Job responsibilities
The Advanced Clinical
Practitioner is an experienced clinician (nurse, paramedic, pharmacist) who has
undertaken (or is willing to work towards) Masters level education, covering
the four pillars of advanced practice (clinical practice, leadership and
education, research, education). The autonomous practitioner must also be an
independent prescriber.
The Advanced Clinical
Practitioner will undertake clinical assessment including history taking and
physical examination, form a diagnosis and provide a treatment plan, which may
include prescribing. The Advanced Clinical Practitioner will demonstrate safe,
clinical decision making and expert care. The Advanced Clinical Practitioner
will be expected to treat all ages from children to the elderly, with
undifferentiated presenting complaints, including mental health, paediatric
illness and palliative care. Top up training can be provided in any areas of
identified development.
The Advanced Clinical
Practitioner will work collaboratively with all
members
of the team. This may include telephone consultations, face to face
consultations, or mobile/home visits. At times you may be operating as a single
clinician. Considering all four pillars of advanced practice, you are expected
to utilise your clinical leadership skills and supporting educational
development of junior staff.
Primary Responsibilities
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Will work autonomously within a health care team
consisting of Team Leaders, Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Duty Doctors, Drivers,
Call Handlers and Receptionists.
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The composition of this team will vary from shift to
shift and Advanced Clinical Practitioners must be able to communicate
effectively and professionally with all staff members.
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As part of a national service, you will deal with calls
of a very diverse nature covering all clinical aspects and issues, from an
infinite variety of callers, whose cultural, social and emotional diversities
require to be acknowledged and taken into consideration during the
consultation.
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You will be required to use a multi skilled approach.
Whilst using the available technology, the ACP will use effective listening and
communication skills in order to make clinical decisions, create records and
refer to clinical reference literature during the consultation period.
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Must be able to retrieve and use information regarding
healthcare provision in the patients locality, allowing appropriate care to be
accessed where necessary.
Clinical
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Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate
treatment/interventions and care for patients presenting with an
undifferentiated diagnosis
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Diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions,
integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management
plan
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Prescribe and review medication for therapeutic
effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with
evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope
of practice
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Work with patients in order to support compliance with
and adherence to prescribed treatments
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Provide information and advice on prescribed or
over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and
interactions
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Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately
to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including
initiation of effective emergency care
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Assess, identify and refer patients presenting with
mental health needs in accordance with the NSF for Mental Health
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To provide face-to-face and telephone clinical
assessment/treatment and management plan to patients.
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Help in the development and evaluation of clinical
guidelines, and competency tools to support practitioners in the expansion of
their roles in the delivery of optimal care.
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Undertake consultations with
patients taking a comprehensive patient history, carry out physical examination
and use your expert knowledge and clinical judgement to identify the potential
diagnosis
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Refer patients for
investigations when necessary/appropriate
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Make a final diagnosis,
decide on and carry out treatment, including the prescribing of medicine or
referring to primary or secondary care specialist services within local agreed
pathways and protocols as appropriate
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Ensure that all treatments
and care provided are based on best practice/evidence-based care
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Asses and evaluate, with the
patient, the effectiveness of the treatment and care provided and make changes
as needed
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Use independent prescribing
skills for benefits of patient care
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Provide
support/leadership/training/education
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Identify and take
appropriate actions to address risk to the patient, this will include:
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Identification of emergency
care needs requiring despatch of a 999 ambulance
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Safeguarding children and
protection of vulnerable adult issues which require referral on to other
agencies in line with local policies
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Work independently and at
the same time contribute to the work of the whole team to ensure the delivery
of a consistently high level of service, this will include;
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Taking responsibility and
being accountable for managing own workload, risk assessment and management,
acting within professional codes and appropriately to the clinical team leader
for advice and support.
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Acting as a clinical
resource for non-clinical staff who may require advice and support
Communication
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Communicate effectively with patients and carers,
recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome
different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of
communicating
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Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to
improve communication.
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To be aware of responsibilities under the Data
Protection Act.
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Attend regular team meetings.
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Provide a professional,
courteous and efficient service consistent with organisational standards for
patients seeking assistance from the service, maintaining a professional and
reassuring manner at all times
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Utilise advanced listening,
probing and facilitative skills across a diverse range of cases, some of which
may be highly challenging due to emotive circumstances, communication
difficulties and patient anxiety
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Utilise complex
communication skills to negotiate and provide support to patients who may be
non-compliant with the recommended outcomes
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Utilise interpreter
services, communication aids and other resources, to address barriers to
communication and understanding
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Effectively use a range of
communication methods (e.g. telephone, email, fax, letter and report writing)
to facilitate communication at all levels within and external to the
organisation
Audit
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For Clinical Governance and
Training purposes, regular monitoring is a requirement of this job.
#Education,
Training and Development
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Contribute to the
achievement of service standards and performance requirements by participating
in regular quality monitoring and individual performance reviews
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Attend and contribute to
meetings, workshops and other groups in order to support the on-going
development of the service
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Participate in audit,
customer satisfaction programmes, research and other quality improvement
activities
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Participate in the investigation
of incidents, complaints and other issues as required
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Manage and maintain clinical records as required
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Maintain active NMC registration
To
carry out other duties commensurate with the grade as directed
Secondary Responsibilites:
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Work as part of the team to
ensure a positive and productive team environment is developed and maintained
at all times
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Attend at all necessary
internal and external meetings as required
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Produce written and verbal
reports with appropriate data to support such meetings.
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To attend all Mandatory training
for the role as identified by the organisation.
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To carry out the role in line with
operating policies and procedures.
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To report incidents and complete documentation as required.
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To support colleagues in
ensuring operational and management
cover is available across all work
streams
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To maintain patient/staff confidentiality at all
times.
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To undertake any other duties, as agreed, to meet the needs of the organization