Care Home GP

Primary Healthcare Darlington (PHD) is seeking a committed and compassionate General Practitioner to join our Enhanced Health in Care Homes (EHICH) Team. This role is integral to delivering high-quality, person-centred care to residents living in elderly and learning disability care homes across Darlington Primary Care Network.

Working within a multidisciplinary team, you will lead monthly care home MDT meetings, providing expert clinical assessment, decision-making and support for residents with complex health needs. You will work closely with care home staff, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, care coordinators, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and GP practices to ensure coordinated, proactive care that improves health outcomes, optimises medication and reduces avoidable hospital admissions.

The successful candidate will champion evidence-based practice, contribute to clinical governance and quality improvement, and build strong relationships with care home teams and partner organisations. This is an excellent opportunity for a GP who is passionate about improving the quality of life for care home residents and delivering integrated, compassionate healthcare within the community.

Within the EHICH Team, the GP will conduct a monthly multidisciplinary meeting in allocated care homes across Darlington Primary Care Network, in collaboration with care home staff, Pharmacist/ Pharmacy Technician, Care Coordinator and Advanced Nurse Practitioner colleagues from CDDFT. The role includes elderly care homes and learning disability care homes across the PCN. The postholder will ensure that the PCN and member Practices meet their requirements to provide enhanced health in care homes as well as working with care homes to develop and promote good practice to maximise the health and quality of life of their residents.

The Enhanced Health in Care Home Team are an established team with a long-standing history of delivering high quality services to support Care Homes and GP's across Darlington. The successful candidate will be welcomed into a close and supportive team with the unique opportunity to develop both clinical and strategic skills. Personal and professional development are supported for all members of the team and the successful candidate would also be expected to develop project work and contribute to the learning and development of the whole team as appropriate.

PHD was established in 2014 as the local GP federation consisting of 11 GP Practices covering an ever-increasing population of 108,000+ registered patients in Darlington. We have close links with Darlington Borough Council and local NHS Foundation Trusts and have the full support and backing of the ICB. We also work closely with and provide support to the Darlington Primary Care Network.

We are an award-winning company who places the wellbeing of our staff at the heart of everything we do. As a company we offer staff access to free counselling services, protected time to develop professionally, access to high-quality training and development, free tea and coffee and chilled, filtered water and much more. We are on the doorstep of some of the most beautiful and historic sites in the region.

The GP Practice holds overall clinical responsibility, while the care home GP is responsible for making clinical decisions based on the patient's needs. This involves sharing clinical responsibility for the resident with the GP practice where they are registered. Conducting the monthly MDT in person in the care home setting, supporting person centred holistic assessments of care home residents. Making professional, autonomous decisions in relation to presenting problems, providing high quality innovative clinical practice. Be proactive in clinical decision making, underpinned by an advanced level of theoretical and practical knowledge. Manages undifferentiated undiagnosed condition and identify red flags and underlying serious pathology and take appropriate action. Refer patients to hospital clinics for further assessment or treatment or alternative primary care clinics. Seeking advice and guidance from secondary care professionals. Recording clear and contemporaneous I.T. based consultation notes to agreed standards. Supporting pharmacy professionals in delivering Structured Medication Review, covert medication plans, optimising medications and deprescribing. Prescribing in accordance with locally agreed or national guidelines. Establish strong working relationships with nursing and management staff in care homes to encourage good clinical practice. Use effective communication to advise care home staff in their support of the resident, especially those with complex needs and comorbidities, including the promotion of health, prevention of ill-health and the self-management of their health within their limitations. Actively take a personalised care approach to enable shared decision making with the presenting person, their carers, and families in collaboration with pharmacy professionals and care coordinators. Communicate complex and sensitive information concerning a patients medical condition effectively to patients/carers, recognising that sometimes there are barriers to understanding. Work effectively with individuals in other agencies, including ANPs, social care services, mental health teams to facilitate appropriate and comprehensive advanced care planning and to devise specialist programmes of care. Works within professional guidelines and codes of conduct. Recognises situations that may be detrimental to the health and well-being of the individual and act on the findings including raising safeguarding concerns to local authority. Ensures that care given is supported by the best available evidence and local policies and procedures.

Experience See attached Person Specification.

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.