Triage/Facilitator - Clinical Nurse Specialist, AHP or Paramedic

Job responsibilities

Happy to talk about flexible working

Job title:

Triage/Facilitator (Clinical Nurse Specialist, AHP or Paramedic)

Department:

Specialist Palliative Response Service (SPRS)

Hospice band:

Band 7

Reports to:

Service Lead

Responsible for:

Band 6s

DBS required

Enhanced

Job purpose

The Specialist Palliative Urgent Response Service (SPUR) will be delivered between the hours of 20:00 08:00.

During these hours the Triage/Facilitator Nurse/AHP/Paramedic through the triage and clinical rotation (e.g. 1 week of triage, 1 week of clinical) will be to respond to urgent palliative response calls from patients, their families/loved ones and professionals within the Birmingham and Solihull area, and provide specialist palliative and end-of-life support and advice either through delegation to satellite teams as the triaging nurse/AHP/Paramedic or in person as the clinical specialist. Visits will aim to take place within a 2-hour timeframe.

Role Overview

A registered practitioner who will take all telephone calls into the service, from a range of services with in the BSoL system (acute, community, WMAS, Badger, patients/families) and triage them for the most appropriate clinical response

Calls could relate to:

Patients with a known palliative diagnosis (known)

Patients who have not yet been identified as having palliative/EOL needs but need further assessment e.g. not on a GP palliative care register, no advance care planning conversations / ReSPECT conversations have taken place, (Unknown)

The role will require you to:

Act as an autonomous practitioner working independently and in conjunction with other health professionals.

Assess, diagnose and treat the conditions of patients within their own homes and initiating referrals as appropriate.

Independently prescribe appropriate medication, evaluate or refer to other specialists if necessary.

Work collaboratively with the hospice, community, primary care and acute teams, to meet the needs of patients and support the delivery of policy and procedures and provide clinical leadership.

Provide expert professional advice to patients, carers and colleagues and ensure the maintenance of clinical excellence.

Co-ordinate all available staffing resource, working with the heads of service to deliver priorities.

Provide education and training to other staff and students.

You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.

Dame Cicely Saunders.

Main duties and responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Prioritise and triage patients presenting with a range of conditions including palliative, End-of-Life and acute conditions, making any necessary referrals in an appropriate manner

Implement and evaluate personalised care planning, individual specialised treatment plans, MASC, RESPECT and advanced care planning for patients

Provide specialist palliative care and support to patients and their families/loved ones in the place they call home as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF

Be sensitive to patients and their families/loved ones changing physical, psychological and spiritual needs

Process and interpret pathology and other diagnostic results as required

Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with current legislation

Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies

Support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over the counter medicines (within own scope of practice), reviewing as required

Liaise with external services/agencies and the patients usual community teams to ensure the patient continues to be supported appropriately

Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)

Support the team with all safeguarding matters in accordance with local and national policies

Support and participate in shared learning within the system

Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate

Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach (PSIRF learning)

Management, Supervisory, teaching, training

Effectively lead and manage staff within the team, through off-duty planning, annual appraisals and monthly 1:1s

Support the team through the management of change in line with any service redevelopments

Manage and work in line with current policies and procedures

Ensure that all staff within the team have an annual appraisal, identifying all training and professional development requirements

Manage poor performance and initiative any appropriate investigation, seeking advice where appropriate

Manage all staff absence in line with Hospice policy, including directing other staff who hold absence management responsibilities

Fully participate in the review, management and learning from patient complaints and incidents, regarding the nursing service

Ensure the clinical team maintain high quality standards for the environment, medical equipment and infection control issues in line with CQC standards and NICE guidance and follow local policies and procedures

Assess effectiveness of care delivery for the nursing team through peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation

Lead and support the nursing team with effective planning of team resources ensuring the appropriate skill mix is allocated to meet service needs

General duties

Confidentiality

All employees are required to uphold the confidentiality of all information records in whatever format, encountered in the course of employment and after it.

All employees are bound by the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations when, in the course of their employment, they deal with information records relating to individuals.

Equality and Diversity

The hospice is committed to promoting an environment that values diversity. All staff are responsible for ensuring that they treat individuals equally and fairly and do not discriminate on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The hospice expects all staff to behave in a way that recognises and respects diversity in line with the appropriate standards.

Health and safety

All employees have a responsibility under the terms of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to protect and promote their own health and that of others in the workplace.

All employees must comply with all hospice health and safety procedures infection control.

The prevention and control of infection is the responsibility of everyone who is employed by the hospice. Employees must be aware of infection control policies, procedures and the importance of protecting themselves and their clients in maintaining a clean and healthy environment.

Information governance

All employees are responsible for ensuring they undertake any training relating to information governance, read the hospices policies, procedures and guidance documents relating to information governance, and understanding how this affects them in their role.

Professional development

All employees must participate in an annual appraisal and develop a personal development plan with their line manager.

All employees are responsible for maintaining their statutory and mandatory training.

Safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults

The hospice is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All employees and volunteers are expected to behave in such a way that supports this commitment pandemic or major incident.

In the event of a pandemic or major incident, the post holder may be asked to undertake other duties not necessarily commensurate to the banding of this role. This could include duties in any part of the hospice. Prior to undertaking any duties, the member of staff will have full training and induction. We wont ask any member of staff to undertake duties for which they are not competent or where they feel unsafe in their environment or could put patients or themselves at risk.

The job description is not exhaustive and may be amended following appropriate consultation in the light of business needs.

Qualifications

Essential

• Relevant HCP qualification (e.g. RGN/HCPC)
• NMC Adult registered nurse
• Masters degree (Healthcare Related) or working towards with Level 7 education
• Independent prescribing qualification/specialist training (V300)
• Relevant post graduate specialist qualification
• European certificate in Essential Palliative Care
• Advanced communication skills training
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable

• Teaching qualification or demonstrable experience

Personal Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Able to act on own initiative
• High level of self-awareness i.e. strengths and weaknesses, personal qualities and skills
• Complex reasoning
• Advanced clinical reasoning
• Critical thinking, reflection and analysis to inform assessment, clinical judgements and decisions
• Able to communicate highly complex, highly sensitive and/or contentious information, including where there are barriers in understanding
• Able to demonstrate advanced analytical and problem-solving skills
• Able to communicate with a wide range of people at all levels of the system
• Able to work with adults/children at risk of abuse
• Able to utilise research and develop a research culture

Experience

Essential

• Highly developed specialist palliative knowledge across the range of work procedures and practices, underpinned by theoretical knowledge and relevant practical experience
• Experience of end-of-life care
• Highly specialised clinical skills requiring accuracy and dexterity
• Advanced health assessment skills
• Triage experience
• Working knowledge of computer databases and willingness to learn electronic patient record systems
• Competence in non-medical (V300) prescribing
• Substantial (or similar) experience of working in palliative and end-of-life care
• Experience of independent practice, assessing planning and evaluating patient care autonomously
• Knowledge and skills of a broad range of clinically and professionally challenging and complex situations
• Knowledge of current NHS policies and their implication for services
• Knowledge and experience of patient involvement/advocacy
• Experience in service development
• Experience in mentoring and supporting staff, students and professional visitors
• Effective leadership and management experience and skills
• Evidence of innovation in practice
• Budgetary management experience
• Experience of managing change
• Experience of data input, collection, audit and evaluation

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).