Enhanced Care Practitioner Band 7

University Hospitals Dorset; Bournemouth; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospitals Dorset in Bournemouth is seeking a Band 7 Enhanced Care Practitioner to join the fast-paced SDEC team. You will lead rapid assessment, diagnosis, and treatment plans across General Surgery, Vascular, Urology, Gynaecology, and Head & Neck.

The role involves autonomous decision-making with minimal supervision, complex caseload management, and contributing to service development and policy redesign.

Qualifications

• Enhanced Clinical Practice qualification, Level 7, other post registration qualification at level 7 or equivalent experience
• Management and/or Leadership course relevant to healthcare environment
• Supplementary or Independent prescriber

Responsibilities

• Work with minimal supervision, clinically examining and assessing patients and initiating any appropriate action for a distinct caseload of highly complex patients.
• Make independent, autonomous highly complex clinical decisions across a discrete aspect of patient care in the SDEC service.
• Exercise significant discretion in the delivery of the role, guided by policies and procedures and implementing appropriate action in order to achieve expected results.
• Care for people with highly complex conditions using existing knowledge and expertise, enhanced clinical assessments, diagnostics, interventions and equipment.
• To work autonomously, using enhanced clinical knowledge and skills, underpinned by theory and experience, to holistically assess patients, using a range of methods across the specialist service.
• To plan and manage care of patients within current level of practice, working in partnership with others, delegating and referring as appropriate, to optimise health outcomes and resource use, as well as providing direct support to patients and carers.
• To propose and implement service and policy development and redesign, impacting beyond own area and other disciplines, informed by current best practice and evidence-base, in accordance with values-based care of the trust.

Education

Enhanced Clinical Practice qualification, Level 7

Supplementary or Independent prescriber

Management/Leadership course

Job description

Main area Surgery Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Sunday) Job ref 153-SU07049

Department name 01. UHD - General Recruitment Site The Royal Bournemouth Hospital - UHD Town Bournemouth Salary £49,387 - £56,515 PA Salary period Yearly Closing 16/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 24/11/2026

As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with 'university hospital' status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.

We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £500m transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you'll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we're also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.

We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.

We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.

At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.

As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.

We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their application. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of your own experience and suitability. Personal integrity is an important part of the recruitment process.

Job overview

Are you an experienced, dynamic, and forward-thinking clinician ready to shape the future of emergency surgical care?

We are seeking an exceptional Band 7 Enhanced Care Practitioner to join our fast-paced Surgical Surgical Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) team.

In this role, you will be at the forefront of avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions by providing rapid assessment, diagnosis, and treatment plans for a diverse and complex patient cohort. This is an incredible opportunity to utilize your advanced clinical skills across five distinct surgical specialties: General Surgery, Vascular, Urology, Gynaecology, and Head & Neck.

Interview date: 24th November 2026

Base site: UHD - Royal Bournemouth Hospital

Main duties of the job

Work with minimal supervision, clinically examining and assessing patients and initiating any appropriate action for a distinct caseload of highly complex patients.

Make independent, autonomous highly complex clinical decisions across a discrete aspect of patient care in the SDEC service. May require some supervision and will be expected to obtain support from senior members of staff to make decisions, which may be outside scope of clinical knowledge.

Exercise significant discretion in the delivery of the role, guided by policies and procedures and implementing appropriate action in order to achieve expected results.

Care for people with highly complex conditions using existing knowledge and expertise , enhanced clinical assessments, diagnostics, interventions and equipment.

To work autonomously, using enhanced clinical knowledge and skills, underpinned by theory and experience, to holistically assess patients, using a range of methods across the specialist service.

To plan and manage care of patients within current level of practice, working in partnership with others, delegating and referring as appropriate , to optimise health outcomes and resource use, as well as providing direct support to patients and carers.

To propose and implement service and policy development and redesign, impacting beyond own area and other disciplines, informed by current best practice and evidence-base, in accordance with values-based care of the trust.

Working for our organisation

UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview.

If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions.

UHD has active networks including Women’s, BAME, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes.

AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Integrity is key to our recruitment process.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

See attached Job description and person specification

Work with minimal supervision, clinically examining and assessing patients and initiating any appropriate action for a distinct caseload of highly complex patients.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Enhanced Clinical Practice qualification, Level 7, other post registration qualification at level 7 or equivalent experience
• Management and/or Leadership course relevant to healthcare environment.
• Supplementary or Independent prescriber

Experience

• Demonstrable experience of managing a discrete aspect of a patient’s care at an enhanced level of practice with specific knowledge and skills in a field of expertise within Surgical context.
• Experience of working in partnership with all levels of staff, evidencing the ability to plan and co-ordinate the provision of care

Technical skills comptencies

• Ability to analyse and interpret highly complex information from patient assessment and interventions, and freedom to act in managing patients 'care
• Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative and as part of a multi-disciplinary team

Knowledge

• Able to demonstrate highly specialised theoretical and practical knowledge of Surgical specialty and common presentations
• Ability to demonstrate a depth and breadth of understanding of current issues and policies and have the ability to translate into practice.

Other requirements specific to the role

• A commitment to improving patient services through an ability to sustain a clear performance focus on achieving demanding goals
• Manual dexterity, precision and accuracy in physical skills

Staff recruited are expected to be available to work flexibly across all our Trust locations to meet service demands.

This advert may be closed early if sufficient applications are received.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst this vaccination is not a condition of employment we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated.

Internal Candidates: staff employed prior to merger who voluntarily change jobs will be appointed to UHD terms and conditions.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.