This teletriage post sits in the Urgent Community Response Team at Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. The work is assessing acutely unwell patients in care homes, guiding care home staff on pathways, and cutting unnecessary admissions while enabling early discharges. The post suits an autonomous clinician who decides between a face-to-face visit and discharge at first contact, and covers other sites as required. Fit turns on NMC or HCPC registration, three years' post-registration experience and a car for business use.
What the job involves
- Assess acutely unwell patients in care homes using established pathways, covering acute, nursing and social care needs
- Decide whether a patient needs a face-to-face assessment or can be discharged at first point of contact
- Support care home staff in choosing the best clinical pathway and facilitate early discharges
- Provide senior clinical support to urgent community response staff and support the frailty initiative
- Work with the acute trust to prevent inappropriate hospital admission
- Carry out initial holistic assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of care for complex acute and chronic illness in the community without supervision
- Make clinical judgements and decisions in situations that need prompt action
- Advise and support doctors, nurses and social workers across hospital and community settings on patient care
- Educate and support acute wards, CICC, nursing and residential home clinicians to make correct clinical decisions
- Work within a multidisciplinary team including support workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, community psychiatric nurses and social workers
What’s required
Qualifications
- Masters or equivalent experience
- Postgraduate qualification in rapid response, community nursing, emergency or acute medicine, or equivalent experience
- Recent professional development
Registration & licences
- NMC registration as a first level nurse, or HCPC registration as an experienced community paramedic
Experience
- Minimum 3 years post-registration experience
- Clinical management of patients face to face and by telephone
- Autonomous clinical decision making, with evidence of working both in a team and unsupervised
Skills & knowledge
- Up-to-date knowledge of acute, chronic and terminal illness, wound management, care of the elderly and palliative care
- Understanding of the primary and secondary care interface
- Understanding of clinical governance
- Knowledge of NMC or HCPC codes of conduct and Trust policies
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Clinically competent and confident in an adult setting
Other
- Dealing with sensitive issues professionally, with tact and diplomacy
- Building good working relationships with people from a wide range of backgrounds
- Flexibility to work at other sites, with access to a car for business use
Nice to have
- Teaching and Assessing Qualification or equivalent
- Non-medical Prescribing (V300)
What’s offered
- Family friendly policies
- Additional leave purchase scheme
- Laptop for remote working
- Free parking
- Staff wellbeing support, including counselling
- Inclusive staff network meetings
- Ambassadorial engagement roles