Advanced Clinical Practitioner - Frailty Assessment Unit

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join our relatively new multidisciplinary Frailty Assessment Unit.

This is a 1 year fixed term post at 18.53 hrs per week.

The service provides an alternative pathway for older adults with frailty who present to hospital in an emergency. Co-located with our Emergency Department, the unit accepts direct referrals from the community, the London Ambulance Service, and our Emergency Department.

The post holder will independently assess, investigate, diagnose, treat, and manage older adults with a Clinical Frailty Scale of 4+ presenting with a frailty crisis, or 5+ with a frailty crisis or an alternative suitable condition. You will work closely with the team to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and the length of stay for patients who require admission. The post holder will be responsible for delivering the highest quality of patient-centred care.

The post holder will be an integral part of developing this new role and service. The position would be well-suited to a dynamic individual who has experience in change management with excellent communication and people skills. Working autonomously to provide a high level of expertise and exercise advanced clinical reasoning, judgement, discretion, and decision making whilst undertaking the skills of identification, assessment, examination, and interpretation of investigations to provide a diagnosis and formulate timely treatment, management plans, and safe discharge of patients.

Main duties of the job

• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work including the management of patients in your care and to ensure a high standard of clinical care for patients under your management including those of other staff, by providing expert care for a complex patient caseload.
• To receive referrals from and make referrals to consultants and other healthcare professionals, review the patient and act, accordingly, thereby reducing length of waiting time for patients requiring intervention.
• According to current legislation to undertake independent prescribing and appropriate use of the administration of medicine using Patient Group Directions (PGD’s).
• Plan, deliver and evaluate interventions and/or treatments when there are complex issues and/or serious illnesses.
• Ensure that patient experience is at the core of service delivery through implementation and continued monitoring of CQC standards and FFT’s.
• Undertake assessment in accordance with evidence-based practice, legislation policies and procedures, e.g., taking a patient history, physical examinations, obtaining X-Rays and requesting diagnostic investigations within scope of practice.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for a full list of role requirements and main responsibilities.