Main area Pre Assessment Early Health Screening Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract Permanent: At The Dudley Group, we understand the benefits of offering a range of flexible working options from day one of employment to support both employees and the Trust. Offering flexible working opportunities is one of the ways that the Trust aims to attract and retain a diverse workforce. Further information on the options available can be found via the link in the job advert.
Hours:
* Full time
* Part time
37.5 hours per week (1 x 20 Hours per week for part time position) Job ref 253-1125-7420963
Employer: The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Site Russells Hall Hospital, Town Dudley
Salary: £27,485 - £30,162 Per Annum and Pro Rata for part time position. Salary period Yearly. Closing 19/11/2025 23:59
Early Health Screening Practitioner (Pre Assessment)
NHS AfC: Band 4
Job overview
* THEATRES, ANAESTHETICS, CRITICAL CARE, PRE-OP AND PAIN DIRECTORATE
* PRE ASSESSMENT – Early Health Screening Practitioner
* PERMANENT POSITION
* Full time 37.5 HOURS PER WEEK
* Part Time 20 HOURS PER WEEK
An opportunity has arisen within the Surgical Pre Operative Assessment department for a motivated and enthusiastic individual who will work as an Early Health Screening Practitioner, which is a clinical role. You will be patient facing in this active job, undertaking basic health assessments for all patients who have been placed on the waiting list for surgery under sedation or general anaesthetic. The role is an exciting, new, evolving role. This is a result of new NHS England’s best practice guidelines for pre-screening and optimisation of perioperative patients. Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) recommends that NHS organisations should establish Perioperative Care Co-ordination teams, to introduce early preoperative screening, risk stratification and provide an opportunity to optimise patients’ health prior to surgery. Training will be provided around personalised care, use of healthcare systems and on brief intervention conversations.
Main duties of the job
Working in a team under the direction of the Pre-operative Assessment Lead the duties will include:
* The post holder will support the Trust in adhering to national guidance and develop learning for Dudley Group Foundation Trust.
* The post holder will undertake clinical observations of patients and complete onward referrals / escalated where necessary.
* This post will include using current and future digital tools, to identify patients requiring optimisation ahead of planned surgical intervention as well as those who may be suitable for triage to a high-volume, low complexity site and those patients at risk of deterioration as part of emergency admission avoidance pathways.
* The post will work collaboratively and have support from the wider clinical operational and clinical teams to contact patients to gather information, signpost and promote engagement to appropriate services. The post will be embedded within, surgical and pre-operative assessment teams.
* The post holder have good communication skills and be able to build rapport and relationships with a diverse population to encourage and support behaviour change.
Working for our organisation
At the Dudley Group our patients and staff are at the heart of all that we do and that is to provide a world class service that aligns with our vision of “excellent health care, improved health for all”. We are seeking to recruit staff who share our vision and values of making Dudley Group an incredible workplace.
As part of the NHS People Promise, your wellbeing is our priority, and we are committed to ensuring our employees achieve a healthy work-life balance supported by our flexible working options and by making reasonable adjustments where possible. We believe no-one should have to sacrifice family, friends, or their personal interests for work. We are a modern employer able to attract and retain high quality staff through our commitment to the NHS People Promise.
As an employer, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to contribute their best. We want to ensure that our workforce is representative of the population we serve. More information - inclusive practice people promise.
Dudley Group offer many opportunities for our staff to develop and grow within their roles through our Learning & OD Team. These include topics such as communication, wellbeing, team development, cultural competency, and values.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities that the post holder is required to undertake.
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
* Educated to GCSE standard with passes at grade C or above for English and Maths or similar through vocational training
* Evidence of commitment to continued learning or improvement through attendances at courses
* NVQ Level 4 or equivalent
Experience
* Previous experience of working within a health or social care setting or alongside these sectors (including unpaid work)
* Experience of using initiative and willingness to challenge appropriately
* Experience of using Information technology (MS Teams, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and electronic notes systems
* Clerical experience
* Experience with preoperative assessment
* Experience within other relevant teams e.g. data quality
* Experience of helping people navigate health and social care systems
Knowledge & Training
* IT literate with good keyboard skills
* Ability to analyse and manage conflicting demands and prioritise workload
* Awareness of the need to maintain confidentiality
* Ability to demonstrate accurate inputting and retrieval of data
* General Administrative knowledge
* Knowledge of medical terminology
Communication & Relationship Skills
* Good interpersonal (Ability to provide support to others)
* Good communication skills (telephone/email/written/verbal)
* Good command of the English language - both written and spoken
* Good team worker and able to work effectively as part of a team
* Ability to converse with staff from all areas, such as clinical and admin staff
Planning & Organisational Skills
* Good organisation skills (ability to prioritise workload)
Physical Skills
* Excellent IT and keyboard skills
* A willingness to undertake further training and learn new skills
* Prolonged use of the telephone
* Must be able to work cross site
* Punctual and reliable
Using AI for jobs applications:
Whilst we encourage the use of technology to help manage time and support innovation. However, it is your responsibility to ensure your application is personalised and clearly reflects your own skills and experiences. While AI can assist with drafting, it should only be used as a support tool. The content must be your own work and accurately represent your knowledge, abilities, and values. Over‑reliance on AI‑generated content may result in your application being rejected. A common issue arises when we receive multiple applications with identical or overly generic language.
The use of AI during assessments, including interviews, is not permitted unless it has been pre‑approved as part of a reasonable adjustment. For digital interviews, you may be asked to provide a 360‑degree view of your surroundings on camera and confirm that no additional devices are present. If we suspect AI is being used during an interview, we may pause the process to clarify or adjust our approach to questioning.
Caring for patients demands integrity, honesty, and accountability. We expect your application and participation to be authentic and a genuine reflection of your own experiences and values.
The four partner Trusts of the Black Country Provider Collaborative (Dudley Group NHS FT, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust) are actively working in partnership to deliver a collective vision focused on providing "better, faster and safer care to the population of the Black Country and beyond".
To support this vision, we are (where appropriate and safe to do so) actively looking at new models of care which:
* Better protect elective / planned care service delivery across the system by organising on a 'hot and cold' arrangement
* Consider the optimal use of resources through consolidation and specialisation, and
* Seek to reduce unwarranted variance, level up / standardise care through a 'Networked Service Solution' approach across the four sites
Against this context, although this post is hosted by The Dudley Group, there may be an expectation to work flexibly across the four partner Trusts to better meet patient and service needs.
Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the United Kingdom (UK) are welcome and will be considered, dependant upon Job Role and Salary needed to meet the criteria for sponsorship, alongside all other applications. Please note that from January 2021, to work in the UK all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship unless you have permission to work via another route. Non UK / RoI candidates wishing to apply can self‑assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship hereWork in the UK .
It is vital that you provide full and accurate details of your current immigration status on the application form. Overseas applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK must present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided in continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Guidance can be found hereCriminal records checks for overseas applicants .
Not everyone needs a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa. If you are applying for a vacancy in health or adult social care, check if you’re eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead. It’s cheaper to apply for and you do not need to pay the annual immigration health surcharge.
RECRUITMENT EQUALITY STATEMENT
We are committed to equal opportunities and want to ensure our workforce is representative of the population we serve. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and diverse groups. It is essential we understand our demographics, in order that we can monitor our performance as an equal opportunity employer as well as continuing to embed a culture of inclusivity across the organisation, which supports the active participation and contribution of our diverse staff groups in the Trusts decision making processes. On application the shortlisting manager will not see this criterion and therefore it cannot be part of their decision making. Please ensure you complete your equal opportunities questions for us and help us to make sure everyone is welcome.
The Trust is committed to employing and supporting people with disabilities. It is the Trust’s policy to interview all candidates with a disability who meet the minimum ‘essential’ criteria as identified on the person specification. To ensure we know you have a disability, please inform us under the appropriate section on the application form. We welcome applications from the LGBTQ+ community and openly encourage people with different sexual orientation, gender identity and expression to apply to join our team. We promise to respect and encourage the use of all pronouns and will not purposefully mis‑gender anyone.
We are governed by the public sector equality duties and by our values of Care, Respect and Responsibility to ensure we eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other behaviour that is unlawful, undermines our core values and/or falls short of our Behaviour Framework. We want all of our staff to ‘call out’ any behaviour from colleagues, patients or visitors that constitutes the above and appropriate action be taken.
We will, at every opportunity, advance equality and inclusivity for all staff, at all levels within the organisation, by removing or minimising disadvantage, encouraging participation and taking all relevant steps to meet the needs of anyone who shares a protected characteristic. We will also foster good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding at every opportunity.
We have staff Networks in place to help support staff experience of diverse staff groups and inform us on the actions, interventions and support what we need to put in place to improve the working lives and daily experiences of all colleagues and all teams. Anyone can join the networks and we take pride in having Allies as part of every network within the organisation.
By submitting an application for a position with this organisation, you are declaring that the information given is true and complete, any deliberate omission, falsification or misrepresentation will be grounds for rejecting the application or subsequent dismissal, and where applicable, for positions that requires registration with a professional body, you authorise us to make the required employer checks on your professional registration status.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Please note, preference will be given to at risk employees.
Applicants MUST ensure that they provide details of their referees and their referee email addresses on their application form otherwise their application may not be considered.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in your application to its preferred applicant management system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Record system.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Name Laura Harrison
Job title Pre Assessment Lead Nurse
Email address laura.harrison71@nhs.net
Telephone number 01384 456111
Additional information
For further details / informal visits contact:
Lead Nurse Laura Harrison on 01384 456111 Extension 3301.
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