Learning Disability Health Screening Practitioner / Community Nurse

Job responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

The purpose of this post is to provide support to service users, primary care providers, secondary care, community staff, families, third sector, advocates & significant others to support engagement with the 5 identified national screening programs. You will work in multiple settings, cross professional boundaries to facilitate engagement with your target population cohort. You will deliver specialist learning disabilities educational support to improve the uptake screening in this under-served community/target patient group. You will advocate, put in place reasonable adjustments, utilise enhanced communication skills, create new pathways to improve the uptake of screening programmes & ways for working to ensure better health outcomes for people with learning disabilities, as identified on the GP Learning Disability (LD) registers.

To work as part of a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) to develop, deliver & implement resources & training to mainstream services to promote inclusion & improved health outcomes for people with LD.

SCOPE & RANGE

A key part of the post involves improving the uptake of the five national screening programmes for individuals with learning disabilities & supporting individuals to access screening checks that will promote early identification & management of disease. This will include timely access to early intervention & treatment. The post requires close working with GP Surgeries, hospitals, the National screening programmes teams & third sector/advocacy organisations.

Working with the National Screening Leads, Service Users, Learning Disability Specialist Services, Care-coordinators, Learning Disability Champions, Diabetes, Vascular and Cancer leads within the Acute and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) you will establish baseline evidence to plan a trajectory of improvement. You will review GP LD registers, standardise inclusion criteria & identify cohorts of individuals for targeted contact and proactive intervention.

Working closely with the Learning Disability population using an innovative and proactive approach to raise awareness of the 5 National Screening Programs & the vital role that they can play in reducing health inequalities.

This is an autonomous role which involves working with in a consistently cohesive & collaborative way creating new pathways & processes that will ensure that there is a quantifiable improvement in access to screening & follow up care for those with a learning disability.

Working flexibly across services for people with learning disabilities & at the interface between primary & secondary care.

Acting in a liaison role as required & as part of the MDT ensuring that health screening checks are completed for all eligible individuals with a learning disability where able.

You will work collaboratively to set up strategies for data collection that is both qualitative & quantitative. Engaging with service users & hearing their stories as confirmation of the value of the work & or as a lesson learned that contributes to service development.

You will be committed to seeking out, evaluating & presenting data to a predetermined schedule that will be agreed during set up. To ensure that progress is identified & that the role evolves & adapts as the work begins to grow & become embedded as a best practice quality standard provision for those with a learning disability.

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Assess, plan, implement & evaluate treatment safely & effectively, in partnership with medical team & nurses, service user & carers, using evidence-based practice.

To ensure comprehensive risk assessment of patients & risk management plans are in place & clearly documented in accordance with the Trusts Policy.

Manage & assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect self, colleagues & patients.

Monitor work areas & practices to ensure they are safe & free from hazards & conform to health, safety & security legislation, policies, procedures & guidelines.

Act as a specialist advisor/professional leader in healthcare issues related to the care of the patient with learning disability which can often be complex & urgent.

Prioritise health problems & intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care.

As part of the team provide regular updates, feedback & reports to senior management on progress & share any identified barriers that may need to be addressed in order to meet plans & targets Undertake risk assessments & escalate in line with Trust Policies & guidelines.

Report any observed changes in a patients condition or behaviour, or any other cause for concern, to an appropriate clinician as a key health & wellbeing responsibility.

Refer to colleagues or other agencies as appropriate, this will include any identified concerns around risks, health inequalities & safeguarding.

Responsibility for People Management

Provide line management & caseload supervision to other members of team where appropriate

Maintain professional registration.

To participate in regular supervision & performance management development & appraisal processes

To participate in regular clinical supervision sessions in order to received professional support & time to reflect upon practice

Act as a mentor to students & colleagues, participating in induction programmes, guiding practice & assessing competence to develop staff.

Provide teaching sessions within the team & across the Devon ISC as appropriate on relevant topic relating to screening & learning disabilities.

Deliver specialist training for Primary health care & community staff in new skills related to health screening uptake in patients with a learning disability.

To participate in regular clinical supervision sessions to receive professional support & time to reflect upon practice.

Take responsibility for own development, learning & performance including participating in clinical supervision & training as necessary to update skills & knowledge & maintaining a record of own personal development.

Responsibility for financial &/or physical resources

To understand budgetary constraints & support the Team manager to achieve any Cost Improvement plan & to stay within the identified budget.

To ensure effective & economic use of resources available

Duty of care of equipment used.

Responsibility for administration

To ensure that workload is prioritised accordingly.

To ensure records are up to date in line with policy

To autonomously plan diary to ensure that can cover duties

Responsibility for people who use our services

Provide advice & highly specialist support to all healthcare professionals who are providing care to individuals with a learning disability, ensuring reasonable adjustments are made to facilitate access to both primary, secondary & community care.

Working with local learning disability groups to understand language barriers & undertake collaborative works to identify & overcome any identified barriers that may be contributing to health inequalities & uptake of health screening.

Working collaboratively within a MDT, this will include proactive engagement with the 5 identified National screening programmes. You will be able to communicate effectively with both clinical & non-clinical colleagues to ensure the smooth running of the service.

You will be able to communicate effectively with patients & carers and utilise alternative methods of communication whenever this is needed.

Consistently demonstrate sensitive communication styles to ensure service users have enough information, in the right format, at the right place & time, to make informed decisions.

When required, you will need to be able to communicate difficult, unpleasant, or sensitive information in a way that is supportive and understanding.

Act as an advocate when representing patients & colleagues, including engaging & networking with stakeholders.

Hold good knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act & the concept & guidance around best interests.

Support the validation of learning disability registers held by practices across Devon & access the lists held by local authorities to authenticate the number of health checks completed for people with a learning disability across Devon. Ensure close working relationship with those managing annual health checks, the primary care commissioning & contracting team.

Support the delivery of personalised health screening awareness.

Undertake community engagement to raise the profile of health screening & screening pathways.

Organise &/or run initiatives, including contacting patients, to improve uptake of screening, vaccinations or other services & support the achievement of targets (e.g., under the Quality and Outcomes Framework).

Advocacy for health screening across the learning disability population including high levels of preparedness to undertake visits in an individuals own home or residential setting.

Responsibility for implementation of policy &/or service developments

To work with other providers to develop, design & implement health screening pathways & processes that support the multidisciplinary team in the care of people with Learning disabilities in the community setting.

Participate in research & support processes that translate research into current practice improving care delivery

Evaluate & audit the quality & effectiveness of learning outcomes, programmes & activities

Please see the attached Job description and Personal Specification for the full Job Description.

Specific Skills

Essential

• Ability to work independently and autonomously, prioritising own workload.
• Effective communication skills with clients and carers, colleagues, other statutory, private and voluntary agencies using a wide range of communication methods including written, verbal and electronic formats.
• Ability to apply screening policy to practice.
• Comprehensive IT skills
• Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with people with health inequalities for example (LD, MH, substance misuse, homelessness etc)
• Experience in developing and delivering training.
• Effective report writing skills, you will need to write clear, factual and accurate reports to provide specialist information.
• Experience relevant to community working, working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and with other agencies.

Desirable

• Experience of working with people with LD
• Experience of working within screening services
• Experience of developing accessible resources
• Experience running small group workshops with service users or focus groups.

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree level qualification in relevant area supplemented by specialist training.
• Professional registration
• Evidence of maintaining a portfolio
• Knowledge of current, legislation, policies and best practice for people with learning disabilities and implications

Desirable

• Post-graduate qualification in a relevant area.

Knowledge

Essential

• Relevant post qualification experience within specialist healthcare.
• Knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act, Consent & Best interest process and practice
• Good understanding of current research identifying health inequalities for people with an LD

Desirable

• Specialist knowledge of policy and practice for breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening as well as Abdominal Aortic and Aneurysm (AAA) screening

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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