Infection Prevention and Control Specialist Nurse/Practitioner in Halifax

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics. We are committed to recruiting to our values. Leading One Culture of Care underpins our values by creating an environment, tone and behaviours across all parts of the Trust that are fundamentally rooted in compassionate care. We are open to considering a wide range of flexible working arrangements. There are opportunities to flex the days of the week, hours and times of work and place of work including: part-time, job-share, flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home when appropriate. Please talk to us during the interview process to discuss any flexibility that you may require.

Job overview: To work as a specialist nurse within the Trust’s Infection Prevention and Control Team (IPCT). The post holder will contribute to a seamless Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) service, working as part of a multidisciplinary team and providing an advisory, investigative and educational role within the Trust, as well as having responsibility for surveillance, audit, control and prevention of disease. In conjunction with the other members of the team have responsibility for the day-to-day management and continuing development of the IPC service, including the development of policies, guidelines and projects in order to develop and maintain an effective IPC service. The post holder will be required to work Monday to Friday, work flexibly between the 2 hospital sites and take part in the IPC 24 hour on call rota.

Main duties of the job:

• Provide specialist knowledge, education and advice, to promote health, prevent and control infections for patients, relatives, healthcare workers, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) partners and visitors to the healthcare environment.
• Work with all staff within the organisation, acting as a key point of contact, supporting practice and providing specialist advice to ensure high standards of IPC are embedded.
• In conjunction with other members of the IPCT, take responsibility for the continuing development and day-to-day management of IPC service, assessing, planning and delivering clinical care whilst organising own daily workload and time effectively.
• Ensure the day-to-day monitoring of infections, assessing and interpreting patient infection status/risk and making appropriate decisions to support patient safety.
• Coordinate and undertake a variety of audits within the clinical areas to measure and report IPC standards at the point of care.
• Participate in the co-ordination, interpretation, response and reporting of IPC surveillance programmes.
• Provide IPC support during infection outbreaks or contamination events.
• Support the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and thematic reviews, reflecting lessons learnt or areas identified for improvement back into the clinical area.
• Identify, investigate and monitor hazardous practices associated with infection, in line with current legislation and practice.
• Participate in the development, implementation and ongoing review of IPC related policies, procedures, guidelines, patient and staff information leaflets using available evidence to critically evaluate and develop standards for practice.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of the service and the IPC annual programme.
• Participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation of all IPC mandatory education programmes, annual roadshows, workshops, ANTT education, local bespoke training and any other teaching, training or education.
• Deliver education and support the Link Infection Prevention and Control network.
• Mentor student nurses and other learners on IPC placements.
• Provide specialist IPC advice to promote health, prevent and control infections and communicable disease for patient, relatives, healthcare workers, supporting personnel and PFI partners on specific issues in IPC, where medical advice is not required.
• Lead on specific IPC issues and have responsibility for designated projects.
• When confident and assessed as having a broad level of IPC experience take part in the ICN on-call rota.
• Travel between different hospital and community sites as required.

Person specification:

• Must be registered with a PIN number or equivalent experience as a Link Practitioner.
• Able to work in the UK.
• Must be eligible to work in the UK.

Our vision is to provide One Culture of Care for one another in order that we can provide compassionate care for the people who use our services. We are passionate about creating a workplace where we work together to get results, encouraging colleagues to have their say, in order to co-create the change we want to see. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce that’s why we encourage applications from all. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants.