Associate Sleep Practitoner

This is an exciting opportunity for a Band 4 Associate Sleep Practitioner to join the new Dorset Sleep Service which provides Sleep Diagnostics and CPAP Therapy for Dorset residents in partnership with the respiratory team at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The role is full-time during office hours; flexible working is available, and job-sharing would be considered. There may be the opportunity to train as a Respiratory Physiologist, which would involve studying for a BSc in Healthcare Science - Respiratory & Sleep (funded by the NHS) alongside your work-based training.

We’re looking for someone with 5 GCSEs including English and Maths and a Level 3 qualification (e.g. A-Level, AS-level, NVQ3, BTEC); with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate affectively with patients and colleagues; good IT skills in Microsoft Office and ability to learn to use specialist software; good attention to detail, organisation, and time management; and who is enthusiastic about providing excellent healthcare to a wide range of patients. Applicants should have a background in healthcare and be familiar with the basics of sleep studies, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, and CPAP therapy.

At DCHFT, we pride ourselves on the care we provide for our patients, and on the culture, we are creating for our staff. We work hard to create a fair, inclusive environment for our staff

Our Mission is to provide outstanding care for people in ways which matter to them, and our vision is Dorset County Hospital, working with our health and social care partners, will be at the heart of improving the well-being of our communities.

The Dorset Sleep Service is a brand-new development starting in Autumn 2023 which provides diagnostic sleep studies and CPAP treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea for Dorset’s population of around 380,000 residents. We expect to be performing around 1,700 sleep studies a year to begin with and will be taking over the care of about 5,000 patients already on CPAP therapy; we expect this to rise to about 3,000 sleep studies a year and almost 8,000 CPAP patients over the next five years.

The team will consist of Administrators, Sleep Practitioners at Associate, Practitioner, and Senior level, and a Head of Department, and will be overseen by a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine. We will be open mostly during office hours, with potential scope for early starts/late ends and weekends to support Flexible Working (we have no plans for night shifts yet). The department will be based initially at Vespasian House in Dorchester, with plans to expand to additional sites after the first year.

You will be coming into a fresh service and will be an integral part of creating responsive and effective procedures from the beginning; we value innovation and new ways of thinking to solve problems. We aim to create a diverse, inclusive, and supportive environment where everyone - colleagues and patients alike - are treated with respect and consideration.

We have vacancies for clinical roles from Band 3 to Band 7, so please check our other adverts for further opportunities within this service.