Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen in Emergency General Surgery at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust for a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner due to further expansion of surgical SDEC services. We are seeking experienced and dynamic healthcare professionals including Registered Nurses, Paramedics and Physiotherapists ready to take the next step in their clinical career.

Candidates will need to have a minimum of 3 years Band 6 experience, ideally within a general surgical setting or acute speciality and must possess excellent clinical and leadership skills to enable to them to work as part of the Emergency Surgical team. Willingness and ability to commit to undertaking an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice including non-medical prescribing is essential.

This full-time role offers a supported 80/20 clinical/academic split. Successful applicants will also benefit from a dedicated Surgical ACP mentor supported by the Advanced Clinical Practice Lead and Surgical Consultants. With a focus on continuous development this support will ensure successful applicants can thrive within all four pillars of advanced clinical practice: clinical practice, leadership and management, education and research.

SAU is a 7-day service and regular evening and weekend working is required as part of this role.

For further information or to arrange an informal visit please contact Advanced Clinical Practice Lead Annalie Baker - Annalie.baker@swft.nhs.uk

Main duties of the job
As a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner (tACP) you will be supported to develop specialist knowledge and skills to provide healthcare autonomously to patients through an established ACP training pathway, whilst being accountable and self-directed in line with the relevant code of professional conduct.

Post-holders must will have excellent communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills which you will apply both clinically and academically.

Post-holders will work collaboratively alongside the multi-disciplinary team; to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of accessible, high-quality care.

During winter months and at other times of high demand, the post-holder may be asked to support and provide cover to expedite discharge of patients within within the surgical ward environment.

Clinical duties will predominantly be within the surgical assessment unit (SAU) where you will work as part of the ACP team who have a critical role in the development of new processes to improve patient flow and rapid streaming of surgical referrals to the most appropriate assessment area.

The post includes 20% of contracted hours in which you will be expected to work towards completion of a full Masters (MSc) qualification in Advanced Practice. Advancement to Band 8a requires the completion of the full MSc in Advanced Practice, completion of a speciality-specific curriculum and an end-of-course ACAT assessment. Please see Job Description for further detail.

About us
Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further. In addition our staff survey results have placed us 4th in the country for recommended place to work.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, inclusive, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

As part of our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion we encourage all applicants to complete a short survey. This can be accessed via the link below: Apply through our website. We appreciate you completing the survey.

Job responsibilities
Key Result Areas:

Clinical Practice

• Works within agreed, evolving scope of practice under named supervisors; escalates to senior decisionmakers as per local escalation policy; practice is guided by Trust policies and specialty protocols
• Deliver evidence-based personalised and compassionate care which places quality at the heart of clinical practice. Care will be responsive to individual patient needs and reflect current local protocols and national guidelines.
• Utilise appropriate levels of autonomy and advocacy, analytical reasoning skills in undertaking differential diagnosis to ensure the delivery of high-quality care, developing their own and others knowledge within the speciality.
• Manage their own caseload of delegated patients including comprehensive clinical review, requesting diagnostics, reviewing results, analysing complex data, weighing risk/benefit and make timecritical decisions within supervised scope of practice.
• Evidenced based independent prescribing (when registered as non-medical prescriber) including discharge medications, within evolving scope of practice, current legislative and local frameworks.
• Support development and implementation of personalised care pathways for the speciality through holistic needs assessment, planning and evaluation of care and all care interventions.
• Implement pathways of care, adapting to patients emerging needs by ensuring a planned and co-ordinated approach to care, supporting enhanced recovery and reducing inappropriate admissions to improve patient experience and safety.
• Refer directly to other health care professionals and specialist departments as necessary, to ensure optimal efficiency and quality of care.
• Act as a patient advocate to facilitate the process of shared decision-making in respect to health, choice of treatment and care. Use interpersonal and communication skills where there may be significant barriers to build confidence. Ensure that patients individual needs are expressed and valued, and individual management plans are understood.
• Advise on diagnosis and symptom management for patients within the speciality. Evaluate response to interventions and advise on the adaptation of management and discharge plans.
• Empower patients to self-manage their condition, undertaking risk stratification to determine those who can self-manage following education, those who will need guided support to self-manage and those who will need ongoing face-to-face support.
• Act as a resource, providing clinical expertise, specialist advice and support across service boundaries to ensure optimum liaison and co-ordination of care.
• Undertake clinical competencies relevant to this specialist service to develop autonomous expertise. Actively integrate theory and practice.

Leadership (and Management)

• Provide clinical advice and leadership to others across the organisation, acting as a role-model and demonstrating high standards of holistic care.
• Prioritise an unpredictable caseload; coordinating clinical duties and planning supervised learning time.
• Contribute to annual improvement plans and continuously review their own performance against these plans, taking action or escalating where appropriate.
• Promote an ethos of continual service improvement and lead delegated projects, monitoring progress in terms of milestones and key measures of performance.
• Strive to motivate and involve others in developments in the speciality.
• Contribute to the clinical governance agenda.
• Attend team meetings and contribute to the agenda where required.

Education

• Utilise educational strategies to deliver complex information to patients and carers.
• Contribute to the development of patient training to support self-management and health promotion activities.
• Contribute, where required, to Trust-wide specialist education and training.
• Deliver formal and informal teaching initiatives as part of the Trusts education strategy as agreed with the appropriate senior staff to ensure practice development, staff empowerment and improved care for patients.
• Act as a mentor/clinical supervisor where appropriate.
• Take personal responsibility for life-long learning and personal development through clinical supervision and appraisal. Actively engage with learning and development opportunities.
• Utilise a professional e-portfolio to develop advanced clinical skills to deliver service within speciality.
• Develop and monitor skills using best available evidence to support development.

RESEARCH (INCLUDING QUALITY, AUDIT, INNOVATION)

• Work within their own professions code of professional conduct.
• Contribute to the development of policies and clinical guidelines within the specialty.
• Collaborate with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to develop and update multi-professional Trust operational policies and guidelines.
• Maintain accurate patient records and ensure effective documentation to reflect the activity and delivery of specialist services.
• Use creative reasoning, experience and vision to advance care.
• Develop new skills in response to emerging knowledge and techniques.
• Attend local Advanced Practice forums to network and share learning to enhance professional development and service delivery.
• Support the development of a research-based culture within the clinical area and act as a resource to others in relation to evidence-based acute Surgical care.
• Ensure research findings are utilised as a basis for best practice.
• Contribute to the development of clinical audit in their own specialist area.
• Contribute to the identification of patients eligible for clinical trial entry. Provide support to patients considering entry to clinical trials in relation to informed consent and advocacy.
• Develop links and systems to seek the views of patient and carers to ensure service development is in line with user need.

Communication

• Communicate complex and sensitive clinical information to patients, families and the multi-disciplinary team (MDT), frequently managing barriers to understanding (e.g., anxiety, language, cognition, health literacy) and using negotiation, persuasion and reassurance to support shared decisions. Deescalate conflict professionally; and documents conversations and agreed plans clearly.
• Refer to other health professionals and outside agencies to ensure optimum care and ongoing support for individual patients/carers, and to ensure the seamless transition between primary and secondary care appropriate to patients individual needs and circumstances.
• Develop and maintain links with local and national organisations which support the care of patients within this speciality.
• Create, manage and maintain robust links with inpatient specialities and community services to ensure patients are identified and moved swiftly into optimal care pathways to improve flow and patient outcomes.

Person Specification

Qualifications
Essential

• Registered professional with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), General Pharmaceutical Council (GPC) or Healthcare Professions Council (HCPC).
• Evidence of continued professional development relevant clinical speciality.

Desirable

• Evidence of relevant post graduate study at level 7
• History taking and clinical examination/Health assessment course.
• Independent Prescriber
• ALS (or ILS) provider
• Recognised Teaching Qualification

Experience
Essential

• Experience of working at band 6 or above in relevant speciality.
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary Team
• Experience of supervision and teaching

Desirable

• Experience in delivering service improvement
• Experience in contributing to research, audit and evidence-based care
• Experience of triage and enhanced level patient assessment.

Skills
Essential

• Enhanced knowledge of the range of presentations, diagnoses and current management options within the speciality area
• Evidence of planning and organisational skills
• Proven listening and counselling skills with the ability to manage complex situations.
• Excellent verbal, written, interpersonal and communication skills
• Decision making abilities and critical thinking skills
• Demonstrate an understanding of the current national issues relevant to medical specialities
• Knowledge of quality standards and relevant NICE guidelines, CQUINs etc
• Knowledge and use of governance and risk assessment to improve quality and service development
• Proficient IT and presentation skills
• Ability to write reports and maintain accurate records

Desirable

• Demonstrable clinical and procedural skills relevant to the speciality and willingness to expand further to meet service needs
• Able to manage own caseload
• Ability to carry out and evaluate audit and research

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Problem solver
• Team player
• Creative thinker
• Able to perform under pressure
• Diplomatic
• Highly self-motivated to develop across 4 pillars
• Ability to study at academic level 7 (Masters level)

Other Requirements
Essential

• Willingness to work weekends and evenings
• Flexible and positive approach to work
• Able to work across the whole health economy
• Maintain trust e-portfolio to demonstrate ongoing CPD and clinical competence

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.

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.