Advanced Clinical Practitioner - Ageing Well Team

We are looking for an experienced Advanced Clinical Practitioner to join our Ageing Well Team. We would also welcome applications from suitably experienced Enhanced Clinical Practitioners and Paramedics who have the relevant skills, experience and qualifications for the role.

This is an exciting opportunity to work in a developing PCN service supporting older people, including frail, housebound and care home patients across Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network. On a day-to-day basis, the role will involve acute housebound visits and care home ward rounds, providing timely clinical assessment, management plans, prescribing where appropriate, escalation and coordinated care with the wider multidisciplinary team.

We are looking for someone with a strong acute clinical background who is confident working autonomously in a fast-paced, time-sensitive environment. The successful candidate will be flexible, proactive and able to prioritise a varied caseload, while maintaining safe, high-quality and person-centred care.

This role would suit a motivated clinician who enjoys working as part of a supportive multidisciplinary team and is passionate about improving care for older people, supporting admission avoidance, continuity of care and responsive community-based clinical support.

Main duties of the job

• The postholder will provide autonomous clinical assessment and management for older people, including frail, housebound and care home patients across the PCN.
• Main duties will include undertaking acute housebound visits, completing care home ward rounds, assessing and triaging patients, formulating differential diagnoses and management plans, prescribing where appropriate, and escalating concerns where further input or admission may be required.
• The role will involve managing a varied and time-sensitive caseload, recognising deterioration, supporting admission avoidance and working closely with GP practices, care homes, community teams, acute services, social care and other members of the multidisciplinary team.
• The postholder will also contribute to clinical leadership, patient safety, clinical governance, service development, audit, quality improvement and shared learning within the Ageing Well Team and wider PCN.

About us

Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network (PCN) is a group of GP practices based in rural West Dorset, working together to provide high-quality, personalised healthcare to the local community. The PCN includes a mix of healthcare professionals like social prescribers, clinical pharmacists, digital care coordinators, and admin staff. These teams work across several hubs in the area to make sure everyone can access the care they need.

The PCN prides itself on being supportive and inclusive, with a real focus on staff well-being as a key part of delivering great patient care. Its built on values like respect, attention to detail, active listening, openness, empowering patients, and always learning and improving.

People who work there often describe it as fast-paced, lively, and caring. There’s a real sense of teamwork and making a difference to the lives of local patients, with the beautiful surroundings of the Jurassic Coast providing an added bonus.

Job responsibilities

• The Advanced Clinical Practitioner will work as part of the Ageing Well Team providing highly specialist person centred care for older people including frail housebound and care home patients across Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network.
• On a day to day basis the postholder will undertake acute housebound visits and care home ward rounds supporting patients who may be acutely unwell deteriorating clinically complex or at risk of hospital admission.
• The role will involve completing comprehensive clinical assessments formulating differential diagnoses and management plans prescribing where appropriate escalating concerns and coordinating care with the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Working autonomously the postholder will manage complete episodes of care using advanced clinical knowledge diagnostic reasoning critical analysis and decision making skills to support safe and timely patient care.
• The role requires an experienced highly motivated practitioner with a strong acute clinical background who is confident working in a fast paced and time sensitive environment.
• The postholder will work within the four pillars of advanced practice contributing to clinical leadership governance service development education audit and quality improvement.
• The postholder will support the ongoing development of the PCN visiting and care home service helping to improve responsiveness continuity of care and admission avoidance.

Key responsibilities

Clinical responsibilities

• The postholder will carry out acute home visits for housebound patients including frail patients over the age of sixty five and undertake care home ward rounds providing timely clinical assessment review advice and management plans.
• The postholder will respond to urgent and time sensitive clinical need using sound clinical judgement to prioritise caseloads manage competing demands identify deterioration elevate appropriately and reduce avoidable admission where possible.
• The postholder will assess and triage patients as part of the PCN visiting service using a multidisciplinary approach.
• This may include same day triage acute housebound visits care home reviews definitive treatment prescribing medication in line with policy and guidelines or making necessary referrals to other members of the primary care team.
• The postholder will undertake comprehensive specialist and holistic assessment of patients and carers where needs are complex planning implementing and evaluating care according to changing healthcare needs.
• The postholder will work autonomously using advanced history taking clinical examination and diagnostic reasoning skills to assess diagnose plan treatment and review patient response.
• The postholder will demonstrate advanced knowledge of disease progression treatment options and clinical deterioration re evaluating the patient’s condition and adapting management plans as needs change.
• The postholder will authorise the decision to admit service users and proactively initiate discharge where applicable to profession.
• The postholder will prescribe where appropriate to profession as an independent non medical or supplementary prescriber developing and monitoring management plans including medication.
• The postholder will communicate effectively with acute hospitals primary care social care community teams care homes and third sector agencies to support continuity and transfer of care.
• The postholder will act as an advocate for patients carers and relatives providing appropriate support advice and referrals where required.
• The postholder will maintain accurate confidential and timely patient records reflective of advanced clinical practice.

Leadership and service development

• The postholder will provide clinical leadership within the visiting and care home service supporting effective prioritisation of workload timely decision making and safe management of clinical risk.
• The postholder will act as a calm responsive and professional role model promoting proactive positive respectful supportive reliable and trustworthy behaviours.
• The postholder will assess and monitor risk in own and others' practice supporting safe delivery of care and appropriate reporting investigation and learning from incidents or near misses.
• The postholder will contribute to clinical governance patient safety incident reviews complaints investigations and shared learning where required.
• The postholder will support supervision mentorship coaching and learning opportunities for colleagues and students including sharing learning from acute community and care home based practice.
• The postholder will contribute to audit service evaluation and quality improvement using evidence based practice and learning from acute visits care home ward rounds and multidisciplinary working to improve patient outcomes.
• The postholder will support the ongoing development of the PCN acute visiting and care home service identifying opportunities to improve responsiveness patient flow admission avoidance and continuity of care.

Professional responsibilities

• The postholder will collect collate and present relevant clinical and service information to support reporting service planning and improvement.
• The postholder will ensure timely and accurate clinical documentation following acute visits care home ward rounds and multidisciplinary discussions.
• The postholder will ensure personal performance meets job requirements professional codes professional standards and post competency standards at all times.
• The postholder will use clinical systems and IT effectively to process record evaluate analyse and report information.
• The postholder will challenge poor practice and take appropriate action making full use of current support systems.
• The postholder will create effective teamwork across professional boundaries supporting shared goals and multidisciplinary working.
• The postholder will respect and apply equality diversity dignity privacy and confidentiality requirements at all times.
• The postholder will work independently flexibly and proactively demonstrating resilience sound judgement and the ability to respond effectively to urgent clinical need.

The role will involve working across GP practices residential and nursing homes and patients' own homes. This job description provides an outline of the key duties and responsibilities of the role. There may be other duties required of the postholder commensurate with the position and the description may be reviewed in line with the development of the PCN and member practices.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of advanced autonomous clinical practice in the management of patients or service users.
• Experience of assessing and managing complex frail older housebound or care home patients including recognising deterioration and taking appropriate clinical action.
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team and coordinating care with other professionals and agencies.
• Experience of managing clinical risk prioritising competing demands and making safe timely decisions under pressure.
• Experience of using evidence guidance and clinical judgement to support safe and effective patient care.
• Experience in frailty older peoples care.
• Experience of contributing to service development quality improvement audit or service evaluation.
• Experience of supporting supervision mentorship or development of colleagues or students.

Clinical Skills and Knowledge

• Advanced clinical assessment history taking examination and diagnostic reasoning skills.
• Ability to formulate management plans and prescribe safely within scope of practice.
• Understanding of relevant national and local guidance and its application to clinical practice.
• Competent in undertaking clinical examinations and relevant investigations within scope of practice.

Qualifications

• Registered Health Practitioner.
• Registered non-medical prescriber.

Personal Qualities and Attributes

• Able to work independently and autonomously.
• Able to remain calm organised and effective in a fast paced time sensitive clinical environment.
• Highly motivated proactive and flexible in response to changing service needs.
• Demonstrates resilience sound judgement and a solution focused approach.
• Effective communicator able to communicate complex and sensitive information clearly.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

£20 to £30 an hour. Pay is dependent on qualification and experience.