Care Home Practice Link Nurse in Scarborough

As a Care Home Link Registered Nurse, you'll be at the heart of delivering high-quality, proactive care to care home residents, helping them live healthier, safer, and more dignified lives. This is a rewarding, autonomous role where your clinical expertise directly reduces avoidable hospital admissions through timely reviews, personalised care planning, and early intervention. Working closely with GPs, multidisciplinary teams, care home staff, residents, and families, you'll lead holistic assessments, coordinate care, and champion prevention and wellbeing.

Main duties of the job:

• The post holder will act as the key clinical link between GP practices and aligned care and nursing homes, delivering comprehensive nursing assessments, personalised care planning, and regular reviews for residents.
• The role involves leading and coordinating multidisciplinary team meetings, identifying and managing early signs of deterioration to prevent avoidable hospital admissions, and responding appropriately to urgent and emergency situations.
• The nurse will provide clinical advice, education, and support to care home staff, residents, and families, deliver a range of clinical interventions including long-term condition management, wound care, and immunisations, and promote prevention, health education, and vaccination programmes.
• Working closely with GPs, primary care teams, and external services, the post holder will ensure coordinated, high-quality, patient-centred care while contributing to service development, audits, and quality improvement initiatives.

Job responsibilities:

• You will be a Registered Nurse, responsible for delivering high-quality nursing care for residents in aligned care and nursing homes.
• The aim of this role is to minimise hospital admissions by ensuring timely care reviews and support efficient, patient-centred care planning.
• This role involves assessing, planning, and coordinating the healthcare needs of residents, providing clinical advice and education to care home staff, and supporting the integration of care.
• You must work at all times within your own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Care Home Link Nurse Responsibilities:

• Act as the primary point of contact for aligned care homes building effective working relationships with care home staff, residents and families.
• Lead and coordinate multidisciplinary team (MDT) reviews.
• Develop and update personalised care and support plans.
• Conduct comprehensive nursing assessments, including for long-term conditions and frailty.
• Identify, diagnose, and manage treatment plans for at-risk patients.
• Support patients and carers with treatment adherence and health promotion.
• Respond to urgent or emergency situations and initiate appropriate care.
• Identify and manage early signs of health deterioration.
• Implement and support vaccination and immunisation programmes.
• Assess and refer patients with mental health needs as per guidelines.
• Communicate sensitively and effectively with patients, carers, and colleagues.
• Collaborate with GPs and primary care professionals to manage caseloads.
• Make informed decisions about care pathways and resource deployment.
• Actively contribute to the primary care team, including service improvement and research.
• Lead on prevention and early intervention initiatives.
• Undertake clinical duties as directed such as wound care, immunisations, chronic disease management, and phlebotomy where required.
• Deliver proactive care, including health promotion and preventative healthcare for residents.
• Liase with and refer to the appropriate services for ongoing patient care management.
• Contribute to audits and quality improvement projects aimed at enhancing care for care home residents.

Business Responsibilities:

• Gather statistics and information as required.
• Undertake assigned tasks, project support, or development.
• Maintain accurate documentation and records using IT as per Haxby Group protocol.
• Follow agreed policies and protocols, seeking guidance from Team Leaders and Managers if required.
• Promote service uptake within the community.
• Uphold and promote Haxby Group's ethos and culture.
• Assist in expanding the business's professional offerings.
• Attend in-house governance, educational, and staff meetings.
• Plan, develop, and support new working processes to enhance quality.
• Train staff for optimal performance.
• Build and maintain relationships with other healthcare professionals and external bodies.
• Always behave professionally.

Person Specification:

• Commitment to safeguarding and ongoing mandatory training.
• Willingness to travel to aligned care homes.
• Adherence to organisational values, policies, and confidentiality standards.
• Flexibility, reliability, and a good attendance record.
• Willingness to take on additional responsibilities as the role evolves.

Physical Requirements:

• Able to undertake the requirements of the post.
• Reliable.
• Flexible.
• Excellent attendance record.

Attributes and Competencies:

• Able to work autonomously within professional boundaries.
• Strong prioritisation, caseload management, and risk-assessment skills.
• Effective multidisciplinary working and referral skills.
• Ability to contribute to service development and implement change.
• Compassionate, patient-centred, and professional.
• Highly organised, flexible, and proactive.
• Strong team player with positive interpersonal skills.
• Honest, accountable, and committed to high-quality care.
• Competent in teaching and supporting colleagues.
• Experience leading small projects or service improvements.
• Confidence in representing the service externally.
• Motivated to contribute to research or innovation.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Registered with NMC or HCPC; degree-level education.
• Minimum 3 years post-registration experience.
• Strong assessment, care planning, and clinical decision-making skills.
• Ability to lead MDT reviews and coordinate integrated care.
• Skilled in core nursing duties (e.g., wound care, immunisations, chronic disease management).
• Good IT and digital record-keeping skills.
• Knowledge of safeguarding, infection prevention, and health & safety.
• Primary care nursing, community nursing, or care home setting experience.
• Experience with clinical software.
• Experience in end-of-life or palliative care.
• Experience with long-term conditions, frailty, and early deterioration.
• Training in frailty assessments.
• Knowledge of quality improvement or audit process.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.