Fracture Prevention Practitioner

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Fracture Prevention Practitioner within the Head & Neck and Specialist Medicine care group within the Family and Surgery Division at Dorset County Hospital.

The successful applicant will be required to work within secondary care, delivering secondary fracture prevention to patients who have sustained a low trauma, fragility fracture.
- Working autonomously but in accordance with agreed protocols and in accordance with a defined service specifications and national standards, to deliver a Fracture Liaison Service at Dorset County Hospital.
- Liaising with multiple teams to case find patients who have sustained a low trauma fracture that may be a signal fracture for osteoporosis.
- Referring for additional assessments where indicated (such as bone densitometry)
- Employing highly specialised clinical knowledge, skills and utilising high levels of decision making and problem solving ability to interpret and synthesise information to determine an individualised, evidence based, management plan.
- Liaising with the patient’s primary care physician and other relevant agencies to facilitate implementation of the management plan.
- Following up patients to ascertain concordance with treatment and making further recommendations as indicated.
- Patients: to take a clinical history and assess risk of osteoporosis, synthesising and interpreting the range of information available.
- Patients, careers and relatives: to explain the requirement for or give results of assessments (including bone densitometry), communicating sometimes highly complex information to a simple, understandable manner. In addition, to communicate sometimes emotive/distressing information.
- General practitioners, consultants, ward and community
- based staff: To advise, both verbally and in writing, results of assessment and the intended management plan.

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.

Responsibility for Patients
- Working as part of a team to autonomously manage a defined patient caseload, in accordance with agreed protocols and standards, providing highly specialised, individual holistic care.
- To interpret and synthesize the results of the clinical history and other assessments to formulate an individualised, evidence based, management plan for the purpose of secondary fracture prevention.
- To refer to other professionals and instigate appropriate investigations as necessary.
- To educate and counsel patients regarding the benefits, risks and administration of different bone sparing treatments. To check for contraindications.
- To communicate, in writing, the management plan to the patient’s primary care physician and to follow-up with the patient regarding implementation/concordance.

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development
- Required to work in accordance with the service specification, national guidelines and standards and local policies, protocols and pathways to facilitate the delivery of safe, effective, evidence-based care.
- Required to work in accordance with the Ionising Radiation Medical Exposure Regulations (IRMER) and associated Trust policies.
- To be involved in the development and review of relevant local/departmental policies, protocols and pathways.
- To be responsible for high standards of clinical practice within the specialty - helping to develop and implement quality standards.
- To evaluate current practice on ana ongoing basis through outcome measurement and audit. To make recommendations and implement changes in consultation with the Clinical Specialist in Rheumatology.
- To represent the department both within and outside the Trust, the latter at local and sometimes regional level.
- To provide regular reportage regarding performance against national standards and the local service specification.

Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources
- To be responsible for the proper use and care of all equipment.
- To be aware of and contribute to budgetary/financial initiatives, ensuring that safe and effective care is delivered within available resources.
- To identify and report any areas of care that may be under resourced and risks that may arise from this.
- To identify and report where cost savings might, appropriately and safely, be made.
- At speciality level to have an overview of contractual obligations.

Responsibility for Staff
- Providing line management function of, and clinical supervision to, the Fracture Prevention Assistant.
- Demonstrating practice to other staff as needed.

Responsibility for Information Resources
- Required to demonstrate good l