Specialist Spinal Injuries Practitoner in Sefton

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Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

Job overview

The purpose of the job is to provide information, advice, support, assessment, interventions, and
follow-up for patients with spinal cord injury.
The post holder will be required to continually develop and monitor the effectiveness of the spinal cord
injury services provided by the Trust.
The post holder will be required to liaise and communicate effectively across multi-disciplinary teams
to ensure seamless and effective care for patients with spinal cord injury.

Main duties of the job

The Spinal Acute Outreach Practitioner will link the Northwest Regional Spinal Injuries Centre
(NWRSIC) with patients and Multi professional teams in the three Northwest Major Trauma Centres
(MTC), Intermediate Care Services, Primary, and Secondary Care. They will provide expert advice
on spinal cord injury management, education, and research at every level within the organisation as
well as having a strategic overview of patient need and bed capacity in all parts of the system.
To take a lead role in each individual patient pathway for those referred to the NWRSIC.
To assist in the development, implementation and monitoring of programmes of speciality-based
teaching ensuring learning objectives are achieved for all staff of the NWRSIC, carers, family, and
external agencies.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CLINICAL
1. Ensure nursing care is delivered in an expert and professional manner compatible with current
research-based protocols and be responsible for maintaining accurate, effective and
comprehensive written nursing records by regularly evaluating nursing documentation in
accordance with the NMC / HCPC guidelines.
2. Provide support and assessment for in-patients/day case/acute outreach patients.
3. Provision of information, advice and support to in-patients and out-patients and their relatives and
carers.
4. Provide support to ward staff, liaison between services.
5. Develop and manage nurse-led services in assessment, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of
patients.
6. Act as Key Worker to patients undergoing investigations and diagnosis of spinal cord injury.
7. Provide support to services to ensure timely and appropriate pre-admission care, in-patient
interventions, and discharge planning.
8. In conjunction with the Multi-Disciplinary Team, provide support to patients undergoing spinal cord
injury surgery and treatment.
9. Ensure effective liaison and referral processes with other specialities for example the three
Northwest Major Trauma Centres, Intermediate Care Services, Primary, and Secondary Care.
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10. Act on concerns raised by team members or service users taking appropriate action according to
Trust Policies and Guidelines.
11. Demonstrate and monitor competency in clinical skills including clinical examination required for
the post and work to define protocols and guidelines for example clinical examination, non-medical
prescribing.
LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT
12. Maintain professional competence, authority and credibility through clinical practice, acting as a
role model and leader, providing supervision, support and mentorship to nursing staff.
13. Contribute to the service development of Spinal Cord Injury services within the Trust.
14. Promote and disseminate best practice within the Trust and external networks.
15. Assist in the development, implementation and monitoring of evidence-based nursing practice
standards, guidelines, protocols, policies, and care pathways.
16. Support Trust managers and NWRSIC leads to achieve appropriate targets for Spinal Cord Injury
Service.
17. Actively participate in peer review, clinical and managerial supervision.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
18. Identify and provide support, advice, and teaching to nursing/AHPs and junior medical staff in the
care and management of patients with spinal cord injury.
19. Contribute to in-house clinical skills programmes.
20. Act as a mentor/supervisor for nurses/AHPs undertaking higher educational awards within the
speciality.
21. Contribute to the pre-registration nurse’s educational experience, acting as a mentor for practice
placements.
CLINICAL GOVERNANCE
22. To develop and implement clinical audit of own practice, protocols and procedures to demonstrate
clinical effectiveness.
23. Act on concerns raised by team members or service users taking appropriate action according to
Trust Policies and Guidelines.
24. Record and report incidents, accidents, or complaints to the Head of Nursing and act in
accordance with Trust Policy.
25. Participate and lead in clinical research.
26. To introduce and apply research findings to nursing practice where relevant.
27. Act in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Code of Conduct/Professional Body at all times.
28. Undertake appropriate mandatory training in infection control and comply with all Trust Infection
Control policies relevant to the post, particularly with regard to the Hand Hygiene Policy.
29. Ensure compliance to all Trust Risk Management, Research Governance and Infection Control
Policies and Procedures and abide by the Standards for Better Health.
30. Responsible for ensuring own continuing professional development and identifying development
needs within the Trust knowledge and skills development review process.
31. Contribute to the Trust’s programmes for monitoring and ensuring adherence to Clinical
Standards, for example NICE Guidelines, Quality Surveillance Programme and National Service
Frameworks

Our Values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications

• First level registered nurse / HCPC Registered Allied Health Professional
• Degree in health related area
• Teaching and mentor qualification eg. Level 6: Mentoring in Practice
• Advanced communications skills
• Recognised counselling qualification eg Level 3: Diploma in Counselling Skills

Experience

• Clinical experience in specialty or Spinal Cord Injury related area
• Experience of ongoing continuing professional development
• Understanding of professional priorities and issues
• Participation in service development and implement of change

Skills

• Ability to communicate unpleasant/sensitive information to patients in a variety of settings
• Able to influence and overcome resistance through application of communication skills
• Able to analyse data and provide written reports
• Intermediate IT skills in word processing and spreadsheets
• Able to prioritise, meet deadlines, use initiative and make decisions
• Knowledge of professional and NHS issues and policy relating to specialist areas
• Able to present information to professional groups
• Able to perform assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care
• Able to participate/undertake clinical audit and research

Other

• Frequent sitting or standing in a restricted position, occasional moderate effort for short periods
• Walks, stands most of shift, occasionally maneuvers patients
• Ability to drive to all areas within the Northwest Region daily (Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Cumbria)
• Frequent concentration, work pattern unpredictable. Concentration for patient clinical work
• Occasional distressing/highly distressing or emotional circumstances. Deals with patient complaints, conveys unwelcome news, complaints, concerns arising from incident communicated to patients and relatives
• Occasional/frequent unpleasant conditions. Conditions relating to carrying out clinical/technical duties
• Extensive travel required across the Northwest
• Lone Worker

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
Certificate of Sponsorship

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

eVisa Update
For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.
Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.
Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

• Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here .

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Gemma Kehoe Job title Matron Email address Gemma.Kehoe@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk Telephone number 01704 704321 Additional information

Alternative contact Lydia Mayer (Matron) lydia.maher@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk

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