Overview
A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join a highly motivated team to co‑ordinate care for people with diabetes and their associated foot complications working across acute and community settings. We are looking for a passionate, motivated and experienced individual who wants to make an impact in a growing service.
We invite you to join a friendly team to provide critical assessments, treatment and care plans for a complex caseload whilst committing to clinical excellence and supporting safe discharges.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities include triaging new referrals from inpatients and outpatient settings to provide timely and comprehensive clinical assessments and treatment care plans working alongside the Multidisciplinary Diabetes Footcare Team (MDFT), co‑ordinating inpatient and outpatient care, delivering and further developing a high‑risk diabetes footcare service, and attending weekly multidisciplinary ward rounds with the Vascular and Diabetes team.
* Work autonomously and prioritise urgent cases with good time management.
* Order bloods, X‑rays and deliver treatments such as VAC and larval therapy (training provided for those without prior experience).
* Participate in redesigning the service and provide input into this work.
* Deliver training to promote the importance of the high‑risk diabetic foot and play a key role in implementing improving care for this patient group to other health professionals and patients through in‑house training across West Essex.
* Work across both community and acute settings (acute hospital is The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Harlow).
* Adhere to the Royal College of Podiatry and Health and Care Professions Council Code of Professional Conduct.
* Assess, manage and treat a high‑risk complex caseload consisting of patients with acute and chronic diabetic foot problems, pre‑ and post‑operative amputation wounds and acute and chronic neuropathic, vascular foot and lower limb problems.
* Lead in the planning of care packages jointly between hospital and community care providers.
* Provide podiatry care including wound care for patients with musculoskeletal conditions.
* Use clinical reasoning skill in assessment, diagnosis and formulation of treatment plans of patients with a variety of high‑risk foot problems and medical conditions.
* Cope with unpredictable work patterns in acute wound care clinics.
* Execute highly developed physical skills, precision hand and eye coordination and skilled debridement techniques of acute, chronic, neuropathic and ischaemic wounds, often for prolonged periods.
* Develop and contribute to care and management of complex wounds and lower limb complications.
* Apply and practice principles of wound management.
* Show advance knowledge of dressings and their modes of action and appropriate indications of use in wound care.
* Apply knowledge of biomechanics and its role in wound care and basic musculoskeletal problems.
* Recognise the need, undertake and understand the result of investigations such as microbiology, X‑ray, and scans and respond appropriately.
* Take the clinical diabetes high‑risk foot specialist role within the multidisciplinary diabetes foot team.
* Promote multidisciplinary team working.
* Provide diabetes and high‑risk foot care within hospital wards and outpatient clinics based on agreed referral criteria and ensuring patients are not put at risk.
* Accept direct referrals from GP, community podiatry and community nursing in the hospital setting and provide rapid access and expert clinical advice and intervention based on agreed referral criteria.
* Accept internal hospital referrals from consultants, doctors, nurses and accident and emergency based on agreed criteria ensuring patients are not put at risk.
* Undertake specialist high‑risk work in a range of acute and community settings.
* Undertake nail surgery.
* Ensure effective communication of complex sensitive and emotional information to patients.
* Gain informed consent to podiatry assessment and treatments.
* Educate and empower patients regarding their care and provide advice.
* Maintain accurate record keeping in accordance with department, professional and Trusts procedure.
* Be accountable and responsible for own clinical practice.
* Understand Local and National Guidelines in service delivery and development.
* Undertake and promote practice sensitive to the needs of patients and families from multi‑cultural backgrounds.
* Contribute to and support the work of colleagues in the multidisciplinary team.
* Have a working knowledge of the specific disease according to speciality.
* Ensure all medication administered is in accordance with the Trust Medicines Management Policy.
* Plan systems of nursing activity, which satisfy agreed standards at Local, Trust, Regional or National levels.
* Take a lead role in meetings at which broad professional and service issues are discussed.
* Demonstrate the mandatory competencies of the Trust, attending all required mandatory updates.
* Actively promote and implement evidence based practice by critically analysing research and to participate in clinical audits within our own practice.
* Participate in departmental audits and governance initiatives and implementation of standards, guidelines, policies and protocols.
Systems & Equipment
* EPR Alex Health and other hospital systems (including radiology images, blood tests etc.) plus System One.
Decisions & Judgements
* Make judgements and treatment decisions involving highly complex, convoluted facts or situations, requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.
* Make operational judgements with regard to referral to other members of the health care team and discussion with consultants and surgeons regarding further management of patients with complex needs, where there may be no consensus of opinion with regard to optimum treatment and management.
Communications & Relationships
* Require highly developed counselling and interpersonal skills.
* Require comprehensive negotiation skills for optimal care and treatment for patients undergoing contentious treatments or procedures.
* Maximise patient and carer involvement in all relevant decisions about diagnosis care and treatment.
* Present specialist information relating to areas such as role and service provision, research projects in relation to diabetic foot to large groups of health professionals during training days, Medical Grand Rounds, ICB meetings and training groups of newly qualified nurses.
* Utilise a wide range of communication methods including written reports, GP letters, written communication with patients and other members of the multidisciplinary team, electronic communication and electronic computerised presentations.
Physical / Personal Demands
* Exert moderate physical effort, e.g. examining / manoeuvring patients, taking bloods, giving intravenous drugs.
* Assess patients on a daily basis.
* Frequent interruptions, e.g. pagers.
* Deal with people with physical, social and psychological problems.
* Occasionally required to impart unwelcome, sensitive and distressing news to patients, relatives and staff.
* Deal with chronic disease patient group.
* Deal with body fluids, e.g. taking blood and other samples; frequently required to walk around hospital premises.
Benefits
* 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service.
* Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay.
* Staff discounts, including Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers and staff benefits.
* £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us.
* Season ticket loans are interest‑free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.
* Flexible working: available from day one for most roles.
* Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.
#J-18808-Ljbffr