Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity for a caring and compassionate Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) to join the physical health team working on Ellesmere House, a forensic low secure learning disability unit based at St George’s Hospital in Stafford. This role offers the chance to make a meaningful difference in the lives of men with learning disabilities who are at various stages of their secure care journey, including treatment, rehabilitation, and discharge planning. We are inviting applications from registered Learning Disability Nurse or Mental health nurse with substantial experience supporting people with learning disabilities and/or autism, particularly those with complex mental health needs. You will have successfully completed an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice and bring a genuine commitment to delivering high-quality, person-centred care. We’re looking for someone who is enthusiastic about supporting individuals with learning disabilities, autism, and neurodiversity, including those with complex mental, physical, emotional, and behavioural needs. As an Advanced Clinical Practitioner, you will be working with service users with a range of complex physical and mental health needs and may also have complex emotional and behavioural needs.
Main duties of the job
- Deliver autonomous, advanced clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment for patients, including those with complex physical and mental health needs. • Manage care collaboratively with patients, families, and carers, addressing complex problems and improving outcomes. • Prescribe medication and refer patients to appropriate specialists where required. • Provide clinical leadership and management to ensure safe, effective, high-quality care. • Lead and contribute to quality improvement, service development, audit, and evaluation within the service. • Support and enhance staff capability by delivering education and training to nursing and support staff. • Maintain continuous professional development, engaging in supervision, appraisal, and acting as a role model for learning. • Work at an advanced practice level across the four pillars: clinical practice, leadership, education, and research.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful candidate will work as an autonomous practitioner, utilising advanced knowledge, skills and expertise in relation to the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of a range of physical health and mental health conditions in those with learning disability and autism, using adapted and accessible tools for this population. This exciting opportunity supports working within the four pillars of advanced practice. You will be working in a friendly, supportive and challenging working environment where leadership support, supervision and excellent opportunities for continuing professional development are available. Please see the attached Job Description & Person Specification for further details.
Person specification
Experience
Essential
- Extensive experience in a management/clinical/practitioner leadership role within mental health/LD setting.
- High level of clinical expertise in working with people’s mental health/LD.
- Extensive experience of working in mental health/LD services and assessing complex mental health/LD presentations.
- Experience of developing clinical pathways and intervention plans.
- Experience in teaching/ clinically supervising junior staff.
- Experience of leading/managing a multidisciplinary team.
- Experience of leading on a series of audits, action plans and projects simultaneously.
- Experience in assessing, formulating and managing risk for people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties/LD.
- Experience in clinically leading staff groups
- Experience in developing and adapting systems and processes to meet the needs of the individual and the service.
- Experience of clinically leading a team.
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional regulated core qualification with the NMC/ HCPC.
- Post graduate qualification in NMP and Advanced Health Assessment.
- Master level qualification in Advanced Clinical Practice.
Personal Attributes
Essential
- Facilitate a culture of life-long learning including involvement in the process of clinical supervision, student final sign off and appraisal.
- Passion for working within forensic settings.
- A sense of curiosity and desire to positively influence practice by acting as a role model for others.
- Demonstrate evidence of team working.
- Able to contribute to team discussion and be respectful of others’ views.
- Honest and trustworthy.
- Able to work in uncertain and challenging environments, where exposure to distressing situations is likely.
- Resourceful and resilient.
Skills, Knowledge & Abilities
Essential
- Knowledge of current national agenda relating to the NHS, social care sector, and forensic mental health/LD services.
- Ability to involve service users in co-creation and coproduction
- Knowledge of evidenced based interventions when working with service users for a variety of presentations.
- Knowledge and good understanding of current trends and legislation impacting on services provided to those in the forensic mental health/LD setting.
- Awareness of clinical governance practices.
- Highly developed communication skills appropriate for the client group.
- Evidence of experience in education of multi-professional groups.
- Ability to identify deficiencies in services and to actively contribute to overcoming these.
- Experience of mentorship in practice.
- Evidence of teaching skills.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Advanced Clinical Practitioner with Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust in Stafford, Midlands, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Nurse practitioner role. The advertised salary is £57,528 - £64,750 pa pro rata. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 29 Sep 2026.
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