The post holder is an experienced clinician, who acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the patient from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of their care. They will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within general practice. There is a requirement to see extra or emergency patients. The Nurse Practitioner will need to prioritise and triage the needs of patients accordingly making any necessary referrals for investigations in the appropriate manner.
Provide a first point of contact for advice regarding medical/nursing conditions of patients, making use of skills in history taking, physical examination, problem-solving and clinical decision-making, to establish a diagnosis and management plan
Instigate necessary invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports
Where the post holder is an independent prescriber: to prescribe safe, effective and appropriate medication as defined by current legislative framework
Offer a holistic service to patients and their families, developing where appropriate an on-going plan of care/support, with an emphasis on prevention and self-care
Work with nursing, medical and health care assistant colleagues to ensure that National Service Frameworks (e.g. Coronary Heart Disease/Older People/ Diabetes /Mental Health) are being delivered
Work with multi-disciplinary team within the Locality, and across the wider Health team, to promote integrated and seamless pathways of care
Participate in identification of community health needs and develop patient/family-centred strategies to address them
Help develop and set up new patient services and participate in initiatives to improve existing patient services.
Irwell Medical Practice is a consistently high QOF & Quality Framework achiever. In our last CQC inspection (2017) we were rated outstanding. Due to ongoing staff development, we are looking to appoint an experienced and highly motivated Advanced Clinical/Nurse Practitioner who, acting within their professional boundaries, will provide safe clinical decision-making and expert care for the patients of Irwell Medical Practice. We are an established Training Practice with 6 Partners, 6 Salaried GPs, 5 Practice Nurses, 2 Healthcare Assistant, 1 Nurse Associate and 1 Advanced Nurse Practitioners with a practice population of 15,100 and growing.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Diagnosing and treating patients presenting with minor illness
Triage and treat patients wishing to see a health care professional making any necessary referrals to other members of the primary health care team
Ensure clinical practice is safe and effective and remains within boundaries of competence and to acknowledge limitations.
Advise patients on general health care and minor ailments with referral to other members of the primary and secondary health care team as necessary
The post holder will:
Make professionally autonomous decisions for which he/she is accountable
Provide a first point of contact for advice regarding medical/nursing conditions of patients, making use of skills in history taking, physical examination, problem-solving and clinical decision-making, to establish a diagnosis and management plan
Instigate necessary invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports
Where the post holder is an independent prescriber: to prescribe safe, effective and appropriate medication as defined by current legislative framework
Provide polypharmacy/drug reviews of medications.
Provide safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualised patient care
Offer a holistic service to patients and their families, developing where appropriate an on-going plan of care/support, with an emphasis on prevention and self-care
Promote health and well-being through the use of health promotion, health education, screening and therapeutic communication skills
Refer patients directly to other services/agencies as appropriate
Work with nursing, medical and health care assistant colleagues to ensure that National Service Frameworks (e.g. Coronary Heart Disease/Older People/ Diabetes /Mental Health) are being delivered
Work with multi-disciplinary team within the Locality, and across the wider Health team, to promote integrated and seamless pathways of care
Sustain & maintain high standards of patient care and service delivery
Participate in identification of community health needs and develop patient/family-centred strategies to address them
Help develop and set up new patient services and participate in initiatives to improve existing patient services
Pathological specimens and investigatory procedures
Undertake the collection of pathological specimens including intravenous blood samples, swabs etc. Perform investigatory procedures requested by the GPs
Administration and professional responsibilities
Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team
Ensure accurate and legible notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patients notes
Ensure the clinical computer system is kept up to date with accurate details recorded and amended
Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice
Ensure collection and maintenance of statistical information required for regular and ad hoc reports and audit
Attend and participate in practice meetings as required
Oversee restocking and maintenance of clinical areas and consulting rooms
Training and Personal Development
Training requirements will be monitored by yearly appraisal and will be in accordance with practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the Practice. It is the individuals responsibility to remain up to date with recent developments.
Participate in the education and training of students of all disciplines and the introduction of all members of the practice staff where appropriate
Develop and maintain an in-house nurse-training programme reporting to the Strategic Manager.
Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development ensuring PREP requirements are met.
If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, full training will be given.
Develop and maintain a Personal Learning Plan
Liaison
As well as the nursing team there is a need to work closely with reception, office and dispensary staff to ensure the smooth running of the practice, reporting any problems encountered to the relevant person and ensuring everyone is aware of the different roles within the nursing team.
There is also the need to establish and maintain good liaison with other surgeries and agencies including secondary care
Meetings
It will be necessary to attend and contribute to various Practice meetings as requested. The only reason for not attending will be annual, study or sick leave.
Confidentiality
In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data
Health & Safety
The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:
Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
Reporting potential risks identified.
Equality & Diversity
The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.
Personal/Professional Development
The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:
Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.
Quality
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:
Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.
Communication
The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
Communicate effectively with other team members
Communicate effectively with patients and carers
Recognize peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
Contribution to the Implementation of Services
The post-holder will:
Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
Participate in audit where appropriate.