Nurse Consultant - Acute Stroke

Job overview

The Acute Stroke & TIA Nurse Consultant provides highly specialised expert clinical leadership in the hyperacute and acute management of stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA). The post holder will be a senior autonomous practitioner with advanced decision-making responsibility across rapid assessment, diagnosis, reperfusion treatment, and early inpatient management.

The role has a predominant acute clinical focus, spending a minimum of two-thirds of time in direct clinical care, including:

• Hyperacute stroke assessment
• IV thrombolysis decision-making and delivery
• Thrombectomy pathway coordination
• Urgent TIA assessment and secondary prevention
• Acute stroke unit and HASU support

The remaining time is dedicated to strategic leadership, service development, education, audit, and research, with particular focus on improving clinical outcomes, patient safety, SSNAP performance, and equity of access to urgent stroke and TIA care.

The post holder works in close partnership with stroke physicians, emergency medicine, radiology, ambulance services, and regional neuroscience networks to ensure safe, timely, and evidence-based acute stroke care.

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.

Main duties of the job

• Hyperacute stroke pathways Door-to-needle and door-to-groin times Urgent TIA access and safety Weekend and extended-hours acute coverage
• Hyperacute stroke pathways
• Door-to-needle and door-to-groin times
• Urgent TIA access and safety
• Weekend and extended-hours acute coverage

• Act as an expert autonomous clinician in the assessment and management of patients presenting with suspected acute stroke or TIA.
• Lead and support hyperacute stroke decision-making, including:
• Eligibility assessment for IV thrombolysis
• Advanced imaging interpretation (CT/CTA/CTP as appropriate)
• Escalation and coordination of mechanical thrombectomy pathways
• Provide senior clinical leadership within the HASU, ED, and acute stroke unit, including out-of-hours and weekend working according to rota.
• Undertake urgent TIA assessment clinics, ensuring rapid risk stratification, diagnosis, initiation of secondary prevention, and onward management.
• Provide an expert clinical consultant service that promotes professional practice with regard to the identification and management of stroke patients that ensures clinical excellence.
• Assess the individual needs of patients using a range of different methods that manage risk and are appropriate to the needs of the patients across the whole range of stroke pathway, ensuring that complex facts and situations that require analysis, interpretation, and comparison over a range of options are considered.
• Lead service development initiatives relating to:

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see full job description for detailed duties and responsibilities. This sets out the expectations for the postholder.