Nurse Consultant for Frailty
Job Description
Job summary
Are you a dynamic and forward-thinking senior nurse leader with a passion for frailty care?
As our Nurse Consultant for Frailty, you will provide expert, autonomous clinical care to adults living with complex needs and frailty across Southport Hospital and the surrounding communities of Sefton, Formby, Ormskirk, and Southport.
What you'll be doing:
- Leading and developing frailty focused Virtual Wards and supporting MDTs across acute and community provision.
- Providing expert clinical assessment, treatment planning, and care co-ordination for adults over 18 with complex and frailty related conditions
- Acting as a senior decision maker within the clinical team, supporting safe admission avoidance and effective hospital discharge pathways
- Driving quality improvement, clinical audit, research and service evaluation aligned to national best practice
- Acting as a visible role model, mentor, and leader within the frailty workforce
This is an exciting time to join MWL Trust as we transform how we deliver care for adults living with frailty. You will have the unique opportunity to shape new models of care across traditional boundaries, working collaboratively with system partners to keep patients well, independent, and out of hospital wherever possible.
Please note this recruitment process will involve an interview and a clinical assessment task, to be held 27.5.25/28.5.25subject to change.
Main duties of the job
The Nurse Consultant will independently provide direct and indirect clinical care to patients. This will be for an unselected group of patients over the age of 18, but predominantly with complex conditions and frailty. The nurse consultant will provide care in all areas of the trusts frailty and urgent community response (UCR) services, both in secondary care and in the community.
The Nurse Consultant will be responsible in leading autonomous Virtual ward MDTs and be a senior decision maker with the rest of the clinical team.
When not proving direct clinical care, the nurse consultant will lead, participate and deliver the education and training to multi-disciplinary staff working alongside the MWL ACP team. This will include collaborating with local higher education institutions to develop and deliver workforce training and to ensure that academic research is linked to local service developments.
The nurse consultant will assist in setting the standards for monitoring effectiveness by audit and statistical data collection. The post holder will be responsible for the contribution to, and development of protocols and policies relevant to frailty services to enable high quality patient care. This will include participating in the local agenda to promote frailty recognition and management. The nurse consultant will be accountable for ensuring clinical quality, patient safety, and improving patient experience.
About us
The Secretary of State has approved the partnership between St Helens & Knowsley and Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals.
From 1st July we have come together as a single organisation under the name Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Trust delivers acute hospital care, intermediate care, community, and primary care services to a population of over 600,000 people with a combined workforce of around 9000 dedicated and skilled staff from 17 locations including Whiston, Southport & Formby, St Helens, Ormskirk and Newton hospitals.
The Trust provides regional services for burns, plastic surgery and spinal injuries to more than 4 million people across Mersey and West Lancashire, Cheshire, the Isle of Man and North Wales.
Our Vision is to deliver 5 Star Patient Care:
- CAREthat is evidence based, high quality and compassionate
- SAFETY that is of the highest standards
- COMMUNICATION that is open, inclusive and respectful
- SYSTEMS that are efficient, patient centred and reliable
- PATHWAYS that are best practice and embedded, but also respect the individual needs of patients
Our achievements include:
- Trust rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- Awarded National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for our Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Please see our Wellbeing & Benefits booklet for more information on our staff benefits. Accessible version available upon request.
Job responsibilities
- Maintain Professional Registration
- Adhere to relevant Code of Practice of Professional body
- Provide highly specialised clinical expertise in the management of patients with frailty, complex multiple co-morbidities and polypharmacy
- Ensuring that the 2-hour response time is met for all patients in the geographical area of responsibility, and their needs are met with social and therapeutic care.
- They will be responsible for assessing and diagnosing patients, planning care, prescribing and adjusting medication, organising and acting investigations and referral to other professionals within and outside the Trust. They will demonstrate a high level of competence in the appropriate use and pharmacology of all agents.
- They will provide advanced level assessment, diagnosis and evidence-based care for the patient group. They should be able to re-evaluate and implement treatment plans as appropriate.
- They will advise on diagnosis and prognosis and be able to conduct sensitive conversations around treatment goals, limitations, advanced care planning and end of life care.
- Actively participate in advancing nursing practice at a strategic level and through expertise in nursing practice develop and implement of evidence-based care and guidelines.
- They will be expected to communicate complex, sometimes highly sensitive information to patients, GPs, consultants and other health professionals both verbally and in writing.
- They will have the authority to accept referrals directly into frailty areas e.g. SDEC Ambulatory, Community Frailty and UCR and refer patients on as necessary. They will be able to support staff to implement the pull method from ED.
- Contribute to professional development of their field at a local, national and international level.
- Participate in the Trusts Research and development agenda leading nursing research and audit projects at service level with the aim of improving health outcomes and identifying future service developments.
- They will act as a clinical supervisor and take the lead in developing the UCR services.
- They will ensure that all practice is of the highest standard and research based.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- 1st Level Registered Nurse, Degree Level or equivalent qualification
- Non-Medical Prescribing qualification (NMP V300)
- Master's degree in Advanced Nurse Practice
Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- Significant experience in Non-Medical Prescribing
- Significant demonstratable experience as a Nurse Specialist in acute and frail patients
- High level of experience of managing complex patients autonomously
- Competent in taking bloods, and assisting in medical procedures
- Proven track record and extensive experience in field of Frailty Nursing
- Experience of management of urgent and emergency patients
- Experience in leading a team and leading changes
- Experience in clinical research and audit
- Able to effectively conduct and present audit findings
- Competent and experienced in use of quality-of-life tools for assessing patients
- Experience of participation in national nursing committees
- Experience in chairing committees and setting up new groups to facilitate change in workplace
- Experience in presenting research findings at national and international meetings
- Proven experience and ability to educate professionals and patients conditions to a high level
- Awareness of national and local policies that affect service provision
- Experience of patient involvement within local service
- Experience of managing a team of Nurses
Skills
Essential
- Extensive experience in advanced decision-making skills
- Must be able to communicate effectively with people at all levels or the organisation and have effective negotiating skills
- Ability to take the lead in projects in Primary and Secondary ...
