First Contact Practitioner - Surrey Downs Health & Care

at  Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

SURREY DOWNS HEALTH AND CARE

We are looking for a flexible, dynamic and forward thinking First Contact Practitioner to join our team in SDHC,working in the Cobham and Oxshott PCN Community Hub.
You will be the FCP for patients with MSK conditions and will be responsible for triaging them into the most appropriate pathway. This may be to self-care; for further assessment; to community physiotherapy; for appropriate diagnostics or to secondary care.
There will be development opportunities in line with the Health Education England recommendations for FCPs in Primary Care.
Please ensure that you have completed Stage 1 of the FCP framework and evidence this at the interview.
Cobham and Oxshott Primary Care Network (PCN) formed in April 2024 consisting of 2 practices; Cobham Health Centre & Oxshott Medical Practice.
Being a small PCN allows us to provide a supportive, inclusive environment where all clinicians contribute positively to the health outcomes of our patients. Both are training practices and have been training GP’s, medical students and ARRS staff for many years.
We have a variety of health care professionals including GP’s, Nurses, Pharmacists, Paramedics, Pharmacy Technicians and FCP. We have an excellent working relationship with SDHC fulfilling our aim to provide the best possible musculoskeletal care to our patients.
For More details; Please visit-
Cobham and Oxshott Primary Care Network (coboxpcn.co.uk)

EXPERT CLINICAL PRACTICE

• Take professional responsibility as a first contact practitioner, with high-level decision-making and clinical-reasoning skills to assess, diagnose and triage patients.
• Electronically triage information received directly from patients via digital primary care platforms and determine the optimum pathway for management of that patient’s condition, including advice and self-care, MSK physiotherapy or and FCP appointment.
• Manage a complex caseload (including patients with long-term conditions, comorbidities and multi-factorial needs) across multiple healthcare settings.
• Gather and synthesise information, both virtually and in a face to face setting, on the nature of the individual’s presenting symptoms taking account of how these relate to relevant past medical history and investigations.
• Critically appraise information obtained taking account of the potential for MSK symptoms to be features of non-MSK conditions, frailty, co-morbidities or indicative of potentially serious pathology with implementation of appropriate onwards referral.
• Use interactions as an opportunity to educate and encourage changes in behaviour that can have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and populations e.g. increasing physical activity, weight management and smoking cessation applying the principles of make every contact count (MECC).
• Request appropriate investigations based on level of competence and in line with national and local evidence based practice guidelines and interpret the findings to facilitate diagnosis and management plans with patients.
• Advise, initiate, evaluate and modify a range of interventions, which may include self-management and life style advice, injection therapy, other therapies, exercise prescription, social and independent prescribing.
• Advise on the expected benefits and limitations of different rehabilitative interventions used in managing specific MSK conditions, providing impartial information and advice on the advantages and disadvantages of specific interventions in the context of other management options.
• Promote the importance of physical activity (e.g. continuing work/exercise participation) for MSK health and advise on what people with MSK conditions can and should do.
• Work in partnership with individuals to explore suitability of surgical intervention, addressing and seeking to allay individuals’ fears, beliefs and concerns, seeking guidance when appropriate
• Refer for surgical opinion when appropriate, taking into consideration patients individual needs and wishes and with regard to patients general health status and criteria stipulated in national NICE guidance and local CCG criteria based access for evidence based interventions and prior approval policies.
• Record the information gathered through taking individuals’ history concisely and accurately via EMIS (or similar relevant healthcare software) for clinical management, and in compliance with local protocols, legal and professional requirements.
• Adhere to legal, regulatory and ethical requirements, professional codes, and employer protocols.
• Be accountable for their decisions and actions and the outcomes of their interventions via HCPC registration, supported by a professional culture of peer networking/review, reflective practice and engagement in evidence-based practice

COMMUNICATION AND KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• Demonstrate effective person-centred communication skills, supporting people in making decisions, planning care or seeking to make positive changes, using a person-centred approach.
• Adapt how they engage with others (including those with cognitive and sensory impairments) through using different verbal and non-verbal communication styles, and in ways that are responsive to individuals’ communication and language needs and preferences.
• Convey information and discussing issues in ways that avoid jargon, negative descriptors and assumptions.
• Ability to communicate complex clinical information both written and verbal, in an easily understood form, to patients, carers, and all members of the multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to deal with difficult or distressed patients and carers, conveying difficult and sometimes unwelcome information relating to clinical issues.
• Work collaboratively with an appropriate range of multi-agency and inter-professional resources, developing, maintaining and evaluating links to manage risk and issues across organisations and settings.
• Advise on local non-clinical services that individuals and their carers may benefit from accessing to help manage an MSK condition and its impact, including those relating to employment, voluntary activities, counselling services and leisure facilities.
• Make appropriate referrals using appropriate documentation to other health and care professionals and agencies when this is in individuals’ best interests.
• Respect and draw on colleagues’ knowledge and expertise within the multi-disciplinary team and across the MSK pathway.
• Communicate with colleagues in ways that build and sustain relationships, seeking, gathering and sharing information appropriately, efficiently and effectively to expedite and integrate individuals’ care.
• Participate as an effective primary care team member and understand the importance of effective team dynamics. Contributing effectively to multi-disciplinary team activity (including service delivery processes and learning and development).
• Maintain close working relationships with all services engaged in delivery of the MSK pathway including secondary care, physiotherapy teams, primary care and third sector / voluntary organisations

EDUCATION, LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

• Actively engage in peer review to inform own and others’ practice, formulating and implementing strategies to act on learning and make improvements.
• Engage in self-directed learning, using a process of critical reflection to identify learning needs to maximise clinical skills and knowledge.
• Maintain a portfolio of evidence or work based learning showing how you meet all the required capabilities for working in an FCP role e.g. completion of NHSE e-learning modules.
• Support the wider team to develop competencies and capabilities through work-based and inter-professional learning.
• Demonstrate an understanding of competency and capability frameworks relevant to working areas of practice and keep up to date with relevant clinical practice
• As clinical supervisor and educator, to design, develop and deliver programmes of specialised learning in line with evidence based practice to peers, junior staff and the wider primary care MDT.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

MAIN DUTIES OF THE JOB

Provide clinical expertise, acting as first-contact Musculoskeletal (MSK) practitioner and making decisions about the best course of action for patients’ care. This will involve seeing patients, without prior contact with their GP. Practitioners will use their clinical-reasoning skills to undertake an assessment of the presenting problem, interpret findings, develop working and differential diagnoses, and formulate, communicate and implement management plans that take account of individual’s needs, goals and wishes, local service availability and local and national guidelines and policies.
Request investigations to facilitate diagnosis and choice of treatment regime, understanding the information limitations derived from these and the relative sensitivity and specificity of particular tests diagnostic services such as x-rays and blood tests, and interpret and act on results to aid diagnosis and the management plans of patients.

Enable individuals to make decisions about their care using the principles of shared decision making:

• helping them to identify the priorities and outcomes that are important to them
• explaining in non-technical language all available options (including doing nothing)
• exploring with them the risks, benefits and consequences of each available option
• supporting them to make a decision on their preferred way forward