Rapid Response Practitioner

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; Cheltenham; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Part time

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Rapid Response Practitioner to deliver rapid assessment and care across the county. The role focuses on acute medical needs in community settings and includes independent prescribing responsibilities as part of patient-centred care.

The successful candidate will have Advanced Patient Assessment qualifications, professional registration, and proven experience in acute care delivery, with a drive to improve urgent care pathways.

Qualifications

• Professional Registration and Advanced Patient Assessment qualifications are required.
• Evidence of postgraduate study is desirable.
• Experience of teaching and supporting colleagues is desirable.
• Experience providing acute patient care is essential.

Responsibilities

• Deliver the rapid response service across the county to achieve the 2-hour Urgent Community Response target.
• Work as a clinician within their professional scope in responding to acute medical needs in various community settings.
• Undertake the role of red lead within SPCA on a rotational basis to support development of triage skills.
• Provide initial clinical examination, history taking and assessments to determine and deliver initial treatments; refer on for ongoing support.
• Utilise specialist care and knowledge to enable safe in-home care.
• Make risk assessments of patients’ ability to stay at home safely and liaise with care providers.
• Provide care to vulnerable adults including risk assessment and appropriate action.

Skills

Acute assessment skills

Clinical decision making

Communication skills

Education

Advanced Patient Assessment Qualification

Professional Registration

Evidence of Post Graduate Study

Experience of Teaching and Supporting Colleagues

Experience of Providing Acute Patient Care

Job description

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Rapid Response Practitioner

The closing date is 22 November 2026

Rapid Response provides a Countywide service to manage and treat patients who present with an acute illness or exacerbation of a long term condition. Our aim is to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and facilitate early discharge from the acute hospitals, we work closely with partners in the acute hospital, and with other urgent care providers and community services.

Our passion for delivering care services of the highest quality to our local communities is further developing and we are striving to deliver new models of service, inspiring innovation, and liberating talent.

Part time hours can be considered.

Main duties of the job

Applicants must have extensive post registration clinical experience and will be expected to be experienced in the assessment of the acutely unwell adult, monitoring and management of the deteriorating patient, along with experience of the delivery of complex care planning to include onward referral into other services when medically stable. Evidence of current experience caring for patients with acute medical needs is essential. The successful applicant will undertake roles within the community setting countywide as a Rapid Response Practitioner.

Applicants must hold an Advanced Patient Assessment Qualification, they must be an adaptable team player and possess excellent communication and IT skills with good problem solving skills to manage challenging situations. Community experience is desirable but not essential as a full and comprehensive induction programme will be provided. A valid UK driving licence plus the use of own transport for business purposes is essential.

About us

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.

76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.

81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Job responsibilities

To deliver the rapid response service across the County to achieve the 2-hour Urgent Community Response target

To work as a clinician within their professional scope of practice in responding to acute medical needs in a variety of community settings.

Undertake the role of red lead within SPCA on a rotational basis to support development of triage skills.

Provide comprehensive initial clinical examination, history taking and assessments of patients in order to determine and deliver initial clinical treatments such as intravenous infusions. Refer on to other appropriate members of the Integrated Community Team to provide on-going support.

To utilise specialist care, skills and knowledge in the delivery of the service in order that clients be cared for appropriately and safely in their own homes.

To make risk assessments of patients abilities to stay at home safely, and liaising with appropriate care providers

To provide care and attention to the needs of vulnerable adults including risk assessments and taking appropriate action and referral as required.

To make risk assessments of patients abilities to stay at home safely, and liaising with appropriate care providers.

Where appropriate, as an independent prescriber, prescribe and review medication for therapeutic effectiveness or issue medication under a PGD appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols and within the scope of practice and legislative framework.

Be a visible and accessible presence throughout the organisation to strengthen relationships whilst acting as a role model to other care professionals to support them in managing complex interventions using a variety of approaches to decision making.

Work closely with other members of the Integrated Community Team to utilise and develop their skills to ensure the rapid response service is accessible and responsive to the needs of patients. Undertake joint reviews and assessments as necessary to support timely and effective care at home.

For all staff to respond to a fall even if its level 1 non-injurious fall if appropriate due to their location and as directed by the red lead or another senior colleague

Participate in the promotion of the rapid response service through dissemination of specialist knowledge both locally and nationally.

Actively participate in local, national, and international networking to maintain and develop expert level of knowledge in the speciality.

Provide emotional support to patients and their carers by offering appropriate health education, information and advice

Support the investigation and or analysis of complaints or incidents relating to the rapid response service. Help to Identify areas which require re-design or further development

Attend relevant meetings

Assess, diagnose and treat patients with urgent care presentations.

Offer support and specialist advice to lower band clinicians within Rapid Response and other Community Teams as appropriate.

Liaise with SPCA and Social Care where the requirement for a package of care is identified.

Evaluation of care given, discharging patients and arranging scheduled follow up as appropriate.

The Trustis required towork in line with the Governments UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit -https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

To support compliance with UK immigration requirements, all applicants who require a visa to work in the UK must disclose their visa history in full. This includes current and previous sponsors, dates of sponsorship, visa category and any changes of employment. If you are on a Graduate or Dependent visa, please disclose the expiry date on your application. Incomplete information may mean we are unable to consider your application.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Professional Registration
• Advanced Patient Assessment Qualification
• Evidence of Post Graduate Study
• Experience of Teaching and Supporting Colleagues
• Experience of Providing Acute Patient Care

Professional / Managerial

• Acute assessment skills
• Experience of managing patients with complex needs
• Community experience

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.

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

£39,959 to £48,117 a yearper annum (pro rata)