Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Care of the Elderly

Job overview

A high profile, accessible and responsive leader with managerial and clinical responsibility for the delivery of Advanced Clinical Practice within Care of the Elderly and the Acute Frailty Service. Able to make informed decisions within their own speciality and scope of professional practice, involving patients and public to ensure agreed standards, targets and objectives are met. The post holder is an experienced healthcare professional qualified to Masters Level, who will act as a clinical leader within the older adult service. They will demonstrate safe, senior clinical decision-making and expert care, for patients providing appropriate clinical management plans and prescription of any medication required.

The post holder will be required to work within all areas where Care of the Elderly patients may be housed. This includes the acute medical unit (AMU), Emergency Department (ED), Care of the Elderly wards, outlying wards, rehabilitation wards and supporting department development with community working, undertaking primary and secondary assessments alongside medical colleagues, providing support and guidance to nursing and medical staff in the management of Care of the Elderly patients. They will be instrumental in guiding junior medical and nursing staff in relation to relevant protocols and procedures.

The post holder will assess the domains of a comprehensive geriatric assessment and order diagnostic investigations for patients presenting with frailty syndromes.

Main duties of the job

• Co-ordinate the care of patients throughout their pathway with the multidisciplinary team and clinical services to ensure the effective management of this group of patients.
• Accountable for own actions in accordance with their professional regulatory body requirements.
• Will contribute to corporate objectives, acting within local, Trust and statutory guidelines and policies at all times.
• Lead and deliver clinical care, across a variety of settings, according to national and local guidelines ensuring delivery of evidence-based care and working towards the Trust vision of providing a World Class Service.
• Undertake an initial assessment to determine differential diagnosis, utilising advanced critical thinking and decision-making skills, deciding when necessary to refer to senior clinical colleagues.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Act autonomously to assess, prioritise and provide expert clinical care which contributes to the patients’ treatment plan to ensure that optimum physical, psychological, and social care needs are met and ensures quality care.
• Request and interpret relevant investigations to facilitate the development of the patient’s management plan.
• Initiate the management of patients who are critically ill or deteriorating within scope of practice.
• Proactively refer to other clinicians (own or other services) depending upon patients’ needs to deliver care beyond your limitations and scope of practice.
• Proactively initiate treatment plans for patients requiring intervention and treatment ensuring ethically based considerations.
• Proactively identify, diagnose, and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing long term conditions.
• Undertake relevant clinical procedures to facilitate patient care within the service, supported by the appropriate training and supervision.
• Autonomously assess, diagnose, and have the legal authority to independently prescribe. As an independent prescriber, the ACP is responsible and accountable for the assessment of patients with undiagnosed or diagnosed conditions and for clinical management decisions.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description.

Closing Date: Please be advised that this job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested.

Successful applicants will be required to provide an immunisation and vaccination report, from either their current UK occupational health provider or their UK GP.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.