Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Purpose:

1. To act as a high-level autonomous practitioner and role model, delivering advanced practice and promoting clinical effectiveness and patient centred care.  
2. The post-holder will be required to work autonomously in delivering independent assessment for the patients on virtual ward.  
3. The post holder will work closely with all members of the multidisciplinary team and will play an integral role in the operational development of the service. They will promote education and facilitate evidence-based practice taking a lead on clinical audit, research and service development.  
4. The post holder will also provide expert advice delivering advanced clinical practice, clinical leadership and supervision, support and mentorship for multidisciplinary professionals including other ACPs, junior medical staff and clinical nursing staff of all grades. They will also be responsible for enhancing the quality of the service by providing education and support to all practitioners and acting as a role model.  
5. The post holder will demonstrate a high level of advanced expertise, specialist knowledge, demonstrate high levels of judgement, discretion and decision making in the delivery of clinical care.
6. The post-holder will work collaboratively with a range of multi-disciplinary services to facilitate admission avoidance or early supported discharge.  
7. The post-holder will be expected to work within the four clinical pillars of advanced practice, clinical practice, facilitating learning, leadership and evidence, research and development. This will be demonstrated within their portfolio.  
8. The role will be structured around four functions, delivering expert practice, professional leadership/consultancy, education, training and development, service development, research and evaluation. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Practice as an autonomous professional with confidence and authority using an expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and the clinical competencies of specialist, emergency care advanced practice.
2. Exercise judgement in assessing wide ranging and complex patient problems and have knowledge and expertise related to investigation and treatment options in order to facilitate informed consent.
3. Have direct responsibility for managing own patient caseload, ensuring all patients have agreed management plans that reflect their clinical, physiological and educational needs.
4. Have a health promotion and prevention orientation and comprehensively assess patients for risk factors and signs of illness working to overcome potential barriers such as language, cultural or behavioural issues using highly developed negotiation and persuasiveness skills.
5. Interpret and analyse highly complex clinical and non-clinical facts to form accurate diagnoses and prognoses for a wide range of conditions to recommend / deliver the best course of intervention including the development of comprehensive packages of care acting as the patient’s advocate where appropriate. 
6. Initiate pharmacological interventions, using non-medical prescribing review patient’s medications ensuring they adhere to Trust guidelines and provide for the safe custody and administration of medications prescribed by others in accordance with Trust policies.
7. Accurately request radiological and pathology investigations and make clinical decisions based upon expert interpretation of the results.
8. Utilise physical skills including carrying out physical examinations, clinical skills, use of specialist equipment, perform specialist interventions that require dexterity and accuracy such as venepuncture, IV injections, syringe drivers etc. Expert hand/eye coordination to complete clinical procedures.  
9. Manage patients who are critically unwell or those requiring emergency care thus periods of intense physical effort are required on a regular or as per shift basis.  
10. Moving and handling of patients and equipment.  
11. Required to drive across the geography.
12. Take responsibility for the discharge planning process for named patients and working in partnership with the patient, their family and the multidisciplinary team, provide specialist advice and support to optimise health outcomes and resource usage.
13. Manage an unpredictable, challenging and rapidly changing clinical environment with constantly changing priorities, no upper limit on patient numbers and high levels of physical and mental effort.
14. Act sensitively, confidentially and with empathy to communicate highly distressing information to patients and their relatives including the unexpected death of a patient or life threatening illness or injury. Support bereaved families and patients and their relatives following serious trauma or illness.
15. Use highly developed communication skills to deliver complex information, negotiate and influence professionals and organisations to improve practices and healthcare delivery.
16. Use those skills also in communicating with persons who are distressed, highly emotional, bereaved, or mentally disturbed and in dealing with agitated, aggressive persons and in managing potentially violent situations.
17. Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and controversial information, which may require negotiation with patients and their relatives. This may include issues around adult safeguarding, child protection, sexual abuse / assault, and patients in the custody of the legal system. Ensure safeguarding legislation and Trust policies adhered to in own practice.
18. Supervise and where necessary, work in collaboration with nursing, medical and AHP team members, demonstrating expert clinical practice. Ensure own and staff wellbeing taking into account frequent exposure to highly unpleasant working conditions and highly distressing, emotional and traumatic cases.
19. Support the line management of staff within the three partnership organisations as required  
20. Appropriately define the boundaries of own practice, adhering to Trust and regulatory standards or equivalent and refer to senior medical staff when scope of practice is exceeded.
21. Maintain accurate, contemporaneous and timely care records

Communication

1. The post holder is required to utilise a wide range of communication skills and will be required to communicate on complex issues to a wide range of audiences, including director and senior management level, in order to inform and influence decisions.
2. To attend performance meetings, where appropriate, to represent the service/clinical speciality.
3. To be responsible for the implementation of the delegated actions from development plans, including the business plans, through effective communications and briefings to staff.
4.  Use highly developed communication skills to effectively communicate with colleagues, patients and their relatives/carers to enable the development of internal and external working relationships.
5. Use professional judgement to act as an advocate for patients to ensure a patient focused approach to the delivery of care. Support and enable patients and carers to make informed decisions relating to their treatment and management. Escalate any concerns via the nursing / professional structures as required.  
6. Ensure effective and accurate documentation of patients’ consultation, examination finding and management plan on system one.
7. Ensure that high standards of all documentation are maintained, with accurate, complete and up-to-date information regarding patient care are kept in accordance with Trust standards.  
8. Communicates sensitive information concerning the patient’s condition, which requires persuasive and reassuring skills; some patients may have special needs, learning disabilities and therefore communication with the child and parents is key.  
9. Work with Interpreting services as appropriate where there are difficulties with language and communication.
10. Work with other services that provide in and out of hours services including Emergency Department, GPs, Out of Hours GP service and ambulance services.  
11. Utilise advanced knowledge and skills relating to the speciality to provide specialist advice to other members of the multidisciplinary team on the basis of patient assessment.  
12. Provide a seamless, high-quality service from referral through to assessment, diagnosis, treatment and review, referring to other specialists as required. Provide guidance to staff, patients and their families and carers on pathway navigation.  
13. Maintain an awareness of professional and ethical issues to ensure care is delivered in a professional timely and courteous manner by all members of the team, respecting the different spiritual and cultural backgrounds of colleagues, patients and relatives.  
14. Management of clinical complaints, including face to face contact with patients and families, which may involve difficult conversations that require a non-defensive approach.
15. Able to undertake communication with patients and families that may be of a distressing or highly distressing nature. 

For more details, please see JD & PS attached to this vacancy