Huntington's Nurse Specialist in Plymouth

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Huntington's Nurse Specialist to join Livewell Southwest. This is a fixed term 12 month, full-time position for a registered nurse with experience in Huntington's disease and a passion for delivering high-quality, person-centred care.

You will play a key role in supporting individuals and families affected by Huntington's disease in the community, working collaboratively with the Older Peoples Mental Health (OPMH) Functional Team. As a Huntington's Nurse Specialist, you will provide expert nursing assessment, care planning, and ongoing support for individuals living with Huntington's disease in the community. Acting as a key point of contact for patients and their families, you will offer advice, education, and emotional support.

To succeed in this role, you must be a Registered Nurse with current NMC registration and have demonstrable experience in Huntington's disease. Strong communication and interpersonal skills are essential, along with the ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team. A commitment to person-centred care and improving outcomes for patients and carers is fundamental to this role.

This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of people affected by Huntington's disease.

Main duties of the job:

• The Huntington's Disease Specialist Nurse post is an autonomous practitioner who will facilitate high-quality care and support for individuals with Huntington's disease and their families through specialist assessment, planning, coordination, implementation, and signposting to appropriate professionals and agencies.
• The post holder will provide advanced clinical advice using sound clinical reasoning and accountable decision-making to patients, families, and the wider multidisciplinary team, aiming to enhance quality of life, promote self-management, and prevent avoidable deterioration.
• In addition, the Specialist Nurse will actively contribute to research, audit, and service development initiatives, supporting evidence-based practice and fostering innovation within the Huntington's disease service.
• The post-holder is responsible to the Manager of the Older Persons Functional Community Mental Health Service.

This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route; please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.

Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline if a high number of applications are submitted. Therefore, we recommend you submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.

About us:

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values, kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve.

We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.

We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.

Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job responsibilities:

• To work with individuals with a diagnosis of Huntington's Disease, promoting independence, dignity and quality of life.
• Knowledge and understanding of the condition, using a self-management approach involving families, when appropriate to do so.
• To provide up to date Huntington's Disease education and awareness sessions regarding Huntington's, current clinical trials and research to Health and Social Care professionals, other third sector and voluntary bodies, and family members.
• To ensure access to holistic multidisciplinary Health and Social Care assessment and review for patients living with Huntington's Disease.
• Perform comprehensive assessment of a person's need and plan/implement and evaluate care delivery according to individual patient need, demonstrating advanced clinical skills.
• Contribute to multi-disciplinary clinics in a community health care setting, undertaking reviews of patients' health and social care needs.
• Act as a facilitator when services such as social services, therapies etc are required to ensure where possible early referral and a seamless transition to services, with support where required.
• Undertake hospital and care home liaison to ensure appropriate care and support for patients with Huntington's Disease.
• Provide support and advice to care homes and care at home teams around the support and care of persons with Huntington's Disease.
• Support people to comply with their treatment programmes when living with the impact of Huntington's Disease.
• Work of the Huntington's Disease services within their operational area.
• Ensure that individual care is delivered in a timely, effective and safe manner.
• Make autonomous decisions on a daily basis without direct supervision and be the primary specialist within Plymouth.
• Create, implement and update care plans and risk assessments as required ensuring the individual, carers and other professionals are involved as appropriate.
• Able to identify risk and formulate risk management plans within the community.
• Provide advice, information and support around Huntington's to individuals, carers and other professionals in the community setting.
• Promote safeguarding and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
• Implement NICE guidelines, other statutory guidelines and best practice.
• Maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local legislation, policies and best practice relevant to the post.
• Ability to receive, analyse and formulate information and apply good professional judgments, often when working independently in the community.
• Maintain high standards of care to individuals with Huntington's Disease.
• Deliver education and training to people with Huntington's Disease, Carers, Health and Social Care practitioners and care at home/care home staff.
• To promote an understanding of the needs and challenges that face individuals, families and care providers, through the provision of education and information.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and treatments.
• Undertake home visits, supporting patients, their families/carers, and health and social care colleagues.
• Receive and provide highly complex and possibly conflicting information.
• Identify and respond to emerging issues for the person or family.

Person Specification:

Knowledge:

• Essential: Understanding of the motor, cognitive and psychiatric impact of Huntington's Disease.
• Knowledge and understanding of current treatments and best practice for Huntington's Disease.
• Demonstrate a commitment to professional development and be an able educator.
• Evidence of life-long learning (academically and professionally).
• Competent and knowledgeable in regards to Livewell Policies relevant to the role.
• IT knowledge/skills.
• Knowledge of National and local strategies, and developments in mental health services.

• Desirable: Able to draw upon a range of skills to support and deliver change within a MDT.
• Understanding of the health and social care landscape across Plymouth.

Qualifications:

• Essential: Registered Nurse and current NMC registration.
• Post Graduate Specialist Knowledge and/or experience in Community Mental Health setting.
• Evidence of recent professional development.

• Desirable: On-going mandatory training.
• HD: An enabling approach to supporting families.
• Continued professional development.

Experience:

• Essential: Experience of working in a community health or hospital setting.
• Relevant experience of working with adults with a diagnosis of Huntington's Disease.
• Significant experience of working with people with complex presentations in the community or hospital setting.

• Desirable: Caseload management.
• Experience of supporting people and their families with a long-term progressive neurological condition.
• Understanding of Continuing Health Care.

Skills:

• Essential: Skilled and experienced clinician, particularly in assessment management of risk and crisis intervention.
• Good communication skills (verbal and written skills).
• Empathic outlook on health care delivery which respects clients' dignity and human rights.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Supervisory skills.
• Leadership skills.
• Negotiation skills.
• Risk assessment and management skills.
• Calm and adaptable.
• Ability to work flexibly.
• Ability to work autonomously and part of MDT.
• Recognise and manage stress in self and others.
• Ability to commute around the locality.
• Creative, enthusiastic and self-motivated.
• Ability to manage change.
• Willingness to participate in service development.
• Ability to work flexibly and dynamically to support the Manager in developing a healthy team culture and driving forward team improvements and change at all times.
• Skills in working with IT systems such as Microsoft Teams, online diary systems, patient recording systems.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship:

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

Employer details:

Employer name: Livewell Southwest

Address: Livewell Southwest Mount Gould Hospital Mount Gould Road Plymouth Devon PL4 7PY United Kingdom

Employer's website: Livewell Southwest