Practice Nurse in Warrington

Greenbank Surgery is looking for an experienced Practice Nurse to join our friendly, dynamic, and forward‑thinking team of experienced clinical and non‑clinical staff. We are a well‑established, high QOF achieving practice with a list size of approximately 8,000 patients. The role requires someone who has excellent knowledge of Primary Care to provide practice nursing services to the practice population and deliver care within the boundaries of their role. Experience of TPP SystmOne would be beneficial.

Main duties of the job:

• To work alongside the practice nursing team – consisting of nurses and HCAs – the post holder will ensure nursing services are delivered effectively to the entitled patient population.
• The practice nurse will be responsible for a range of clinical areas such as infection prevention and control, health promotion, chronic disease management, health prevention, well‑women and well‑man clinics, and will support the practice management team in reviewing and delivering clinical policy and procedure.

Job responsibilities:

• Act as the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) lead, providing audits, training, support and evidence of compliance to the practice manager.
• Produce the IPC annual statement in conjunction with the practice manager.
• Develop, implement and embed health promotion and well‑being programmes.
• Implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients that promote health and well‑being.
• Identify, manage and support patients at risk of developing long‑term conditions, preventing adverse effects to patient health.
• Provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical evidence, NICE and the NSF.
• Diagnose and manage acute and chronic conditions.
• Prescribe medication for patients in accordance with PGDs and own scope of practice.
• Review patient medications to enhance compliance.
• Provide guidance to patients on the use of prescribed and over‑the‑counter medications regarding side effects and dosages.
• Oversee wound care services to patients.
• Co‑ordinate the provision of travel medicine services.
• Request pathology services as necessary and process results as required.
• Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation and ensure read codes are used effectively.
• Maintain chronic disease registers and liaison with external services for vulnerable patients.
• Chaperone patients where necessary and assist GPs with minor surgery when required.
• Prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately, support the team in clinical emergencies, recognise, assess and refer patients with mental health needs, and implement vaccination programmes for adults and children.
• Support patient use of prescribed medicines within own scope of practice and liaise with external agencies to ensure appropriate support.
• Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately and support the clinical team with safeguarding matters.
• Understand local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately and deliver opportunistic health promotion.

Secondary responsibilities may include:

• Develop and review audit protocols and processes for the practice, utilising the audit cycle.
• Develop, review and implement nursing protocols with partners.
• Support all nursing team members with guidance, training needs analyses, and shared learning.
• Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care.
• Review clinical practices, respond to national policies and initiatives, and participate in near‑miss event review using root cause analysis.
• Co‑ordinate the nursing team rota and assist with planning and implementing changes within the team.
• Support the practice team with reviewing and implementing practice policies and protocols, ensuring conformance to legislation.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

Greenbank Surgery is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, ensuring equal opportunity and a discrimination‑free environment for all staff and patients.

Person Specification:

• Clinical Knowledge and Skills: Wound care / removal of sutures and staples, ECG, venepuncture, new patient medicals, chaperone procedure, requesting pathology tests, processing results, advising patients accordingly, diabetes, asthma, CHD, immunisations (routine, childhood and travel), evidence‑based practice, clinical governance, accurate clinical notes, scope of practice, referral to GPs, infection prevention and control measures, health promotion strategies, PGDs and associated policy, public health issues locally, wider health arena awareness.
• Skills: Excellent communication skills (written and oral), polite telephone manner, competent use of Office and Outlook, time management, planning and organising, teamwork, autonomous work, interpersonal skills, problem solving and analytical skills, follow clinical policy and procedure, audit leadership, clinical risk management.
• Experience: Working in a primary care environment, chronic disease management, autonomous practice nursing or community nursing, infection prevention and control measures.
• Qualifications: Registered Nurse, postgraduate diploma or degree in Chronic Disease Management, registered nurse prescriber.
• Personal Qualities: Polite and confident, flexible and co‑operative, motivated, forward‑thinking, problem solver with accurate information processing, integrity and loyalty, sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations, work under pressure / stressful situations, effective communication and patient‑focused understanding, commitment to ongoing professional development, punctual and supportive of team effort.
• Other Requirements: Flexibility to work outside core office hours, occupational health clearance, meet revalidation requirements and provide evidence for nurse revalidation, evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) commensurate with the role of a lead practice nurse.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.