Frailty Practitioner

Sussex Community Nhs Foundation Trust; England; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Frailty Practitioner to support people living with frailty within Integrated Neighbourhood Teams. You will use advanced clinical skills to assess, plan and coordinate person-centred care, aiming to prevent hospital admissions and promote independence.

The role involves leading multidisciplinary collaboration with GPs, community teams and social care, and delivering expert clinical advice and education across services.

Qualifications

• Current registration as a Registered Nurse (Adult) or Allied Health professional, with eligibility for independent prescribing.
• Significant experience at Band 6 level or above.
• Extensive experience of working with older people living with frailty and/or complex health needs.
• Strong assessment, clinical reasoning, decision-making and case management skills.
• Experience of multidisciplinary and multi-agency working.
• Confidence to work autonomously and as part of an integrated team.
• Independent prescribing qualification, or willingness to complete this within 12 months of appointment.

Responsibilities

• Undertake comprehensive geriatric assessments and develop personalised care and support plans.
• Manage a defined caseload of people living with frailty and complex needs.
• Use your clinical judgement to identify deterioration and take action to prevent avoidable hospital admissions.
• Coordinate care across primary, community, acute, social care and voluntary sector services.
• Support safe and timely hospital discharge, reducing the risk of readmission.
• Provide specialist clinical advice, leadership, education and support to colleagues.
• Contribute to service development and improvement.

Skills

Independent prescriber

Frailty expertise

Clinical assessment

Autonomous practice

Team collaboration

Education

Nursing (RN Adult) or Allied Health Professional

Independent prescribing qualification or willingness to complete within 12 months

Job description

Job summary

Are you a skilled and compassionate clinician who wants to make a real difference to people living with frailty?

As a Frailty Practitioner, you’ll use your clinical expertise, professional judgement and passion for person-centred care to make a difference when it matters most.

Working within our Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs), you’ll support people with frailty and complex health needs to remain well and independent for longer. You’ll help prevent avoidable hospital admissions and provide coordinated, proactive and locally responsive support.

INTs bring together everyone who cares for a local population into one team, whatever organisation employs them. GPs, community nurses, therapists, pharmacists, mental health practitioners, social care and voluntary sector partners work side by side around the same people.

We’ll be hosting recruitment information sessions where you can find out more about the role, our Trust and our INTs and ask any questions. Dates and times are listed below -- please book via https://buytickets.at/nhssussexcommunityfoundationtrust/2487246

Wednesday 4th November at 12.00

Thursday 5th November at 12.30

Friday 6th November at 08.30

Tuesday 12th November at 17.30

Interviews will take place the week beginning 23rd November.

Main duties of the job

You’ll use your specialist knowledge and advanced clinical skills to understand the person, identify what matters to them and work with them and the wider multidisciplinary team to find the best way forward.

• Undertake comprehensive geriatric assessments and develop personalised care and support plans.
• Manage a defined caseload of people living with frailty and complex needs.
• Use your clinical judgement to identify deterioration and take action to prevent avoidable hospital admissions.
• Coordinate care across primary, community, acute, social care and voluntary sector services.
• Support safe and timely hospital discharge, reducing the risk of readmission.
• Provide specialist clinical advice, leadership, education and support to colleagues.
• Contribute to service development.
• Advocate for people living with frailty, supporting them and their families to make informed choices and maintain independence.

Locations

We have opportunities available across Sussex. When applying, please indicate your preferred locality in the supporting statement:

• Brighton & Hove
• Wealden
• Lewes & Havens
• Crawley
• Horsham
• Mid Sussex
• Adur
• Worthing
• Arun & Regis
• Chichester

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?

• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staff
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment. This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Salary

£49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum pro rata

Band: Band 7

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time

Closing date: 11 November 2026

Job responsibilities

You’ll be an experienced clinician who is confident working autonomously, making complex clinical decisions and building effective relationships across professional and organisational boundaries.

You’ll work closely with GPs, Community Geriatricians, community and acute colleagues, social care, and voluntary sector partners, acting as a key link to ensure continuity of care.

You’ll use advanced clinical skills and expert knowledge to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care, develop personalised management plans and provide specialist advice. You’ll contribute to education, service development, quality improvement and the development of integrated care pathways.

The role requires excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information, influence and negotiate, and build effective partnerships with system partners to achieve the best outcomes for patients.

About you

• Current registration as a Registered Nurse (Adult) or eligible Allied Health Professional, with eligibility for independent prescribing.
• Significant experience at Band 6 level or above.
• Extensive experience of working with older people living with frailty and/or complex health needs.
• Strong assessment, clinical reasoning, decision-making and case management skills.
• Experience of multidisciplinary and multi-agency working.
• Confidence to work autonomously and as part of an integrated team.
• A genuine commitment to improving outcomes, experience and independence for people living with frailty.
• An independent prescribing qualification, or willingness to complete this within 12 months of appointment.

Why join us?

This is an opportunity to be part of a different way of delivering care. Our Integrated Neighbourhood Teams bring together health, care and community partners to create stronger connections around the people who need us most.

You’ll have the opportunity to use your expertise, develop your practice and influence how care is delivered, making a visible difference to both individual patients and the wider frailty service.

If you’re ready to combine clinical expertise, autonomy, leadership and genuine human impact, we’d love to hear from you.

Person Specification

Qualifications (Essential)

• RN first level nurse (Adults) or Allied Health professional eligible to be an independent prescriber
• Evidence of continuing professional development in a relevant area of specialist practice to master's level or equivalent experience.
• Independent prescriber or willingness to undertake within 12 months of coming into post

Experience (Essential)

• Extensive experience working at a Band 6 role or above
• Good understanding of working in partnership with statutory and non statutory agencies to support patient centred care
• Proven extensive experience working with older people living with frailty and/or complex conditions.

Skills & Knowledge (Essential)

• Advanced physical assessment skills
• Evidence of ability to direct and co-ordinate complex programmes of care working autonomously and collaboratively across organisational boundaries
• Evidence of the ability to work in a changing, stressful situation whilst managing complex patient centred care
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings across organisational boundaries and with the public

Additional information

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address: BGH, Brighton, BN2 3EW, United Kingdom

Employer's website: https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/

For questions about the job, contact: INT Engagement Manager, Shelley Gray, [e-mail], 07917246648