Enhanced Practitioner: Championing Frailty Care
Imagine a role where your expertise not only enhances health but empowers individuals to embrace fuller, more independent lives.
At Pathfields Medical Group, we are seeking an Enhanced Practitioner Specialising in Frailty. We are looking for someone driven by compassion, innovation, and a commitment to making a meaningful difference.
This role is perfect for those who value working with older people not just as patients but as individuals with rich stories, unique strengths, and potential. You will work closely with older individuals and their families, providing tailored support, clear communication, and a collaborative approach to care.
While we value experience, we also appreciate the potential of individuals eager to grow into this role. For the right candidate, we provide a supportive environment with opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge needed to thrive.
At Pathfields, we have a dedicated multidisciplinary team (MDT) specialising in the care of older people with frailty, focusing on those who are housebound or living in care homes. We are a close-knit team driven by a shared standard: delivering care we'd want for our own families. Alongside our professional commitment, we value high-quality coffee and excellent banter - it's what keeps us going!
If you are passionate about helping older people live longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives, and believe you'd be a great fit for our team, we would love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
Role Purpose
As an Enhanced Practitioner, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of frailty care. The role is responsible for ensuring first-class care and services are delivered effectively, specifically to our aging patient population, with frailty. The role is key in maintaining collaborative relationships with internal and external teams and working together to deliver these services.
The enhanced practitioner will also be key to developing and implementing quality improvement initiatives planned for 2025.
Working with our dynamic multidisciplinary team, you will:
Deliver Personalised Care: Conduct IT-assisted Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments, delving deep to understand each individual's goals, optimise treatments, and create holistic care plans that genuinely transform lives, including increased survival.
Lead Multidisciplinary Teams: Learn to Chair our weekly Ageing Well MDT sessions, collaborating with professionals from primary care and community services to deliver proactive, coordinated care.
Champion Innovation: Be at the forefront of quality improvement and service development, driving change in frailty management and setting new standards of excellence.
Empower Patients and Families: Through education, advanced care planning, and hands-on support, help older adults and their loved ones navigate the complexities of frailty care.
About us
Pathfields Practice Primary Care Network (PCN) is a single-practice PCN serving 30,000 patients. We cater to a diverse demographic, from more affluent patients in the leafy suburbs of Plympton to a more deprived population in the inner city.
Our Older Population:
Our older population comprises approximately 3,700 patients aged 65 and over. Key data includes:
* 869 patients on the frailty register
* An average of 10 weekly referrals to intermediate care from all providers
Service Structure:
Our older peoples multi-disciplinary team delivers both urgent and proactive care to older patients who are housebound or living in care homes with significant frailty, as follows:
Urgent Care: A paramedic and GP provide same-day urgent care every day.
Proactive Care:
* Dedicated weekly home rounds for each of the six care homes.
* Two complex care sessions per week led by GPs, with one being an MDT every other week.
* Four additional proactive care sessions for older people in their own homes.
* An aligned MDT from Livewell community services, which supports comprehensive geriatric assessment delivery.
Our small, close-knit team is deeply familiar with our patients, and continuity of care is the cornerstone of our service.
The service is led by Dr David Attwood, GP Partner at Pathfields, who will also act as mentor and supervisor for further training and support.
Job responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities:
The following are the core responsibilities of the non-medical prescriber. There may be on occasion a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent on factors such as workload and staffing levels. The non-medical prescriber will work within their scope of clinical practice and:
* Prepare and check prescribed medications, providing patient information, collaborating with multi-disciplinary healthcare teams, and managing clinical documentation.
* Provide clear and accurate information to patients about their treatments.
* Collaborate with healthcare staff and multi-disciplinary teams while maintaining accurate clinical records.
* Participate in training and professional development to maintain professional registration.
* Organise and document meetings with prescribers and other medical/clinical staff as needed.
* Follow safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure patient safety.
* Assist with repeat prescription processes, including preparing and distributing them to relevant pharmacies.
* Work with medical and clinical colleagues to ensure the safe and appropriate prescribing of medications within shared care guidelines.
* Uphold high standards in all areas of the role, including patient care and internal team interactions.
* Communicate effectively with patients, caregivers, and primary and secondary healthcare services, as well as other external agencies.
* Facilitate communication and collaboration among all staff members and disciplines.
* Identify and share opportunities for developing or enhancing clinic services, care and treatment based on user needs.
* Manage internal systems to ensure the confidentiality and accuracy of patient documentation and records.
Secondary Responsibilities:
* In addition to the primary responsibilities, the non-medical prescriber may be requested to:
* Support the practice audit programme, undertaking audits when necessary.
* Support junior members of the team, providing guidance when necessary.
* Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care.
* Support and participate in shared learning within the practice.
* 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, i.e. root cause analysis (RCA).
* Take personal responsibility for own learning and development, including the requirement to maintain currency, achieving all targets set in own Personal Development Plan (PDP).
Person Specification
Skills
* Excellent written and oral communication skills
* Clear, polite telephone manner
* Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
* Ability to use SystmOne
* Effective time management, planning & organising
* Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
* Excellent interpersonal skills
* Problem solving & analytical skills
* Experience with clinical risk management
Other Requirements
* Flexibility to work outside of core office hours in exceptional circumstances
* Maintains confidentiality at all times
Experience
* Minimum of three years of experience in a specialty that is relevant to older people with frailty e.g. primary care, community services, or frailty-related specialty.
* Experience of dealing with a range of clinical conditions
* Experience of leading services
* Experience of audit or research
Clinical Knowledge and Skills
* Ability to effectively triage, assess and diagnose
* Knowledgeable in the management of wound care and long-term conditions such as Frailty, Heart Failure, Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma, and Coronary Heart Disease
* Understands the fundamentals of chaperoning
* Requests pathology tests and processes the results, advising patients accordingly (or desire to learn)
* Understands the importance of evidence-based practice
* Broad knowledge of clinical governance
* Ability to record accurate clinical notes
* Ability to work within own scope of practice and understanding of when to refer to GPs
* Undertakes procedures such as ECGs & Spirometry
* Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
* Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
* Knowledge of health-promotion strategies
Personal Qualities
* Polite and confident
* Flexible and cooperative
* Motivated, forward thinker
* Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required
* High levels of integrity and loyalty
* Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
* Ability to work under pressure and in stressful situations
* Effectively able to communicate and understand the needs of the patient
* Commitment to ongoing professional development
* Punctual and committed to supporting the team effort
Qualifications
* Qualification as Nurse, Pharmacist, Allied Health Professional
* Current registration with a Professional Body
* Qualification as Non-Medical Independent Prescriber
* Qualification in a module that enables learners to develop a comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology to take a history and conduct proficient clinical assessments, identify abnormalities, and apply selective physical examination skills to inform clinical judgment. An appropriate example module is the advanced assessment for clinical practice course at Plymouth University
* Postgraduate certificate in advanced professional practice.
* Postgraduate diploma in advanced professional practice.
* Postgraduate masters in advanced professional practice.
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.
Depending on experience, the salary is pro rata, based on experience and qualifications.
#J-18808-Ljbffr