Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Frailty

NHS; Whitstable; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Frailty to join their team in Whitstable. This role involves proactive management of older adults with frailty, conducting assessments, and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to enhance patient care. Candidates should possess an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice and demonstrate strong clinical skills and leadership qualities.

Qualifications

• Post registration experience in frailty care.
• Experience in assessing patients and managing complex cases.
• Ability to work autonomously and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Conduct comprehensive assessments and develop personalized care plans.
• Manage complex cases and coordinate with healthcare professionals.
• Educate patients and families about frailty and health management.

Skills

Communication

Empathy

Leadership

Analytical Skills

Decision Making

Education

MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice

Registered Practitioner with NMC or HCPC

Mentoring/Leadership qualification

Job description

Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Frailty

We are recruiting a fully qualified advanced clinicalpractitioner to join our General Practice Older Persons (GPOP) Team, who has apassion for frailty and older peoples care.

You will havecompleted an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice or an equivalent and beregistered through the Advancing Practice Academy e-portfolio route. Ourwider team includes GPs, practice nurses, ACPs in urgent care, paramedic practitioners,nurse practitioners, radiographers and administrative staff.

As a team we support the care of older people within theWhitstable area, in particular leading the care for all the local care homeresidents, conducting home visits for those with severe frailty and providingurgent home visits for those acutely unwell and at risk of hospital admission. We also provide teaching and support to ourcolleagues regarding older persons care and link in closely with othercommunity services such as the community frailty team and home treatmentservice.

Main duties of the job

The candidate must have a special interest in frailty, have considerable post registration experience, be competent in assessing patients, arranging investigations, considering differential diagnoses and implementing management plans. It is essential to have professional registration.

The post holder will work alongside experienced Frailty Practitioners in addition to a number of other Allied Health Professionals. They will have strong organisation skills, be flexible and show empathy and compassion. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with evidence of leadership qualities are also required.

About us

Whitstable Medical Practice is a forward thinking single practice Primary Care Network (PCN) GP Practice based across 3 sites in Whitstable. There are 24 equity GP Partners looking after over 44,500 patients. There is also 22 Allied Health Professionals directly employed - Clinical Pharmacy Team, Frailty Practitioners, Social Prescribers, First Contact Physiotherapists, Podiatrist and Mental Health Practitioners.

We pride ourselves on our innovative approach to Primary Care. We are a training practice and run various in house contracts including Cataract surgery, Ultrasound, Dermatology, Physical Therapies and Audiology together with further community contracts, a Day Surgery Suite and an Urgent Treatment Centre with digital x-ray.

As is typical across the country, we are experiencing an increasing elderly population which is placing additional pressures on the local health economy. There are 10 care and nursing homes in the area all of whom are registered with the practice.

Job responsibilities

The Advanced ClinicalPractitioner (ACP) in Frailty plays a pivotal role in the proactive managementand care of older adults with frailty. The ACP will work collaboratively withmultidisciplinary teams to assess, diagnose, plan, and deliver high-quality,patient-centered care to individuals living with frailty. This role focuses onpreventing the deterioration of health, improving quality of life, and managinglong-term conditions within the primary care setting.

The ACP will conductcomprehensive assessments, including frailty screening, physical examinations,and reviews of medical histories, to develop personalised care plans. They willbe responsible for managing complex cases, ensuring appropriate interventions,and coordinating with healthcare professionals to support individuals acrosstheir care journey. Additionally, the ACP will have a key role in educatingpatients and their families about frailty, empowering them to make informeddecisions regarding their health and well-being.

The successful candidate willhave advanced clinical skills, experience in geriatric or frailty care, and astrong commitment to improving outcomes for older adults in the primary caresetting. They will demonstrate the ability to work autonomously whilecollaborating effectively within a multidisciplinary team.

Primary Duties andResponsibilitiesPatient Care:

Towork closely with the GPs, primary care and community staff in providing a servicefor patients ensuring the delivery of treatment, care planning and hospitaladmission prevention where appropriate.

Undertakes first line comprehensive clinicalassessment of patients, including those with complex presentations, employingan extended scope of practice beyond own profession including advanced clinicalassessment skills, referral and interpretation of investigations andindependent prescribing.

Toprovide advanced assessment and care planning, including history taking andphysical assessment of patients.

Towork closely with the consultant geriatricians, GPs and patients in identifyingand devising effective care for each patient recognising them as anindividual. The plan of care, whichshould be developed in conjunction with the patient, carer/family and relevantothers, should be outcome based and ensure appropriate pathways of care andcommunication via liaison and referral to other agencies as required.

Towork in conjunction with a wide range of clinical colleagues facilitating apatient or client focused, co-ordinated case management approach across primaryand secondary care for people who are most vulnerable to and at high risk ofrepeat admissions to hospital

Toparticipate in efforts to shape multi-disciplinary pathways designed to supportpatient choice, improve quality of life, promote self-management and assureearly intervention through the proactive provision of care in or as close tothe patients own home as possible

Requests, reviews and interprets diagnosticinvestigations within the context of other available information utilising asystematic process of clinical reasoning to formulate a differential diagnosis.

Involves patients, families and carers in theidentification of patient-centred concerns and priorities about health andwell-being and negotiates approaches available to prevent deterioration or promotecomfort and well-being.

Demonstrates empathy and compassion whencommunicating sensitive information and advice to patients, carers andrelatives.

Evaluates the effectiveness of therapeuticinterventions and modifies the management plan accordingly.

Adopts an integrated care approach to meeting anindividual patients needs across services through collaboration with careteams who refer patients to the service and those who provide on-going careafter discharge

Assesses capacity, gains valid informed consentand works within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consentto treatment.

Provides guidance to the clinical team withregard to therapeutic interventions, advance care planning and best interestdecision-making for patients who lack mental capacity

Recognises deteriorating patients, implementsearly interventions as needed and escalates care where appropriate.

Empowers patients to manage their long-termconditions as independently as possible.

Applies expert knowledge in palliative care tosymptom control, recognition of dying and advance care planning.

Refers to other practitioners and agencies whennecessary.

Communication and Working Relationships:

Ensureclose liaison with GPs, clinicians, consultant geriatrician, and GeneralManager in communicating clinical issues

Facilitatesthe communication of highly complex information regarding specialist issues ona range of service developments with the Practice and other health and socialcare professionals. This communicationis directed to professional colleagues, across all areas of the health economyand primary care networks in the CCG area.

Advancedcommunication skills are necessary to communicate with patients to gain consentfor treatment within a care pathway. Highlysensitive and confidential information is regularly required to be communicatedto patients after clinical and medical results are collated, formulatingspecific management plans which can be upsetting in nature.

Responsiblefor developing and maintaining effective communication channels with patient,carers and other health and social care professionals.

Promoteempathy, enable sharing of complex multi-professional viewpoints and sensitivehandling of confidential information

Analytical and Judgement:

TheACP will work across the caseload using their clinical skills to identify theneeds of patients and the correct services to liaise with.

Adviseon the promotion of health and prevention of illness and provide information toindividual and groups to prevent ill-health.

Toprovide specialist assessment of patients, using analytical and judgementskills. To provide appropriate patientcentred treatment using evidence based practice wherever possible.

Analysesand interprets highly complex information gained during clinical examinationand history taking to diagnose an individuals problems or illness and todecide on an appropriate course of action or treatment.

Analysesand interprets results from tests and investigations to inform diagnosis andtreatment

Ableto access and assimilate previous patient records where available

Identifiesevidence based interventions to meet an individuals complex health needswithin the context of the overall management plan

Supports the development of a learningorganisation by identifying, challenging and reporting poor performance andalerting managers to resource issues which may affect patient safety.

Training andDevelopment:ContinuousProfessional Education:Engage in ongoing professional development through formal courses, workshops,conferences, and e-learning to maintain and enhance clinical expertise infrailty care.

ClinicalSupervision and Mentorship:Provide clinical supervision, mentorship, and guidance to junior healthcareprofessionals, including nurses, trainees, and other allied health staff,fostering a culture of learning within the team.

KnowledgeSharing: Lead andparticipate in training sessions, case discussions, and in-service educationfor the primary care team to raise awareness of frailty issues, managementstrategies, and best practice guidelines

RoleDevelopment:Actively contribute to the development and expansion of the ACP role within theolder persons team by identifying new learning needs and areas for serviceimprovement.

Researchand Evidence-Based Practice:Stay up-to-date with the latest research, evidence, and best practices infrailty care, and incorporate these findings into both personal practice andteam training initiatives.

Collaborationwith Academic Institutions:Build relationships with universities or training providers to facilitatelearning opportunities for students or apprentices in frailty care.

Auditand Quality Improvement:Participate in audits and quality improvement initiatives to assess theeffectiveness of frailty management approaches and use the findings to informtraining and development activities.

Personal Reflectionand Development Plans:Regularly review personal performance and clinical outcomes, settingdevelopment goals and seeking feedback from peers and supervisors to ensureongoing professional growth.

Safeguarding:

Whitstable Medical Practice is committed to safeguarding and promotingthe welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults; and expects allstaff and post holders to share this commitment by understanding their role ineffective safeguarding.

Person Specification

Experience

• Post registration experience gained by undertaking on-going personal development and training.
• Experience of working with people with frailty.
• Experience in assessing patients, arranging investigations, considering differential diagnoses and implementing management plans.
• Experience underpinned by knowledge of working with and understanding the complex needs of patients in a primary care/community setting.
• Experience of working with long-term conditions.
• Involvement in the implementation and management of change.
• Good understanding of current health care issues.
• Training in interpretation of blood results. Experience in palliative care or working with people near the end of life.

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Broad range of enhanced clinical skills.
• Ability to advocate patient issues.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership skills.
• Excellent organisation skills including the ability to make decisions and prioritise.
• High degree of autonomy, analytical skills and multidisciplinary knowledge in caring for patients.
• Decision making skills and problem solving skills.
• Ability to understand and interpret information/evidence based care and apply to practice.
• Critical thinking.
• Assertive, adaptable and flexible.
• Empathy and compassion.

Qualifications

• MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice or equivalent. Registered Practitioner holding current registration with NMC, HCPC. Independent Prescriber. experience working with frailty/older people
• Mentoring/Leadership qualification. Experience working in the community. Experience working in care homes.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.