Associate Practitioner in Gravesend

As a Band 4 Associate Practitioner, you will join our valued Community Nursing Team based at Gravesham Community Hospital, Gravesend. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced healthcare professional looking to take the next step in their career within community nursing. Working alongside Community Nurses and the wider multidisciplinary team, you will play an important role in delivering high-quality care to patients within their own homes and local communities. You will support patients with a range of healthcare needs, helping them to remain independent, manage long-term conditions and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. This is a varied and rewarding role that offers greater autonomy and responsibility, while providing ongoing support and development from an experienced team.

Gravesham Community Hospital is ideally located close to Gravesend town centre, with excellent local amenities and plentiful onsite parking. A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes is essential.

You will be joining a friendly, supportive and highly experienced Community Nursing Team who are passionate about delivering outstanding care to patients across Gravesend and the surrounding communities. The team works collaboratively to provide personalised care while encouraging development, innovation and career progression for all colleagues.

As part of HCRG Care Group, you will receive:

• A competitive Band 4 salary with access to our group pension
• Free tea, coffee and milk at your base location
• Plentiful onsite parking
• Membership of My Reward Hub, giving you access to discounts on everyday purchases like grocery shopping as well as cashback and voucher offers for treats for you and those special to you
• Access to your wages as you earn them to help cover life's emergencies and avoid overdraft fees or high interest rates
• Online and face to face help with your mental and physical wellbeing, from healthy recipes and activity challenges through to post trauma support, legal, debt and life management help, as well as career coaching and counselling
• Access to eLearning, bespoke career pathways and opportunities for continuing professional development through our ‘Outstanding’ learning and development team, The Learning Enterprise
• An open, just culture where you're encouraged to have and implement ideas which can help us deliver our purpose: changing lives through transforming health and care, backed by at least £100,000 of ringfenced innovation funding each year

As an Associate Practitioner, you will work independently within your scope of practice while supporting the Community Nursing Team to deliver safe, effective and compassionate care to patients in their own homes. You will undertake delegated clinical interventions, monitor patient wellbeing and support patients with a range of healthcare needs. Working closely with Community Nurses, you will help ensure patients receive timely, person-centred care that promotes independence and improves outcomes. You will also play an important role in identifying changes in patient condition, escalating concerns appropriately and maintaining accurate clinical records to support safe and effective care delivery.

Key responsibilities include:

• Delivering delegated clinical interventions under the guidance of registered nurses
• Undertaking and recording clinical observations
• Supporting wound care and dressing changes following competency assessment
• Supporting medication administration and medication management in accordance with policies and competencies
• Monitoring patient progress and escalating concerns appropriately
• Supporting patients with long-term conditions and complex healthcare needs
• Maintaining accurate and timely electronic patient records
• Working collaboratively with Community Nurses, GPs and multidisciplinary colleagues
• Promoting health, wellbeing and independence
• Contributing to service improvement initiatives and maintaining high standards of care

Essential:

• NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care, equivalent healthcare qualification or relevant healthcare experience
• Experience working within a healthcare setting, ideally within community nursing, district nursing or integrated care services
• Experience supporting clinical interventions such as observations, wound care support or medication administration
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and prioritise workload effectively
• Good organisational and time management skills
• Confidence using IT systems, including Microsoft Office and electronic patient record systems
• Ability to recognise own limitations and work within scope of competence
• Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes

Desirable:

• Associate Practitioner qualification or willingness to work towards one
• Experience within community healthcare services
• Venepuncture competency
• Experience supporting patients with long-term conditions
• Experience working as a Band 3 Healthcare Assistant, Senior Healthcare Assistant or equivalent role

We change lives by transforming health and care. Established in 2006, we are one of the UK's leading independent providers of community health and care services, working with health and care commissioners and communities to transform services with a focus on experience, efficiency, and improved outcomes. We deliver and transform adult and children community health services, primary care services including urgent care, sexual health, dermatology and MSK services as well as adult social care and wellbeing services. Across England, we support communities of many millions and directly help more than half a million people each year, guided by our simple values: we care, we think, we do.

We're committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from a broad, diverse range of people who want to join our team. We're a Disability Confident Committed company, so we work to provide facilities, work environment adjustments and technical solutions to be as inclusive of everyone.

While it doesn't happen often, sometimes a role is very popular and we'll need to close it earlier than the date we've shown here. If you're keen to join our team, we'd love to hear from you so please apply as soon as you can.

As you'd expect, safeguarding and protecting the children, young people and vulnerable adults that we work with is of the utmost importance so we have policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices and everyone who joins the team is subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks.