Outreach Practitioner

Job Overview

The Outreach Practitioner will be part of the Deteriorating Patient and Outreach Team, focusing on the early identification and management of deteriorating patients to prevent adverse outcomes such as cardiac arrest.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide rapid response support to patients at risk of deterioration or life-threatening conditions.
• Deliver expert clinical care and decision-making in medical emergencies.
• Implement and develop resuscitation policies and deteriorating patient procedures within the hospital.
• Work collaboratively with a multi-professional team to enhance patient safety.
• Provide education and support to staff regarding early warning signs and patient escalation.
• Maintain excellent communication with healthcare teams to ensure effective patient management.
  
  

Required Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience in medical emergencies and acute care.
• Strong understanding of deteriorating patient protocols and resuscitation procedures.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills to coordinate care effectively.
• Ability to train and educate other healthcare professionals on deterioration management.
  
  

Why Join the Team?

• Work in a high-impact role, directly improving patient outcomes.
• Be part of a dedicated, multi-professional team committed to excellence.
• Opportunity to contribute to policy development and staff training.
  
  

Main duties of the job

This is a clinically focused, leadership and educational role at Frimley Health.

The post holder will be responsible for the day-to-day provision of the Critical care Outreach services across Frimley Health.

This is a clinically orientated role that will require the post holder to work weekends, evenings and night shifts as required for service delivery.

Working within the rapid Response Team providing clinical intervention with the appropriate assessment and management of the deteriorating patient and those at risk of deteriorating at Frimley Health.

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust provides NHS hospital services for around 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.

As well as delivering excellent general hospital services to local people, we provide specialist heart attack, vascular, stroke, spinal, cystic fibrosis and plastic surgery services across a much wider area.

We have three main hospitals - Frimley Park in Frimley near Camberley, Heatherwood in Ascot and Wexham Park near Slough.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.

We are also proud to host the Defence Medical Group South East at Frimley Park with military surgical, medical, and nursing personnel working alongside the hospital's NHS staff providing care to patients in all specialties.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Performs comprehensive patient assessment based on history taking and physical assessment of acutely ill adult patients.

Advanced clinical decision-making skills for the management of Level 1 to Level 3 patients.

Primary response to the deteriorating patient, within the NEWS track and trigger including direct referrals and the emergency response, this will include NEWS and cardiac arrests calls, both adult and paediatric.

Respond to cardiac arrest and other emergency calls, actively contributing to patient management and acting as team leader as required.

Independently manages patient caseload and prioritises referrals.

Utilise and Promote the Trust Track and trigger system (NEWS2) and the Deteriorating patient (Adult) policy amongst all clinical staff.

Work flexibly within the multi-disciplinary team to deliver a high quality of care to the deteriorating patient.

Demonstrates clinical competence and confidence in using highly developed specialist knowledge, equipment, and skills in a variety of clinical settings.

Accurately documents all interventions within the patient’s notes and maintains correct record keeping for audit and educational purposes.

To work alongside all clinical staff in assisting with their on-going education and developing their skills and confidence in recognising and responding to acute illness.

Work closely with the critical care service to ensure that admission to a critical care bed occurs promptly for patients whom this is appropriate.

The post holder will be accountable for their actions and will act at all times in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (or relevant professional body).

Provide specialist advice, support teaching and training to the ward staff and members of the multi-disciplinary team regarding the management of the deteriorating patient

Liaise with the Deteriorating patient and resuscitation Committee regarding on-going audit and data information to evaluate effectiveness of Outreach and NEWS calls.

To listen to and inform critically patients, their families, carers as appropriate, and members of the multi-disciplinary team on all aspects of their care, encouraging participation in decision-making.

To participate in the effective promotion of Critical outreach services and the recognition of the deteriorating patient.

Please see Job Description and Person Specification for further information

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Registered Adult Nurse/AHP
• BSc (Hons) in relevant subject or equivalent
• Post registration qualification in Critical Care Nursing or equivalent Acute Care course
• Teaching and Assessing/Mentoring qualification
• ALS provider
• Physical assessment course or working towards at level 7
  
  

Desirable criteria

• MSc or working towards
• ALS Instructor or ILS Instructor or working towards
• Non – medical prescribing or working towards
• APLS/EPALS provider
  
  

Skills

Essential criteria

• Able to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care with minimal supervision
• Effectively communicate with all levels of the organisation.
• Time management and delegation skills.
• Good IT skills
  
  

Desirable criteria

• counselling skills
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• Minimum of 3 years Band 6 critical care /Acute Care experience
• Experience in providing formal teaching.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Previous Outreach experience
  
  

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.

We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities.

We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.

We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.

Apply online now