Job Summary
We are seeking enthusiastic, motivated, and dynamic Advanced Nurse Practitioners to join our Acute Frailty Team. This exciting role focuses on the identification, assessment, and management of patients living with frailty within their own homes and across the acute hospital setting, supporting high-quality care in the most appropriate environment.

The Advanced Nurse Practitioner will utilise expert clinical knowledge, advanced assessment skills, and critical clinical reasoning to provide specialist support and deliver comprehensive geriatric assessments that inform clinical decision-making and ongoing management plans. Working within an innovative Hospital@Home model, the role plays a key part in supporting admission avoidance and delivering patient-centred care closer to home.

You will become part of a supportive and collaborative multidisciplinary team, working alongside Consultant Geriatricians, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, and Therapy colleagues to provide holistic and integrated care for patients with complex needs.

Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will provide clinical leadership, specialist expertise, and organisational support within the Frailty Service. Working as an autonomous practitioner, you will deliver high-quality, patient-centred care to individuals living with frailty across both community and acute settings.

You will undertake Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGA), using advanced clinical assessment and reasoning skills to identify patient needs, support clinical decision-making, and develop holistic, evidence-based management plans. These will promote safety, independence, and wellbeing, supporting admission avoidance and enabling care at home.

You will apply expert clinical knowledge to the assessment and ongoing management of patients with complex frailty needs, ensuring consistent standards of evidence-based care and contributing to high-quality, person-centred interventions.

You will continuously develop your clinical knowledge and skills, supporting service improvement and contributing to the ongoing development of the Hospital@Home model.

About us
If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

Details
Date posted 07 July 2026
Pay scheme Agenda for change
Band Band 7
Salary £49,387 to £56,515 a year
Per Annum Pro Rata
Contract Permanent
Working pattern Part-time
Reference number C9439-2627-720
Job locations Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust
Hollyhurst Road
Darlington
County Durham
DL3 6HX
United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
The Frailty Advanced Nurse Practitioner will play a pivotal role in the assessment, management, and coordination of care for frail adults. The post holder will be instrumental in supporting admission avoidance working within the principles of the Hospital@Home models.

You will provide expert clinical knowledge and advanced clinical reasoning skills to support wider multidisciplinary colleagues. A key aspect of the role includes the independent management of a defined caseload of patients, ensuring rapid assessment, intervention, and onward planning.

You will be responsible for assessing, diagnosing, treating, and safely discharging adult patients, ensuring that appropriate clinical advice, health education, and referrals to community services are provided to support ongoing care and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. This includes promoting self-management and supporting patients and families to understand their condition and care plan.

The role requires the ability to perform autonomous diagnostic and prognostic investigations, using advanced clinical judgement to interpret findings and guide timely clinical decision-making. You will make independent decisions regarding admission or discharge of patients , ensuring that decisions are underpinned by robust clinical assessment, evidence-based practice, and patient safety considerations.

You will work with a high degree of autonomy while maintaining appropriate clinical supervision from a named consultant, participating in regular clinical supervision, reflection, and professional development to ensure safe and effective practice. The role requires the ability to respond flexibly to changing clinical demands and unpredictable patterns of workload, managing your own caseload effectively and prioritising patients according to clinical need and acuity.

You will accept referrals from a wide range of healthcare professionals and work independently to assess and manage patients without direct supervision, ensuring timely intervention for those requiring urgent or immediate medical attention. You will be skilled in recognising deterioration and escalation needs, prioritising patients appropriately, and ensuring rapid access to senior medical input where required.

A key element of the role is acting as a clinical resource and expert for the wider multidisciplinary team. You will provide advice, guidance, and leadership on the management of frailty, supporting staff across disciplines in delivering safe, effective, and consistent care. You will also contribute to education and knowledge sharing within the team, promoting best practice in frailty assessment and management.

The post holder will actively support the ongoing development and integration of the Frailty Service and contributing to service improvement initiatives. This will involve working collaboratively with internal departments and external partners, including health and social care organisations, to ensure seamless patient pathways and high-quality coordinated care.

The role requires a flexible approach to working and includes participation in a 7-day service, covering shifts between 8am and 8pm, ensuring consistent delivery of frailty services across the week. the post holder must have a full UK Driving licience and access to a car.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Registered nurse qualification
• Appropriate degree level qualification at
• Masters level or willing to work towards
• Substantial experience at band 6 in an acute medical setting
• Teaching qualification
• Independent prescribing or willing to undergo

Desirable

• Substantial specialist experience of frail patients; experience and understanding of a wide range of approaches to the management of frail elderly patients

Special Skills & Knowledge
Essential

• Accredited Clinical skills course
• Team worker
• Enthusiastic
• Caring
• Can work well under pressure
• Hard worker
• Keen to improve role

Desirable

• Experience of working with frail patients

Special Requirements
Essential

• Full UK Driving licence
• Willingness to use own car (business mileage paid)

Desirable

• Experience working in Frailty

Experience
Essential

• Previous experience in Elderly care
• Clinical knowledge of acute / community nursing
• Literate and articulate
• Managerial skills
• Leadership skills
• Good communication Skills
• Evidence of undertaking and developing audits to inform practice
• Clinical skills

Desirable

• Substantial experience as a band 6 nurse
• None Medical Prescribing
• Frailty Knowledge

Statutory Registration
Essential

• Registered Nurse on part 1 of the NMC register
• Valid UK NMC Pin

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 County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Address Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust
Hollyhurst Road
Darlington
County Durham
DL3 6HX
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.cddft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Matron
Heather Anderson
Heather.anderson12@nhs.net
07917813588

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.