Advanced Clinical Practitioner - Acute Stroke

Job overview

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust are seeking an enthusiastic and highly skilled Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) to join the Acute Stroke Service.

This role is central to the delivery of high-quality hyper acute and acute stroke care, supporting patients across the stroke pathway including Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU), acute stroke wards, and rapid-access Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) clinics.

The ACP will be an experienced, knowledgeable, and autonomous practitioner providing advanced clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of patients presenting with suspected or confirmed acute stroke and TIA. Advanced practice is underpinned by the four pillars of clinical practice, leadership, education, and research, with a strong focus on direct patient care and service development.

The postholder will join the service during an exciting time of expansion. The expectation will be for the postholder to form part of a weekend rota which may change as more roles are approved and recruited to. A full overview of this in contained in the detailed job description below.

You will be a part of an established ACP community within CHFT. We can offer the following benefits:

20% non-clinical time for you to develop across the four pillars of advanced practice

ACP peer teaching

Trust ACP Lead support

Allocated medical supervisor

Main duties of the job

Work closely with the Stroke Consultant team, stroke nursing team, therapists, radiology, and emergency services to provide safe, effective, and timely care to patients with suspected or confirmed stroke and TIA across HASU, acute stroke wards, and outpatient settings.

Undertake advanced clinical assessment for patients presenting with acute neurological deficits, including differentiation between stroke, TIA, and stroke mimics.

Act as an autonomous practitioner within agreed scope, providing expert clinical decision-making in complex, time‑critical situations.

Hold direct responsibility for a caseload of acute stroke and TIA patients, ensuring evidence-based care plans, escalation where required, and effective discharge planning.

Support the hyper acute stroke pathway, including: Initial assessment and prioritisation

Coordination of urgent imaging

Support for thrombolysis and thrombectomy pathways

Ongoing monitoring and escalation of clinical deterioration

Undertake independent prescribing to optimise secondary stroke prevention and symptom management in line with national and local guidelines.

Accurately request and interpret radiological and pathology investigations relevant to acute stroke and TIA management.

Provide advanced clinical care for patients attending TIA / rapid-access stroke clinics, including risk stratification, initiation of secondary prevention, and onward referral.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Post specific Criteria:

Lead the management of patients from arrival to discharge within the hyper acute and acute stroke pathway, demonstrating service improvement through audit and data collection.

Be responsible for the assessment and management of patients presenting with suspected or confirmed acute stroke or TIA within HASU, acute stroke wards, and relevant clinical areas.

Independently assess and manage patients referred to TIA / rapid-access stroke clinics, initiating investigations, treatment, and secondary prevention.

Work collaboratively within the multidisciplinary stroke team to ensure timely assessment, diagnosis, and treatment decisions.

Monitor readmission and re-presentation rates following stroke/TIA, identifying trends and contributing to service improvements.

Contribute to stroke-specific research, audit, and quality improvement initiatives. Develop and review stroke pathways, guidelines, and patient information resources in line with national best practice.