The post holder will work in the Islington Rapid Response and Virtual Ward (RRVW) team which is part of the wider multi-agency Islington Urgent Care Response service which supports hospital discharges and admission avoidance.
Working autonomously, the post holder will have continuing responsibility for proactively monitoring and managing, patients on the caseload. The post holder will be expected to develop skills in physical assessment, diagnostic reasoning and nurse independent prescribing and use these both in the community and ambulatory care Centre setting. Using these skills will assist in the recognition of early symptoms of disease exacerbation, acute illness and injuries. The post holder will be expected to co-ordinate care and navigate the patient through pathways across the primary, secondary care interface, including the prevention of unnecessary admissions, facilitating appropriate ones through in-reach case finding in both the hospital settings also via Community referrals.

The post holder will be a senior nurse/Paramedic within the RRVW service and therefore act as a clinical leader and role model to staff within the service, offering clinical advice on the care of patients with complex needs as required. They will work with colleagues and managers to support the integration of care pathways and patient care across community and acute settings. This post will also involve in reach into the hospital settings.

• Facilitate the early discharge of patients from the Whittington Health and UCLH inpatient wards and complete their recovery in the home environment by working collaboratively with the AEC Consultant.
• Be aware of and utilise appropriate resources within the RRVW team and in the provision of total patient care. To manage the team on a day to day basis, supporting junior staff with decision making and skills development.
• Act as a link nurse to AEC consultants, GPs, Community Nurses, LAS, Social Services and other relevant professional areas as necessary.
• Undertake a comprehensive baseline assessment for each identified patient in conjunction with the AEC consultant, patient, relatives, carers and patient care team.
• Use the assessment to agree and implement a patient held personalised plan of care to be agreed with the patient, relatives and carers and the patient care team.
• Ensure that there are effective communications with other agencies (including Out of Hours Services) about care plans and maximise the input of these agencies to support patients at home.
• Undertake prescribing as required and to ensure that medications are reviewed and highlight possible interactions and changes in line with Whittington Health Nurse Prescribing policy.

Equal Opportunities
Our latest policy known as “Promoting Equality, Diversity and Human Rights” outlines the Trust’s commitment to ensuring that no job applicant or employee receives less than favourable treatment on grounds of sex, marital and civil partnership status, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, colour, creed, religion or belief, physical disability, mental health, learning difficulty, age or sexual orientation and is not placed at a disadvantage by conditions or requirements that cannot be shown to be justifiable.

For more information about our policy and commitment to equality, click: http://www.whittington.nhs.uk/default.asp?c=10505&q=equality ”

• Assist in evaluating the effectiveness of the service in relation to patient outcomes.
• Act as a role model in assisting to develop the practitioner role according to service demand and evolving models of care.
• Provide senior clinical advice relating to patients with complex needs to the RRVW team.
• Undertake duties as delegated by the Lead Matron; this may include standard setting, clinical audit and benchmarking in order to ensure the delivery of effective, evidence-based care.
• Work with colleagues and users, to identify the changing needs of Whittington Health and the population it serves and promote practice that is dynamic, efficient, innovative and continuously improved in its relevance and responsiveness to the needs of clients and patients.
• Assist in developing strategic initiatives to reduce and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and move forward community long term conditions management and integrated working agendas
• Use information technology and ensure that relevant and up to date information on clinical and service developments are provided to agreed timescales.
• Participate in managing and co-ordinating the work of the junior staff, offering support and development as appropriate.
• Assist in the recruitment and selection of staff for the team and to participate in induction and orientation programmes as appropriate.
• Promote good communication, employment practices and relationships within the team.

• Facilitate the early discharge of patients from the Whittington Health and UCLH inpatient wards and complete their recovery in the home environment by working collaboratively with the AEC Consultant.
• Be aware of and utilise appropriate resources within the RRVW team and in the provision of total patient care. To manage the team on a day to day basis, supporting junior staff with decision making and skills development.
• Act as a link nurse to AEC consultants, GPs, Community Nurses, LAS, Social Services and other relevant professional areas as necessary.
• Undertake a comprehensive baseline assessment for each identified patient in conjunction with the AEC consultant, patient, relatives, carers and patient care team.
• Use the assessment to agree and implement a patient held personalised plan of care to be agreed with the patient, relatives and carers and the patient care team.
• Ensure that there are effective communications with other agencies (including Out of Hours Services) about care plans and maximise the input of these agencies to support patients at home.
• Undertake prescribing as required and to ensure that medications are reviewed and highlight possible interactions and changes in line with Whittington Health Nurse Prescribing policy