exciting opportunity for an experienced and highly motivated clinician to join our Specialist Palliative Care Service in a Band 7 to Band 8a progression post (appointment to Band 8A will be considered for applicant who meet the essential criteria with the appropriate experience) . This role has a clear and sustained focus on preventing avoidable hospital admissions by delivering proactive, responsive, and highly skilled specialist palliative care assessments within the hospital and community, enabling patients to reduce their length of stay in hospital or to remain safely in their own homes for as long as possible.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be appointed at Band 7 initially, with progression to Band 8a subject to the achievement of defined competencies and service expectations (Band 8a appointment may be considered) . The role combines elements of advanced practice with leadership and service development, with a strong emphasis on early discharge, admission avoidance and reducing reliance on acute hospital services.
Preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and supporting more people to die at home is a core function of this post. The Senior Clinical Practitioner will identify patients at risk if of deterioration, intervene early and coordinate care across the services to manage complex symptoms and psychosocial need in the community. Through robust anticipatory planning and clinical decision-making, the post holder will prevent crisis driven admissions to hospital and support timely appropriate care escalation when clinically necessary.
About us
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is an integrated provider of acute, intermediate and community health care serving the population of Bolton. This provides us with an opportunity for our services to work closely with our partners in primary care and the local authority to ensure a seamless service for our patients.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is a great place to work and that's down to our workforce who do everything they can to provide the best care.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is passionate about partnership working to deliver the best experience for people through joined up quality care and support, enabling people to live healthy and connected lives in their communities. The Trust is the lead organisation for our Integrated Care Partnership, which is a collaboration of local providers across health, primary care, social care and wider wellbeing partners such as Housing, VCSE and the Police. This role is part of our integrated arm of the organisation and you will be part of a fully integrated health and care senior management team.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is a major provider of hospital and community health services in the North West Sector of Greater Manchester, delivering services from the Royal Bolton Hospital and also providing a wide range of community services from locations across Bolton.
Job description Job responsibilities
The post holder will be responsible for working within the Integrated Community Services Division (ICSD); using advanced skills to identify, assess, diagnose, treat and manage patients with complex palliative care needs. The post holder will be expected to work within the patients own home, care home settings and hospital. The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team and will be highly visible and accessible within the division. They should be an exemplary role model for health care professionals, leading by example, empowering staff to deliver improved patient safety and enhance the patient experience. They will adhere to professional standards of care and promote a professional image of health care that inspires confidence in service users, family members and carers and the healthcare community as a whole.
The post holder will lead and participate in the delivery and organisation of formal and informal teaching, working with colleagues both across the community and within the hospital to improve palliative care knowledge and enhance support for generalist staff. They will also have a key role in providing and supporting advance care planning and education.
In conjunction with other team members provided clinical decisions, seven days per week in line with NICE guidance, National End of Life Care Strategy (2008), National care of the Dying (2016), the Specialist Palliative Care Commissioners Report (2016) and CQC requirements.
The post holder will work closely with the Matron for Specialist Palliative care, Accident and Emergency Department Nurse Practitioners, Consultants in palliative medicine and medical staff, nursing staff, Allied Healthcare Professionals and all applicable support staff, with the aim of preventing attendance at the Emergency Department and unnecessary admissions to hospital for patients in the last 90 days of life. In addition, the post holder will proactively support in identifying dying patients earlier in order to improve symptom management and discourage unnecessary investigations and treatment thus improving the patient and carer experience.
Clinical: Senior Practitioner Skills
1. Responsible and accountable for clinical decision-making in the management of patients with palliative care needs and to influence practice within the MDT.
2. Work on own initiative to undertake a wide range of duties relating to palliative and end of life care, backed up by professional skills and knowledge, including being able to respond to urgent symptom control issues.
3. Be highly skilled and competent in the comprehensive holistic assessment of patients using theoretical knowledge and a wide range of experience to assess needs and optimise symptom management and support.
4. Devise individualised plans for symptom management and end of life care taking into account the wishes of the patient and those important to them.
5. Co-ordinate interventions which may include other disciplines through case management, multidisciplinary team meetings and integrated teams within the hospital and in the community settings.
1. Respond appropriately to requests for advice by triaging calls and offering assistance to patients, carers and healthcare professionals.
2. Ensure the use of a clinical governance framework and resources to guide practice, participating in supervision and reflection on clinical practice.
3. Bring excellent clinical judgemental skills to the analysis and interpretation of a range of clinical options regarding patient care.
4. Work with colleagues in ED/assessment areas to facilitate timely discharge of patients who do not require hospital admission in order to reduce avoidable admissions of patients at the end of life.
5. Provide timely input for patients on inpatient and critical care wards.
6. Provide a proactive presence across the Trust in order to identify dying patients earlier, reducing the burden of unnecessary investigations and treatment and facilitating advance care planning.
7. Ensure good symptom control, psychological and social support for patients who are at the end of life.
8. Liaise with the Hospice to facilitate weekend admissions.
9. Lead on joint working with other specialities e.g. acute medicine,
heart failure, COPD, liver failure and encourage the discussion and
documentation of appropriate care plans when not in place.
10. Interprets data relevant to the patients condition and progress.
Practice independently requesting appropriate investigations and acting on the results.
Management and Leadership
1. Support staff with work planning and evaluation,training, development and guidance
2. Contribute to service development, delivery, quality improvement and business planning with the Departmental Leads.
3. Lead and attend departmental meetings and/ or multi-disciplinary meetings as indicated.
4. Plan, manage and prioritise a complex workload, delegating to the team and reorganising work as necessary.
5. Maintain appropriate patient/service records and monitor the standards of those of the team.
6. To be responsible for the maintenance of accurate and evaluative professional documentation, including initial holistic assessment and plans of care.
7. Adhere to all local standard operating procedures and policies.
8. Contributes to the induction and development of team members.
9. Submit and interpret accurate and timely statistical data and information as required.
10. Contribute to developing a service based on national policy and guidance and ensure that these standards are monitored and adhered to by all members of the team.
11. Contribute and assist in implementation and evaluation of changes in practice to promote the continuous development of services within the Palliative and End of Life Care Department.
Research and Audit
1. Responsible for identifying research priorities for area of practice.
2. Responsible for initiating, participating in and evaluating audit within the Palliative and End of Life Care setting.
3. Demonstrate commitment to develop own research/audit skills.
4. Responsibility for ensuring his/her practice is based on evidence-based guidance.
5. Lead or participates as appropriate in research or audit projects and programmes.
Please refer to full role specific job description and person specification
Person Specification
Education/Qualifications Essential
Registered Nurse or AHP Non-Medical Prescriber / V300 Mentoring and Teaching Qualification or equivalent First Level Degree
Desirable
Leadership Management Qualification Level 7 Module in Transforming Integrated Palliative & End of Life Care or equivalent Clinical skills module or equivalent MSc in Integrated palliative and end of life care or equivalent, or willingness to undertake/working towards
Experience Essential
Post registration experience working in Specialist palliative Care acute and/or community Evidence of on-going relevant professional development Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary workforce Change management experience Involvement in service improvement and the implementation of change Experience of leading on quality improvements
Desirable
Experience of leading and managing a team
Skills and Abilities Essential
Demonstrates specialist clinical expertise. Ability to make complex clinical decisions. Ability to motivate others Analytical skills Decision making skills Able to prioritise Able to work under pressure Able to use technology to find and appraise evidence Enquiry/problem solving skills Excellent IT skills and use of Microsoft products
Desirable
Presentation and public speaking experience.
Knowledge Essential
Up to date in specialty service development and quality improvement Detailed knowledge of professional accountability, and impact of NHS issues. Understands strategic local and national health agenda. Importance of equality, diversity and rights.
Desirable
Understanding of Integrated Community Partnerships
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
Address Bolton NHS Trust
Minerva Road, Farnworth
Bolton
BL4 0JR
United Kingdom
Employer's website http://www.boltonft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)