Job summary
- Main area
- General Surgery
- Grade
- Band 7 - Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Three long days per week, Monday to Friday.)
- Job ref
- 210-2026-529
- Employer
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Countess of Chester Hospital
- Town
- Chester
- Salary
- £49,387 - £64,750 Trainee ACP posts will be paid at band 7
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 02/09/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Advanced Clinical Practitioner
Band 7 - Band 8a
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, staff pride themselves on not only leading through clinical excellence, but also by creating an environment where all staff are valued and appreciated. To achieve this, the Trust has embarked on an exciting new strategy focused on continuous improvement.
Our vision is to improve the lives of our community and provide excellence in healthcare, through partnership and innovation
Our High Performance Culture will support everyone to be the best version of themselves by being true to our Trust vision, values and behaviours.
We welcome applications from colleagues from our local and neighbouring communities of all backgrounds and identities, who are currently under-represented within our region such as Black, Asian, Minority ethnic and those with disabilities.
As a region we are reviewing the way we work, and exploring how new working practices that support flexible working can create a positive work-life balance. As part of our recruitment process we will explore how our inclusive employment policies, flexible working, staff engagement forums, Trust facilities and services can be of mutual benefit.
Job overview
Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week
An exciting opportunity has become available for a highly motivated Advanced Clinical Practitioner to join the General Surgery team at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
The Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) in General Surgery provides expert clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of patients presenting with a wide range of surgical conditions. The role includes advanced clinical decision making, leadership, education, service development, and the promotion of high standards of patient safety and quality of care in accordance with local and national guidelines.
Applicants must have an ACP masters qualification or be currently undertaking an ACP programme to be considered for this post. Please note, a trainee ACP would be employed as band 7 until fully qualified.
Main duties of the job
As an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in General Surgery the post holder will mainly be based in the Same Day Emergency Care unit (SDEC) assessing patients with both general surgery and urology presentations, ordering clinical investigations, interpreting results and either independently discharging the patient or working with the surgical team to manage their episode of care. The post holder will also be expected to see surgically referred patients in the Emergency Department, manage
the surgical SDEC virtual clinics and will occasionally support general surgery ward rounds. The post holder will be allocated weekly time to develop in all four pillars of advanced practice. The Countess
of Chester Hospital has an excellent advanced practice network which offers teaching sessions, a yearly conference and on-going peer support for both trainee and qualified ACPs.
Please see attached job description for more detail.
Working for our organisation
The Trust’s services are provided from three locations:
• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.
The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs will be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree-level professional qualification in nursing or AHP
- NMC/HCPC Registered
- MSc Advanced Practice/Clinical Masters
- Non-Medical Prescriber (V300 Extended Formulary and Supplementary Nurse Prescribing Programme)
- IRMER - trained
- Continuous Professional Development portfolio
- Relevant clinical skills to support clinical practice
Desirable criteria
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education
- Recognised teaching/assessing qualification 998/997/mentorship
- Trained in Advanced Life Support (Adult)
- Basic surgical skills course
Knowledge and experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of advanced clinical, psychological, and social needs of patients attending urgent /acute care.
- Excellent clinical reasoning /clinical decision making
- Demonstrates highly developed specialist knowledge and expertise across a wide range of emergency care procedures
- Demonstrable experience of complex decision making
- Good knowledge of national and local targets, NICE Guidelines and policies applicable to urgent care and general surgery
- Relevant previous experience of working at an advanced clinical level.
- Evidence of recent research and audit.
- Evidence of change management and/or innovative practice
- Experience of working in a general surgery environment
- Experience of multi professional working
Desirable criteria
- Experience of leading patient involvement/patient feedback
- Experience in delivery of nurse led services
- Leadership and management experience
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Rebecca Freeman
- Job title
- Lead ACP for Planned care
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01244364653
- Additional information
Contact via email is preferred where possible please. Please note, the contact telephone number above will take you to the General Surgery ACP team. If I am not available, a colleague will take your details and I will get back to you as soon as possible. My working days are Monday/Tuesday/Thursday and Friday until 5pm.
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