Clinical Nurse Specialist - Infection Prevention and Control

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a small, friendly Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team as a Clinical Nurse Specialist IPC. This role has become available due to the previous post holder progressing to a new opportunity. We are looking for a dedicated nurse with existing IPC experience, who is either qualified in the specialty or nearing completion of an approved IPC course.

The Infection Prevention and Control Service (IPCS) provides expert specialist advice, proactive and reactive support, and contributes to the surveillance, prevention, and control of infections and outbreaks. The service plays a vital role in delivering training, conducting audits, and driving improvement initiatives to enhance patient safety and care quality.

The successful candidate will be responsible for infection surveillance, audits, and quality improvement (QI) projects, supporting governance functions within IPCS. Building effective relationships with medical staff, senior nurses, allied health professionals, and managers will be key in delivering education and training across the site.

In this role, you will be supported in developing leadership and management skills while being part of a broader IPC network across Kent and Medway. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to a high-impact service and grow within a specialist field.

Interviews to be held 27th March 2025.

Main duties of the job

The role will entail being a clinically focused practitioner who will strengthen the IPC contribution to patients and service users across DGT. A key priority for the post holder will be to develop and ensure practice compliance across the Trust is in accordance with National Standards and policies through policies, protocols, guidelines, participating in patient safety incident framework approach to incidents, identification of learning.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical responsibilities:

Produce and maintain surveillance information on new MRSA and Clostridium difficile isolates, GNBSI organisms, other mandatory surveillance system pathogens, notifiable infections, ensuring reporting is prompt and within agreed time deadlines i.e., daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly.

Lead on representing IPC at MDT’s, incident meetings, outbreaks along with divisional colleagues, utilise this data against infection data and develop prevention strategies with the Governance lead, represent at national networks.

Work under the direction of but without supervision of the Matron Infection Prevention and Control (MIPC), to ensure health care associated infections data is kept, be involved in the analysis and reporting to relevant teams

In line with national mandatory targets and reporting requirements, assist and work closely with IPCSC, Matron, in production of graphs and charts towards the preparation and provision of reporting of MRSA, Clostridium difficile, and GNBSI rates to UKHSA, and internal reports to Infection Prevention and Control Committee, Quality Committee, development of report writing skills, & cross cover with the Matron IPC to develop draft reports, contributing to the accurate data, and drawing on themes, trends around patient safety, clinical effectiveness and clinical quality.

Utilise the Trust software such as Datix to record, and pull out incident information, actions, bring these to closure.

Collate all the relevant information from a variety of sources to enable accurate and timely submissions of data in accordance with national mandatory targets.

Lead in delivering an annual schedule for the various audit programmes undertaken. This includes environmental/clinical practice audits. Undertake follow up actions as directed post audit/ site visits.

Input data from completed audits and prepare accurate draft reports. Distribute completed audits to the relevant Divisional Leads, and

Departments/Wards filing these and related evidence.

Represent the team at webinars and local learning exercises and events; CBRN tests, EPRR drills, Kent and Medway ICB meetings, conferences.

Please see attached job description for further information.