About this role
Job summary
Are you an experienced and motivated Registered Nurse with a passion for improving outcomes for older people living with frailty? An exciting opportunity to join our expanding Virtual Ward service, supporting patients to transition safely from acute hospital care into community-pathways while receiving acute-level care in their home. The role focuses on advanced assessment, care coordination, discharge planning, and clinical case management for patients requiring ongoing support following an acute episode of illness.
Working within Frailty SDEC, Frailty Wards, and alongside community services, you will play a pivotal role in reducing avoidable admissions,facilitating early supported discharge, and ensuring seamless transitions of care across organisational boundaries. You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams,
This is an excellent opportunity for a nurse with significant post-registration experience in frailty, elderly care, acute medicine, community services, or urgent care, who is passionate about service improvement, clinical excellence, and delivering care closer to home. If you share our values of being Kind, Open and Inclusive, and are committed to providing high-quality care for some of our most vulnerable patients, we would love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
As Virtual Ward Nurse:
Undertake comprehensive assessments of frail patients todeterminesuitability for Virtual Ward pathways and support safe discharge from acute services.
Coordinate care across acute, community and primary care services to ensure seamless patient transitions and continuity of care. Manage a caseload of patients, developing and implementingpersonalisedcare plans that promote recovery and independence at home. Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, including consultants, therapists, pharmacists, communityteamsand GPs, to support complex patient pathways. Monitor patients using remote monitoring technology and respond appropriately to clinical deterioration through agreed escalation processes. Support admission avoidance and early supported discharge initiatives, helping patients receive acute-level care in their usual place of residence. Contribute tocomprehensive geriatric assessment processes and provide education and support to patients,carersand families. Provide clinical leadership, support junior colleagues, and contribute to service development, qualityimprovementand pathway redesign initiatives. Maintainhigh standardsof clinical documentation, governance,safeguardingand professional practicein accordance withthe NMC Code and Trust policies.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018 Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal) National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
Job description Job responsibilities
Please find attached job description and person specification for main responsibilities and requirements.
Person Specification
Our Values Essential
We are Kind We are Open We are Inclusive
Qualifications Essential
Registered Nurse Diploma / degree level or equivalent experience Current NMC Registration Evidence of continuous professional development Leadership training or qualification (minimum Level 3 ILM or equivalent) or working towards
Knowledge and Experience Essential
Able to demonstrate knowledge of NMC professional standards for practice contained within the code Experience of leading a team in a clinical environment Research awareness and commitment to evidence-based practice Experience of clinical risk assessment & management of identified risk Understanding key features of Clinical governance Knowledge of audit & audit procedures
Skills Essential
Up to date clinical skills in order to ensure quality of services being provided by ward Excellent communication skills Excellent interpersonal skills Excellent organisational skills - prioritise and coordinate own workload Able to act as a leader, effectively managing staff in the department Ability to act as a change agent Ability to co-ordinate & liaise with MDT members Computer literacy eg experience of electronic patient record
Other Essential
Frequent sitting or standing in a restricted position; occasional moderate effort for several short period Frequent concentration, work pattern unpredictable Concentration for patient clinical work Occasional distressing / highly distressing or emotional circumstances. Deals with patient complaints, conveys unwelcome news, complaints, concerns arising from incident communicated to patients and relatives Working in ward environment providing direct clinical care
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).
Employer details Employer name Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address Southport District General Hospital
Town Lane, Kew
Southport
PR8 6PN
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)