Diabetes Specialist Advisor

About Us

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust is a leading-edge specialist community provider, proud to provide high-quality innovative services across the east of England. We are committed to enabling people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Specialist Diabetes Advisor to join our team. As a Specialist Diabetes Advisor, you will provide specialist diabetes advice and clinical support, demonstrating a sound knowledge of the issues related to the identification, assessment, treatment, and management of diabetes.

Main Responsibilities

• Provide specialist diabetes advice and clinical support to patients, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders.
• Support the delivery of structured educational programs to individuals with diabetes.
• Offer specialist advice to healthcare professionals about diabetes, particularly regarding medication adjustments and patient management.
• Collaborate with General Practices and other healthcare professionals to support the delivery of integrated diabetes services across primary and secondary care.
• Contribute to Clinical Governance within the service by participating in audit and research as part of the team.

Key Accountabilities

• Support the team's delivery and evaluation of services; identify areas for improvement and contribute to planning the future development.
• Ensure safe use of equipment by self and other healthcare professionals. Be involved in maintaining stock and ordering of supplies and equipment.
• Liaise with community nurses, healthcare professionals, and hospital staff to ensure a comprehensive diabetes service is provided across primary and secondary care.
• Actively participate with the Lead and other Diabetes Nurse Specialists in formulating, implementing, and evaluating policies and procedures relating to diabetes care.
• Develop relationships with external organizations and across boundaries.
• Ensure own competencies, mandatory, and role-specific training are up-to-date.
• Provide a positive public relations image by dealing with queries direct from the public.

Leadership

• Support the team's delivery and evaluation of services; identify areas for improvement and contribute to planning the future development.
• Ensure safe use of equipment by self and other healthcare professionals. Be involved in maintaining stock and ordering of supplies and equipment.
• Liaise with community nurses, healthcare professionals, and hospital staff to ensure a comprehensive diabetes service is provided across primary and secondary care.
• Actively participate with the Lead and other Diabetes Nurse Specialists in formulating, implementing, and evaluating policies and procedures relating to diabetes care.
• Develop relationships with external organizations and across boundaries.
• Ensure own competencies, mandatory, and role-specific training are up-to-date.
• Provide a positive public relations image by dealing with queries direct from the public.

Communication

• Promote and facilitate excellent working relationships and communication within the Integrated Community Diabetes Services and multi-disciplinary teams, and between the hospital and community settings.
• Communicate highly sensitive, condition-related, information to patients and their relatives. Demonstrate good interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to explore health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
• Understand data protection and patient confidentiality and the policies and procedures surrounding them and to accurately record personally generated clinical observations, and update patient/client records.
• Create opportunities to promote and share good practice, locally and nationally, by undertaking presentations and publications.

Key Working Relationships

• Senior nurse
• All team members
• Patients, carers, and families
• Other community specialist services
• Community Health Care Professionals
• General Practitioners and practice staff
• Luton & Dunstable hospital diabetes team
• CCS personnel
• Local Clinical Commissioning Group
• External Organisations
• Care / Nursing Homes
• Hospital

Research & Development Activity

• Contribute to research, surveillance, and clinical audit in order to improve effectiveness of patient care.
• Promote the use of research in practice.
• Contribute to appropriate audit of services and service role from user and provider perspectives and respond to research findings.

Clinical and Practice Governance

• Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
• Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, faxed, or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
• The post holder must adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes.
• The post holder must adhere to infection control policies and procedures.
• It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with your professional body, and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration.
• Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.
• The post holder must participate in clinical and safeguarding audits as required.
• Provide patients and their families/carers with information on standards they should expect from the team.
• Participate in Clinical & Safeguarding supervision on a regular basis.
• The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness process for their team.

Continuing Professional Development

• The post holder will be expected to undertake ongoing personal, professional, and management development in line with the responsibilities of the post.
• Improving Working Lives
• The post holder is expected to demonstrate a commitment to the Improving Working Lives initiative.

Safeguarding People Responsibility

• Safeguarding children and adults at risk of abuse or neglect is a collective responsibility.
• There is an expectation that all staff develop and maintain their role-relevant safeguarding people competencies and comply with local safeguarding partnerships practice.
• Alongside this employee who are registrants are reminded of their professional duty of care.
• Safeguarding means protecting a citizen's health, wellbeing, and human rights; enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect.
• Those most in need of protection include:
  • Children and young people
  • Adults at risk, such as those receiving care in their own home, people with physical, sensory, and mental impairments, and those with learning disabilities

Person SpecificationQualifications

• Registered Nurse Level 1
• Educated to Degree level or equivalent experience
• Post-registration qualification in Diabetes or working towards/willing to undertake the course
• Independent Non-Medical Prescriber or working towards/willing to undertake the course
• DESMOND trained or willingness to train

Experience

• Minimum of 3 years post-registration clinical experience
• Relevant clinical experience in diabetes
• Some experience of working across organisational boundaries
• Ability to work autonomously
• Understanding of Clinical Governance
• Understanding of NSF for Diabetes
• Awareness of working in a multicultural team and with a multicultural client group.
• Evidence of a commitment to own personal and professional development and the capacity to reflect and learn from others

Skills

• Teaching/Acceleration skills
• Organisational and negotiation skills and ability to prioritise workload.
• Effective communicator and ability to manage complex cases
• Works well as part of a team
• Good IT skills/Computer literate
• Knowledge of professional and NHS issues and policy relating to diabetes
• Able to work under own initiative and achieve deadlines
• To be committed and flexible to work across community clinics

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