Job Description

This is an exciting new role aimed at advancing our innovative remote surgical wound monitoring program to the next level. The successful candidate ensure the smooth running the seven day service for the Central Wound Hub, providing a world-class service for both our patients and staff.



The post holder will be responsible for the running the seven day service for the Central Wound Hub. This will include training, scheduling and supporting the team, ensuring timely and appropriate remote care advice and referrals for surgical patients and carers, and expanding the service for all interested surgical specialisms. The post holder will be responsible for audit activities related to the service and will undertake quality improvement and innovation projects as required.



The Surveillance and Innovation Unit (SUI) is a new unit in the Directorate of Infection. The Central Wound Hub will scale and sustain our award-winning digital surveillance programme. The Hub team will work with the surgical site infection (SSI) team, a dynamic, friendly team covering specialisms across the trust.



The post holder along with team leaders, will oversee the daily running of a new Central Wound Hub (CWH). The post holder will ensure the implementation of standard operating procedures for the different surgical specialisms, provide assurance of clinical reviews and overview of outcomes, develop a clear referral pathway (using EPIC) and have responsibility to ensure clinical concerns are appropriately escalated and actioned with the multidisciplinary team.



Will be responsible for actively supporting the Trust SSI lead for SSI surveillance team and team leads, ensuring accurate and timely data for mandatory and voluntary surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance across the organisation including all hospital sites (Guy's, St. Thomas'. Evelina, Royal Brompton, and Harefield hospitals), with potential to pilot the CWH model externally.



Actively support the CWH and SSI team to deliver clinically driven quality improvement projects, resources, network events, service evaluations, innovation and research for SSI surveillance internally and externally.



Clinical



To oversee the daily running of the new Central Wound Hub to ensure patients are reviewed and responded to in a timely manner on the digital remote wound platform (Isla).



To support and line management of junior colleagues for optimal review patient submission on Isla for a seven-day and out-of-hours service.



To provide timely review of patient submissions to the Central Wound Hub, ensuring appropriate reassurance, advice and/or referral as required.



To ensure early identification of patients who require MDT escalation for infection or delayed wound healing, and action this or support junior staff in doing so.



To ensure information on clinically relevant information on community treatment is recorded for visibility and optimal care delivery.



To collect and/or oversee data on clinical outcomes.



To identify areas for improvement in relation to the Central Wound Hub and work with the Trust Lead for SSI to deliver an improvement plan, using appropriate methodology.



To participate in research studies as required.



To work within the SSI team providing specialist input in SSIS data collection, handling ensuring correct completion of surveillance forms or electronic surveillance data platforms



To undertake audit in relation to SSIS and to ensure audit documentation is completed correctly.



To work autonomously managing a case load of defined group of patients ensuring close surveillance is undertaken to identify Surgical Site Infections (SSI) 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



To support the Lead Nurse in the initiation of appropriate actions to enable all grades and disciplines of staff to prevent SSI



To assess surgical patients to identify signs of infection and initiate interventions to prevent or mitigate infection or wound healing issues



To support, encourage and advise (as required) staff on the management of patients who develop



Participate in data entry and coding



Participate in telephone and remote digital 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 nursing input in the identification, prevention and monitoring of SSI



To support the Infection control surveillance lead nurse in the review of microbiological data to evaluate the efficiency of an intervention and plan future practice in consultation with relevant clinical leads



Support general enquiries relating to SSIS from patients, staff and the general public always acting appropriately, sensitively and professionally to ensure confidentiality is maintained at all times



To collaborate with the SSI team to investigate potential outbreaks



Collaborate and support surgical teams in providing information which enables patients to make choices about adopting a healthier lifestyle and actions to reduce surgical site



To report any unsafe infection prevention and control practices to the ward staff and/or the IPC team.



To participate in the promotion and maintenance of effective communication with patients, health professionals in relation to surgical site wound surveillance.



To support the Infection control surveillance lead nurse in ensuring that national mandatory surveillance data collection targets are met and data is collected, inputted and followed up by the Surveillance Team in a timely and efficient



To maintain effective communication within the SSIS, IPC, Intravenous Access Devices and Tissue Viability teams and with the wider



To support the Trust Lead for SSI Surveillance, Research and Innovation in assisting clinical teams in the formulation and initiation of appropriate strategies or action plans required to minimize the risk of SSIs.



Management



Provide clinical support for junior colleagues, including ongoing training needs and development, providing consistency even when working remotely.



Review shift rotas for the Central Wound Hub, ensuring adequate cover for a seven-day service including out-of-hours.



Assist Trust and team leaders as to deliver and manage quality improvement projects.



Attendance of clinical governance meetings for relevant surgical directorates, if required.



To organise network surgical specialism meetings (external) alongside SSI team colleagues.



Identify technical issues and work with Isla to resolve this in a timely fashion.



Maintain accurate records of the SSIS ensuring that confidentiality is



To liaise with the SSIS Team and external agencies to ensure that appropriate Trust data is provided to Public Health



To maintain a flexible approach to the role and ensure provisions on an efficient and effective service within agreed



Supervision responsibility for junior SSIS Team members



Act as a facilitator and change agent enabling clinical staff to embrace strategies for



Prioritise workload taking into account varying demands and



Identify problems related to the prevention of SSIs and be involved in developing improved methods of work in a multi-disciplinary team



Develop and maintain optimal relationships with lead clinicians, senior nursing staff, clinical audit leads the infection and prevention control teams, microbiology teams and those involved in SSI surveillance.



To support and work collaboratively with SSIS Team colleagues in the production of logical, structured written reports for relevant clinical staff, the trust Infection Control Committee SSIS committee and the Trust Infection Control and Decontamination Assurance Committee (TICDAC).



Clinical Research, Audit, Quality & Education



Responsible for monitoring and ensuring the validity of patient information collected by clinical teams for the surveillance programme within the Trust alongside SSI team



Take responsibility for ensuring the standard of data collection by the SSI team and data entry is accurate and



Participate in clinical audit, quality improvement, service evaluation, innovation and research as requested by the Trust SSI Lead.



Work with clinical areas where SSIS in undertaken in identifying the education



To organise and deliver, with support from the Infection control surveillance lead nurse, the feedback of SSI surveillance results to clinical teams; to review results and where appropriate agree



To participate in the training and development of the SSI team and the wider surgical teams



e.g. UKHSA SSI surveillance training.



To participate alongside SSI team colleagues, in education of clinical and non-clinical teams at Infection Control Awareness days, Infection control link practitioners' course and meetings and Quarterly Infection control



Incorporate UKHSA guidelines, NICE guidelines, and other public issues into guidance and advice for all staff in consultation with clinical leads and the SSIS lead nurse



Critically appraise and evaluate IPC practice around SSI through a structured audit programme designed to reduce



Acts as a facilitator in relevant clinical trials related to



Present clinical findings at and attendance at conferences nationally when required



Develop and improve own competence in a structured way through self-assessment, education, self-directed learning and conferences