Job Description

Advanced Practitioner in Acquired Brain Injury, Band 8a (22.5 hours a week)



This post is a 3 day (22.5 hour) Band 8a Advanced Practitioner post based in the Brain Injury Service which spans 2 acute hospitals and community settings within Gloucestershire, delivering assessment, rehabilitation and management to brain injured patients with highly complex needs including people in a disorder of consciousness. The AP will assess individual patient needs, initiate referrals, determine appropriate holistic evidence-based treatment and care, and facilitate smooth and efficient pathways through the system.



The role will involve both inpatients and outpatients. They will provide advice, support and education to colleagues and act as clinical role model / educator for developing and delivering care that is responsive to changing requirements

Additional working pattern details:

Mon/Wed/Fri

The post holder will:

Support the flow of ABI patients within the acute hospital and support the wider multidisciplinary team with very complex patients in particular.

This will involve:

Delivering highly complex elements of the service user's care where advanced clinical skill or technical skill is needed including undertaking independent comprehensive assessment and management of patients to incorporate physiological, psychological and pharmacological considerations. This will include, where appropriate, discharging patients from the service when treatment is complete/optimum outcome is achieved. Providing leadership and continuity for complex patients Having a key role in facilitating brain injury patients being in the right place at the right time. This will involve proactively liaising with wards, departments, tertiary rehabilitation units and community settings to facilitate smooth and timely progress through the system for the patient, and to maximise flow within the acute setting in particular. It will also include facilitating 'expert' inter-professional care for the patient pathway and their dependants by direction, supervision and example Participate in research informing the body of clinical knowledge and maximising the contributions of advanced practitioners . Act as a change agent and recognise service needs taking a pro-active role in the development of the services.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust operates hospitals on our two main sites in Cheltenham and Gloucester, and we're one of the largest NHS trusts in the country.



Our workforce of almost 9,000 staff provides high-quality emergency, elective and specialist care across a range of clinical areas



The Brain Injury Service is a small multidisciplinary service spanning acute and community sectors.



(Please see the attached job description for more information)



Support the wider multidisciplinary team with very complex patients in particular. This will involve:



Personally delivering highly complex elements of the service user's care where advanced clinical skill or technical skill is needed including undertaking independent comprehensive assessment and management of patients to incorporate physiological, psychological and pharmacological considerations, making multifaceted complex clinical decisions regarding patient management and clinical outcomes in unpredictable contexts. This will include, where appropriate, discharging patients from the service when treatment is complete/optimum outcome is achieved. To be responsible and accountable for own decisions, actions and omissions at this level of practice Providing an exceptional standard of evidence-based care within own practice Developing and evaluating multi-disciplinary care and treatment across the One Glos system Giving expert clinical advice to senior and junior colleagues in the organisation in a consultative capacity Having a key role in facilitating brain injury patients being in the right place at the right time. This will involve proactively liaising with wards, departments, tertiary rehabilitation units and community settings to facilitate smooth and timely progress through the system for the patient, and to maximise flow within the acute setting in particular. It will also include facilitating 'expert' inter-professional care for the patient pathway and their dependants by direction, supervision and example Independently referring patients and ensure safe management and appropriate discharge. Providing leadership and continuity for complex patients (for who medical leadership may change frequently), including regarding communication with patients and their families. This would include taking an active role in leading/participating in, for example, Best Interests Meetings. Participating in serious incident reviews, complaint and disciplinary investigations as an expert adviser or investigating officer as required Demonstrating a critical understanding of their broadened level of responsibility and autonomy and the limits of own competence and professional scope of practice, including when working with complexity, risk, uncertainty and incomplete information Demonstrating a critical understanding of pharmacotherapy and its potential risk and benefits, including to inform decision-making on when to seek appropriate support or make an onward referral Critically reflecting on their own practice and acknowledges limitations in knowledge, referring to senior clinicians when scope of practice is reached Able to use decision making skills to inform clinical reasoning approaches to manage differentiated and undifferentiated presentations and complex situations to make evidence-based judgements Assessing the effectiveness of interventions and advise ongoing management or refer on to appropriate clinical specialists if necessary Developing scope of advanced clinical skills and practice to meet changing needs of service Critically applying advanced clinical expertise in appropriate facilitator ways to provide consultancy across professional and service boundaries, influencing clinical practice to enhance quality, reduce unwarranted variation and promote the sharing and adoption of best practice Provide highly visible and accessible professional leadership and demonstrate expert knowledge and standards of clinical practice in Brain Injury Pro-actively initiate and develop effective relationships in and between multidisciplinary teams; fostering clarity of roles within teams to encourage productive working. Work collaboratively with representatives from other clinical specialties assisting with the provision of a seamless pathway of care Ensure appropriate representation and participation in Brain Injury meetings as appropriate for role * Take a lead role in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of standards in effective patient-centred care, in response to feedback, evaluation and need