Advanced Practitioner in Rochdale

The post-holder is an Advanced Practitioner who has been assessed as competent in practice using their expert clinical knowledge and skills. They have the freedom and authority to act and make autonomous decisions in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients. The AP provides an opportunity for patients to avoid the need to be referred to a GP, thereby enabling them to receive timely care and negate unnecessary delay in receiving treatment. APs in primary care can develop close, long-term relationships with their patients and work in partnership with them to achieve optimum health. They are autonomous in making decisions based on assessment, diagnosis and the interpretation of test results. They can independently prescribe appropriate medication, evaluate or refer to other specialists if necessary.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will be a caring, compassionate and committed experienced clinician who, acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the presenting patient including initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of care.
• They will demonstrate safe, competent clinical decision-making and expert care, including assessment and diagnostic skills, for patients within general practice.
• The post holder will commit to demonstrating critical thinking in a safe clinical decision-making process.
• They will communicate and work collaboratively with the general practice team to meet the needs of patients, and support the delivery of the practice policy and procedures.

About us

Mark Street Surgery is based in inner city Rochdale. With a registered list size of 10,000 + patients in an area of high deprivation, we see a range of complex, stimulating and challenging presentations with high levels of demand - managed, coordinated and processed by a highly skilled, inspirational and motivated team of professionals. This position will be pivotal to supporting the practice with its mission to provide a level of service that we would want our own families to receive.

If you are keen to join a superb Practice Team and be supported in your own development and the development of others, then contact us.

Job responsibilities

• Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions and care for patients presenting with an undifferentiated diagnosis.
• Clinically examine and assess patient needs from a physiological and psychological perspective, and plan clinical care accordingly.
• Assess diagnosis, plan, implement and evaluate interventions/treatments for patients with complex needs.
• Proactively identify, diagnose and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long-term condition (as appropriate).
• Diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan.
• Prescribe and review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice.
• Work with patients in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments.
• Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions.
• Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care.
• Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care.
• Support and manage health needs of women presenting for family planning, cervical cytology or sexual health consultation.
• Assess, identify and refer patients presenting with mental health needs in accordance with the NSF for Mental Health.

Communication

• Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment.
• Communicate with and support patients who are receiving bad news.
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating.
• Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication.
• Maintain effective communication within the practice environment and with external stakeholders.
• Act as an advocate for patients and colleagues.
• Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate.

Delivering a quality service

• Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by regulatory body.
• Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.
• Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality.
• Deliver care according to NSF, NICE guidelines and evidence-based care.
• Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation.
• Initiate and participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities.
• Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required.
• In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate.
• Evaluate patients response to health care provision and the effectiveness of care.
• Support and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation.
• Use a structured framework (e.g. root-cause analysis) to manage, review and identify learning from patient complaints, clinical incidents and near-miss events.
• Assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery.
• Understand and apply legal issues that support the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients health procedures and local guidance.

Leadership personal and people development

• Take responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model.
• Ensure revalidation process is completed.
• Support staff development in order to maximise potential.
• Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from external good practice.
• Encourage others to make realistic self-assessment of their application of knowledge and skills, challenging any complacency or actions that are not in the interest of the public and/or users of services.
• Critically evaluate and review innovations and developments that are relevant to the area of work.
• Enlist support and influence stakeholders and decision-makers in order to bring about new developments in the provision of services.
• Work with practice management to ensure sufficient staff of appropriate ability, quality and skill-mix are available to meet current and future service delivery, that selection and recruitment processes are effective and that equality of treatment of the team incorporates quality HR principles and processes.
• Contribute to the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards.
• Understand own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time.
• Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working.
• Delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence.
• Create clear referral mechanisms to meet patient need.
• Prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team.
• Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery.
• Discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.
• Manage and lead on the delivery of specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the practice management team.
• Agree plans and outcomes by which to measure success.

Management of risk

• Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients.
• Monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines.

Managing information

• Use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring of care, presenting and communicating information.
• Review and process data using accurate Read codes in order to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.
• Manage information searches using the internet and local library databases.
• Understand responsibility of self and others to the practice and CCG regarding the Freedom of Information Act.
• Collate, analyse and present clinical data and information to the team as required.

Learning and development

• Undertake mentorship for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards.
• Disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g. courses and conferences).
• Assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate.
• Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning.

Equality and diversity

• Identify patterns of discrimination and take action to overcome this and promote diversity and equality of opportunity.
• Enable others to promote equality and diversity in a non-discriminatory culture.
• Support people who need assistance in exercising their rights.
• Monitor and evaluate adherence to local chaperoning policies.
• Act as a role model in the observance of equality and diversity good practice.
• Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care providers; participate in care and refuse care.
• Assist patients from marginalised groups to access quality care.

Person Specification

• Qualifications: Qualified ACP or ANP Independent Prescriber (Masters degree in advanced clinical practice).
• Experience: Experience working in GP or primary care settings. Confident managing acute, undifferentiated presentations. Comfortable working autonomously. Strong clinical reasoning skills and sound knowledge of current prescribing guidelines (e.g., NICE). Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work well within a team and support fellow colleagues (clinical and non-clinical). Commitment to ongoing professional development and high-quality patient care.

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.