Job summary
- Main area
- Acute Medicine
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 153-ME04733
- Employer
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Bournemouth Hospital
- Town
- Bournemouth
- Salary
- £62,215 - £72,293 PA
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 13/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Advanced Clinical Practitioner
NHS AfC: Band 8b
As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.
We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £250m estates programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.
In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.
We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.
We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.
At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.
As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.
We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their application. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of your own experience and suitability. Personal integrity is an important part of the recruitment process.
Job overview
University Hospitals Dorset offers a range of fantastic opportunities to grow your career across both hospital and community settings in the beautiful surroundings of Dorset. Whether you're looking to build new skills or take your experience to the next level, we are uniquely placed to provide the right environment to support your professional development. We are committed to delivering outstanding, compassionate care, working with a dynamic, multidisciplinary group dedicated to innovation, excellence, and person-centred care.
We are excited to offer a rare and highly sought after opportunity for a qualified Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) working within the Acute Medical Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) and Assessment Unit. We are looking for an experienced ACP who is enthusiastic and willing to develop this service whilst working clinically. You will be expected to work autonomously but within a wider medical team, assessing, requesting and interpreting investigations, diagnosis and creating an appropriate management plan. This involves complex diagnostic decision making, prescribing, treatment planning and the ability to manage high risk situations effectively, safety and decisively. The Lead ACP will be part of the driving force of developing and improving our SDEC pathways and the care delivered to acutely unwell patients. You will need to be adaptable, have high standards and show initiative within this role.
Main duties of the job
Key Responsibilities:
- Clinical Leadership: Provide expert clinical decision-making, managing complex cases and leading advanced assessments, diagnostics, and treatment plans for a variety of undifferentiated patients. Lead the ACP team within ACM.
- Service Development: Collaborate on the design and implementation of innovative care pathways, ensuring alignment with national guidelines and UHD priorities.
- Education & Mentorship: Foster a culture of learning by mentoring junior ACPs, nursing staff, and students.
- Quality Improvement: Lead audits, research, and governance initiatives to improve patient safety, reduce hospital admissions, and enhance care continuity.
- Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Work closely with consultants, GPs, social services, and community teams to optimise care coordination and discharge planning.
- Strategic Influence: Contribute to Trust-wide strategies, policies, and service redesign for older persons’ care, advocating for patient-centred approaches.
Working for our organisation
Our values define who we are as #TeamUHD. They underpin everything we do now and in the future. They define how we treat our patients, visitors, and each other, our valued teammates and colleagues.
UHD are investing in services across the Trust, with many being transformed and developed following merger and the New Hospital Programme.
This means that some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or long term. Recruiting Managers interviewing for this role will be happy to answer any specific questions that you have about this at interview.
Please note if the role or service is relocated as part of a planned move, employees will not be eligible for excess mileage reimbursement. Travel from the postholder's home to the new work base will be considered a normal commute. Any other changes not related to this relocation will be managed according to the relevant Trust or National terms and conditions.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description and person specification for full details of this role and contact us if you have an queries.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Professional registration with relevant professional body
- Master's in Advanced Clinical Practice or PGDip as minimum, must include: History taking and physical assessment, Pharmacology, Clinical decision making and diagnostics
- Supplementary or Independent prescriber
- Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulation trained
- Evidence of Continuing Professional Development
- Budget Management
- Recognised teaching or mentoring qualification
- ALS provider
Desirable criteria
- Recognition as Advanced Practitioner by the National Centre for Advancing Practice
- Recognised Leadership qualification
Experience
Essential criteria
- A minimum of five years’ experience in relevant specialty.
- Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams within an acute health care setting
- Extensive, demonstrable application of advanced clinical skills and experience in relevant specialty.
- Experience managing, supporting, and supervising staff. including supervision and appraisal of junior staff.
- Experience of working across organisational boundaries
- Experience of contributing towards practice or policy developments at local, regional, or national level
- Evidence of excellent communication skills at all levels with ability to challenge views of multidisciplinary team and present specialist information.
- Experience of working with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
- Understanding of the complexities of conducting appropriate research and audit Initiating, developing, and evaluating guidelines and standards.
- Participation in research and experience of critical appraisal of the evidence base to inform practice.
- Experience of developing people
Desirable criteria
- Publication/Conference Experience
Technical Skills Competencies
Essential criteria
- Advanced clinical skills, such as assessing patient’s physical status requiring precision, accuracy, dexterity.
- Ability to make high level, independent decisions using clinical reasoning, problem solving and decision-making skills at advanced level
- Autonomous patient consultation including clinical history taking, diagnosis, discharge, and referral for further investigation.
- Ability to analyze and interpret complex information from patient assessment and interventions, such as specified x rays, ECGs and freedom to act in managing patients ‘care.
- Demonstrable ability to work in a busy environment and resilience when the service is under pressure.
- To be competent to deal calmly and professionally with patients, relatives, and work colleagues in a confidential and sensitive manner.
- Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative and as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
- Ability to prioritise and meet deadlines.
- Excellent clinical leadership skills, leading the way to develop person centered care.
Desirable criteria
- Proven project management experience.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable theoretical and practical knowledge of common presentations within specialty.
- Conversant in Advanced practice developments at national / local levels
- Trust policies / procedures
- Highly developed awareness of the complexities of working across organisational and professional boundaries.
- Breadth of knowledge of local and national policies related to specialty.
- Legal, ethical and professional issues of advanced practice.
Other requirements specific to the role
Essential criteria
- Computer literacy with a range of software, databases, spreadsheets
- Ability to create and present reports.
- Takes pride in their work and can complete projects to a satisfactory conclusion.
- Ability to be intellectually flexible and to look beyond existing structures, ways of working, boundaries, and organisations to produce more effective and innovative service delivery and partnerships.
- A commitment to improving patient services through an ability to sustain a clear performance focus on achieving demanding goals.
Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, using a range of methods, e.g. verbal, written, record keeping, complex report writing.
- Able to deal with demands of rapidly developing and changing service, problem-solving and prioritizing abilities. Ability to lead on and respond positively to change.
- Successful team player and skills to lead/motivate others.
- Willingness to take on challenges and comfortable with constructive challenge.
- A strong sense of personal and team accountability coupled to a clear understanding of the boundaries around delegated authority, responsibility, and accountability.
- Strong sense of commitment to openness, honesty and integrity in undertaking the role.
- Good organisational skills
- Self-motivation and reliability
- Professional role model for advanced clinical practice
- Willingness to take on challenges and comfortable with constructive challenge.
- Drive for improvement with the proven ability to set and meet ambitious targets and monitor against targets.
- Seeks out, and takes, opportunities for improving the service offered, with customer focus in foresight
- To be flexible and multi skilled to ensure the priorities of the service can be met.
- Able to work independently as an autonomous practitioner, exercising a high degree of freedom to act
Language Requirement
Essential criteria
- Able to speak English as necessary to undertake the role
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
- Elizabeth Hurdidge
- Job title
- Nurse Consultant in Emergency Medicine
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0300 019 4913
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