Job Description

Serving people with learning disabilities within the London Borough of Harrow under the Harrow Community Learning Disabilities Service.



This is an integrated health and social care multidisciplinary service; which works collaboratively with other local health and social care provider services who work with adults with learning disabilities. Plus, mainstream services including acute to ensure that all health needs and outcomes are met for all the patients.



The post holder will provide a specialist clinical nursing input to adults with learning disability and their families/carers including nursing and physical health holistic assessments and implementation of specialist nursing interventions.



The post holder will contribute to the continuing development of the overall nursing team within the team.



The postholder will manage their individual defined caseload including complex cases independently, evidencing problem solving and clinical reasoning skills in line with evidence based and client-centred principles.



You will be given an opportunity to be involved in clinical research and development where appropriate.



Band 6 nurses are expected to be kind and responsive but professional and informative and contribute to the quality of the services we provide by:



keeping the people who using our services as safe as possible through the use of sound clinical skills and effective risk assessments ensuring the best possible clinical outcomes by using up-to-date skills and adhering to evidence based policies and procedures ensuring the people using our services have a good experience by respecting, empowering and working in partnership with people throughout the care planning process

We believe that the best health care is delivered by multi-disciplinary teams working well together and in partnership with other teams and services to provide seamless care.



Band 6 nurses work as part of a team and you will contribute to the success of the team by being an effective role model and supervising other Band 5 nurses, healthcare assistants/ support workers and students to ensure they are working to the standards which the people using our services deserve.



Central and North West London NHS Trust expects all Band 6 nurses to act in a way which shows you understand our core values and are willing to put them into practice with service users, their friends family and carers and also other staff members.

As a Band 6 nurse:

We expect you to show COMPASSION, contribute to a caring and kind environment and recognise that what you do and say helps can make the lives of others better.



We expect you to RESPECT everyone and acknowledge and welcome people's differences rather than ignore them or see them as problematic.



We expect you to EMPOWER others and continually try to provide information, resources and support to help others make their own decisions and meet their own needs.



We expect you to work in PARTNERSHIP and behave in a way that shows that you recognise that commissioners and users of our services are the people who generate and pay for our work.



As a band 6 nurse we additionally expect you to role model these values under SCARF framework, which contribute to safer and compassionate working environment for everyone including colleagues within the Trust.



Key Responsibilities

Central and North West London NHS Trust is committed to providing safe, effective services and providing patients and families with a positive experience.



Patient Safety

Band 6 nurses contribute to the provision of safe and reliable services by:

Using their clinical judgement and risk assessments to keep the people using our services as safe as possible; by identifying and addressing the physical health needs of service users through evidence-based nursing assessment and interventions. Safeguarding people by recognising and responding when an adult or child might be at risk from abuse; while also recognising their own limits and asking for help and escalate concerns when necessary Escalating health and safety concerns and by doing so acting as effective advocates for those who use our services Being open and transparent about their own practice and reflecting on your everyday practice to identify areas where improvements in safety or quality can be made Supervising the work of others including nursing students Working with others within the MDT framework which creates a culture of continuous improvement Maintaining accurate, legible, comprehensive records Maintaining compliance with their mandatory training requirements.

The NMC plays an important role in safeguarding the public by regulating the work of nurses and all nurses, including Band 6 nurses, are expected to register with the NMC each year and adhere to the NMC Code of Conduct.



Clinical Outcomes

Band 6 nurses often work with people who have complex needs and contribute to the effectiveness of services by:

Being confident, autonomous practitioners who take responsibility for the care they give to patients but also take responsibility for overseeing the work of others in the team including less experienced nurses and staff without a professional qualification Providing skilled, evidence based nursing care ie. ensuring all patients have a health passport, annual physical health reviews/screening and access to health services with reasonable adjustments that meet their needs Working with patients and families in all stages of the care planning process including assessing risks and needs while providing psycho-education and bespoke training to meet patient individualised needs Acting as patient advocates in the multi-disciplinary team and overseeing the work of others to ensure that they are also responding to the needs of patients and providing clinically effective care Working as autonomous practitioners and taking responsibility for the care they give to patients but also work as team members Contributing to creating and maintaining high performing teams by: communicating well with all members of the team understanding their role in the team and how they help the team achieve its' objectives reflecting on their own practice regularly and encouraging the whole team to reflect on their practices in handovers and team meetings encouraging the team to learn from adverse events or respond to data analysis from audits or benchmarking exercises and implement sustainable initiatives which improve clinical outcomes

Patient Experience

Band 6 nurses contribute to the people using our services feeling respected and empowered to make decisions about their health and wellbeing by:

Working in partnership with patients and their families and carers Gaining consent and, as far as possible, involving people in all decision making Signposting patients and carers to the courses and services provided by the local authority or voluntary sector organisations within the Borough Reassuring patients and extended network around them by being professional, responsive, knowledgeable and confident Demonstrating clinical leadership and challenging any poor practise which could adversely impact patients from families or other professionals, while creating a positive, inclusive culture in which everyone is treated with kindness and respect and the trust's values are embedded in all practice Responding to complaints or concerns effectively and quickly in line with the Trust policy

Supporting yourself and others

All services and teams in the Trust should be able to demonstrate that they are meeting the Care

Quality Commission (CQC) standards of care. Band 6 nurses are expected to be Clinical Leaders and play an active role in ensuring that the team understands the CQC standards and what individual team members do to help achieve those standards by:



Taking a lead role in gathering and recording evidence which demonstrates that CQC and locally agreed standards are being met: assessing the performance of the whole team by using audit and benchmarking exercises and often contribute to the implementation of quality improvement initiatives Contributing to the performance management of teams and creating a positive culture in which the team can learn from mistakes and is enthusiastic to improve Ensuring that there is no fall in physical health key performance standard. This may include being designated physical health champion role within the team.

Engaged staff are more productive and Band 6 nurses play a role in engaging in other staff members in the Trust and the work we do by:



Providing supervision and annual appraisals to individuals and giving constructive, regular feedback which helps those individuals reflect on their work, understand their objectives and the CQC standards and monitor their progress towards achieving them Participating constructively in their own supervision and annual appraisal processes Using continuing professional development funds to develop a relevant clinical specialism, gain sign-off mentorship skills or undertake accredited leadership or management modules.

Clinical Leadership

Service Specific Responsibilities

The service specific responsibilities attached to this Band 6 nurse post are explained in the Service Specific Section attached to this and the attached Person Specification.