Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Surveillance Nurse for Neurosurgery
The closing date is 09 November 2025
* The Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Surveillance Nurse plays a key role in supporting the Trust's commitment to preventing and reducing healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and achieving zero tolerance to avoidable infections. Working as part of the Infection Prevention and Control Team (IPCT), the post holder will provide expert advice, education, and visible leadership across clinical and non-clinical areas to promote best practice in the prevention of surgical site infections.
* This role involves clinical review, surveillance, audit, and staff education, with a particular focus on SSI surveillance across the neurosurgical specialties. The post holder will be responsible for collecting, analysing, and presenting SSI data, conducting patient follow-ups, and producing regular reports to inform service improvement and enhance patient safety and surgical outcomes. Acting as a key link between the IPCT, surgical teams, and other stakeholders, the post holder will ensure timely escalation of concerns, contribute to post-infection reviews, and support the implementation of action plans to reduce infection risks. They will actively participate in Trust-wide IPC audits and initiatives, helping to embed a culture of continuous improvement and high standards of infection prevention across the organisation.
Main duties of the job
Main Duties and Responsibilities
* To undertake SSI Surveillance (SSIS) for neurosurgery and to ensure data is validated.
* To work autonomously managing a case load of defined group of patients ensuring close surveillance is undertaken to identify wound infections and determine incidence and prevalence of infections.
* To promote a patient focused approach to care ensuring high standards of surgical care are followed and in collaboration with all relevant health professionals.
* To act as an advisor who selects and initiates appropriate action to enable all grades and disciplines of staff to prevent SSI.
* To use wound analysis using clinical guidelines to assess surgical patients to identify signs of infection.
* Collaborate, direct, support and advise (as required) staff on the prevention and management of patients who have developed an SSI.
* Oversee and participate in SSI data validation.
* Oversee and participate in telephone, ward and post-discharge follow up surveillance.
* To provide information to patients and their carers as required where a need has been identified in relation to infection surveillance.
* To provide specialist input in the identification, prevention and monitoring of SSI.
* To ensure practice is evidence based and is in line with local and national policies and procedures.
* To provide comprehensive patient information & patient timelines to the IPC data analyst for the provision of a robust surgical site surveillance programme.
About us
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and around 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in Southeast London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King's College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in Bromley.
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The trust-wide strategy Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be Bold, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally enabled, and focused on sustainability, we can take Team King's to another level.
Job responsibilities
Analytical & Judgement Skills
* To develop and be responsible for surgical site surveillance in neurosurgery:
Working with the surveillance team, develop a planned programme of neurosurgical surveillance, promote the surveillance within the Trust, plan and oversee the collection and submission of data, eventually including that for post discharge surveillance.
All eligible patients in the chosen category are identified at the time of surgery, and systematic, active surveillance for SSI is undertaken prospectively on them until they are discharged from hospital followed by systematic post discharge surveillance up to 1 year post surgery.
Work with surgical site surveillance team to ensure systems are in place to identify patients subsequently readmitted with a surgical site infection.
Ensure post-discharge surveillance is undertaken and complies with the protocol set out by surgical site surveillance service and the UKHSA SSI protocol.
Contribute data for the development and monitoring of action plans for improving practice when surveillance suggests that this is required.
Assist in providing the infection rate data required for surgeons re validation and appraisal on an annual basis.
Work towards an extension of in-house surgical site surveillance to include all other neurosurgical categories.
Organise, plan, and deliver training and education as regards the prevention of Surgical Site Infection.
To formulate action plans and strategies for improvement through the surgical site surveillance process.
Communication & Relationship Skills
Demonstrate good verbal communication with clinical teams relating to individual patients treatment plans and advice.
Work in partnership with other members of the Infection Prevention Team and multidisciplinary teams to support the development of evidence-based practice throughout neurosciences and all other areas of the Trust.
* Being responsible, with other members of the Infection Prevention and Control Team, for the prevention, surveillance, investigation, and control of infection within the Trust and the local community in the form defined within the Infection Prevention and Control programme.
* Be able to display good communication skills on a wide variety of subjects when dealing with staff of all levels within the Trust, and when dealing with sensitive and complex situations.
* Must be able to work efficiently alone and as part of a team.
* Communicate very sensitive and complex condition related information to patients and relatives as required. This requires empathy and reassurance.
* Answering ad hoc enquiries from the public over the phone.
* Develop and maintain effective relationships with audit and surveillance leads across all divisions and with the audit and clinical effectiveness teams in order to support delivery of the audit and surveillance elements of the infection prevention programme.
* Communicate concerns to senior members of the Infection Prevention Team.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Clinical Registered Nurse with relevant neurosurgical experience
* Experience of MS office systems including Excel and Trust Electronic Patient Records including EPIC
Knowledge and Experience
* Experience of neurosurgical nursing and management of wounds
* Experience and excellent understanding of Excel
* Experience of performing audits in practice
* Experience of training staff and practice development
* Experience of national infection surveillance programmes, including data collection
* Experience of change management and quality improvement cycles
* Knowledge of surveillance methodologies
Skills and Competencies
* To liaise with Consultant Surgeons and the MDT regarding wound issues
* Able to work on own initiative and under pressure
* High level of communication skills, written, oral and electronic
* Organisation skills in scheduling, delivery and keeping to submission of data sets
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
£46,419 to £55,046 a year pro rata inclusive of HCAS
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Part-time
Reference number
213-CORP-7496688
Job locations
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
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