Senior Continuing Care Assessor

Job summary

Job Title:Continuing Care Assessor / Senior Nurse / Allied Health Professional

Are you looking for a new challenge? Are you a registered allied healthcare professional with a current professional registration? Would you like to work in a flexible and friendly team working core hours Monday Friday?

The NHS West Yorkshire ICB, Bradford District and Craven locality is seeking to recruit a highly motivated, enthusiastic and forward thinking clinical assessor to work as part of our Continuing Care team. The successful candidate will be working across our varied and diverse population. You need to be able to work autonomously and collaboratively within a multi-agency environment and dynamic skill-mixed team.

If you are a self-motivated and collaborative professional, who possesses excellent communication skills, has an eye for detail and support the philosophy for delivering high quality services to people, this would be the ideal opportunity for you.

Main duties of the job

As a Continuing Care Assessor your role will include assessing individuals against the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and Funded Nursing Care. The role has various aspects including triaging new referrals, travelling to see patients to complete assessments and reviews, and liaising with families and other stakeholders.

As part of the review process, you will review the eligibility for the NHS CHC, as well as the care planning, to ensure that all care needs are being met safely and effectively. You will monitor and influence the quality of care that is provided to patients; drawing on previous skills and knowledge to improve the patient experience of care. You will provide professional advice to patients, carers and multi-agency colleagues, including signposting to appropriate services and resources.

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details on the main responsibilities of the Continuing Care Assessor role.

About us

NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board is responsible for improving population health and reducing inequalities to meet the diverse health needs of its population and is part of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership which includes organisations, local councils, health and care providers and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity we see this as a strength and part of our founding mission, values and behaviours. We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers patient outcomes.

We are committed to creating the best place to work, where your contribution is valued, your wellbeing is supported and all our colleagues can reach their full potential. We welcome and encourage applications from all areas of the community, who meet the criteria for the role, regardless of their protected characteristics.

We are committed to a Carer friendly working environment that is supportive and inclusive. We actively encourage Carers to self-identify themselves and are offered a working Carer passport.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and commit to shortlisting suitable applicants who meet the essential criteria for an interview. Please inform us of any reasonable adjustments you may require as part of the recruitment process.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

Support the delivery of Personalised Commissioning within the Clinical Commissioning Group(s). Workstreams include the NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) Framework, Personal Health Budgets (PHBs) the coordination of complex cases (incorporating Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) and clinical input into Court of Protection where appropriate. Provide strong clinical leadership ensuring the highest standard of clinical assessment. Ensure a patient focused approach is adhered to in identifying health needs and facilitating the most appropriate and cost effective care pathway for individual patients. To be involved in the ongoing development of training, resources and expertise within the Personalised Commissioning Department.

Main Job Responsibilities

Patient/Client Care

Undertake the completion and facilitation of complex Continuing Healthcare assessments, decisions for eligibility (including being a member of the CCG Decision making panel) reviewing eligibility and the appropriateness of the commissioned care arrangement against the persons assessed needs including leading multidisciplinary meetings.

Lead and support others in identifying the level of individuals care needs which affect their health and social needs.

Coordinate complex cases as required (alongside community case managers if necessary) and where appropriate taking the lead in regard to accurate assessment, care planning, best interests, clinical input into court of protection to ensure a smooth transition into long term monitoring by community case managers ( CPN, DN).

Ensure the individual engages effectively with patients/carers in order to plan, assess, implement and evaluate care programmes for patients and providing specialist advice to patients and carers and provided leadership to junior staff in relation to this.

The post holder will be required to have regular contact with internal and external stakeholders, individuals and their families and will often need to engage with them over highly sensitive, complex confidential issues. Be able to make challenging and sometimes contentious decisions around issues which may result in hostile behaviour.

Work with patients/clients junior staff and families to promote independence through Personal Health Budgets and to promote the personalisation agenda.

Contribute to the protection of individuals from abuse at all times working within the adult and child safeguarding policies.

Consider the safety and quality of the care provided to patients and report to relevant parties where appropriate, including risk assessment and following safeguarding procedures and lead and support junior staff in relation to this.

To participate in the appeals process and/or retrospective case work where appropriate IRPs and CCG panels and to provide leadership to junior staff in relation to this.

To work in partnership with the other members of the CCG or other health and social care organisations where appropriate to promote and engage in integrated working.

With support from the Band 7, supervise and develop junior team members.

Monitor the safety and quality of the care provided to individuals liaison with Adult protection, quality manager, Local Authority and care providers including in regards to home closures.

Provide leadership and expert advice around personalised commissioning process and support training where appropriate.

Finance and Physical Resources

Use resources appropriately within the team and liaising with Senior Staff to ensure services are delivered to budget.

Through individual case assessment ensure cost effective placements of individuals on personalised commissioning pathways.

Contribute to decisions in relation to the cost effective and equitable allocation of resources Funding panels.

Be an authorised signatory for the areas of FNC, joint funding &/or respite vouchers.

Manage Self / Lead Team -

Be a supervisor/line manager for junior members of staff. This responsibility will include day to day staff management duties including workload allocation, which will include responsibility for supporting appraisals, development of staff, recruitment and where necessary processes such as grievance and disciplinary matters with the support of the Band 7.

Demonstrate good leadership providing and participating in professional caseload and supervision to team members

Act as a mentor for student Clinical Assessors.

Provide training for internal or external parties when required.

Able to facilitate multi-disciplinary meetings that are challenging, emotive and sensitive.

Working autonomously, planning, self-directing and managing own workload to weekly, monthly and annual timescales to ensure continuity of service. Deliver against objectives, achieving quality outcomes, prioritising own workload and working to tight deadlines.

Works within broad occupational and organisational policy including multi-agency safeguarding policies, procedures, and protocol.

Contribute when requested in the development of policies and procedures within the personalised commissioning team and to the change management process.

Promote effective communications and relationships within the team.

Attend professional meetings relevant to the personalised commissioning department.

Contribute to research and audit.

Information Resources

Obtain, manage, analyse and share current information for decision making in terms of eligibility and care packages.

Use and maintain accurate information systems and databases such as the electronic patient care record in line with NMC guidance and organisational policies such as information governance. Data provided will ensure accurate reporting to the department the CCG. NHS England and the DoH.

Obtain service user consent to share information, assessing capacity to understand and retain and making the decision to share information in the best interest of the patient where it can be demonstrated that this is appropriate.

Share appropriate information with health and social care colleagues in the best interests of patients, and within the scope of the information sharing protocol.

Core Organisational Responsibilities In addition to the specific job responsibilities all members of staff are responsible for the following.

It is the responsibility of each member of staff to maintain confidentiality at all times.

Staff must be aware of and adhere to the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act and to ensure their own safety and the safety of colleagues and patients.

Mandatory training requirements that are relevant to the post must be decided during Personal Development Review and a training plan developed.

Staff should be aware of their individual responsibilities under the Equal Opportunities Policy and ensure that they adhere to the provisions of the policy.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. All employees have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults and to consider how their particular role in the organisation can contribute to the CCGs safeguarding post holder will be responsible for ensuring that they undertake the appropriate level of safeguarding training and that they know how to recognise, seek advice and respond to any concerns of abuse, according to the CCGs policies. This may include concerns related to patients, colleagues or members of the public.

All Staff must follow their professional Code of Conduct where relevant, NMC, GMC, CMIPD, CMIOSH.

All managers are expected to follow the NHS Managers Code of Conduct

This job description is not meant to be exhaustive. It describes the main duties and responsibilities of the post. It may be subject to change in the light of developing organisational and service needs and wherever possible change will follow consultation with the post holder.

Person Specification

EssentialHow Identified

Qualifications / KnowledgeRegistered Clinical Assessor (part 1 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register as a registered Clinical Assessor.

Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area.

Knowledge of the National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and the Mental Capacity Act and associated guidance/policies relevant to the post.

Application Form

Application Form

Application Form/Interview

ExperienceSignificant post qualification experience of direct patient care involving assessment of people with complex health needs.

Experience and understanding of the role of both community services and patients pathways.

Application Form/Interview

Skills / CompetenciesSubstantial communication skills: able to adapt complex information to be understood by the intended audience and able to articulate care needs and recommendations of health care requirements (both written and verbal)

Able to think conceptually, understanding and recognising complex situations / information using demonstrable leadership and assessment skills to decide the best course of action and able to use judgment skills to make recommendations and decisions based on clinical nursing assessments.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Significant experience of direct patient care involving assessment of people with complex health needs.

Desirable

Knowledge of the National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing care Mental Capacity Act and associated guidance policies

Qualifications

Essential

Nurse or Allied Health Professional registered with relevant professional body Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience working at a similar level in specialist area.

Desirable

Best Interests Assessor

Skills & Behaviours

Essential

Substantial communication skills: able to adapt complex information to be understood by the intended audience and able to articulate care needs and recommendations of health care requirements (both wr Able to think conceptually, understanding and recognising complex situations / information using demonstrable leadership and assessment skills to decide the best course of action and able to use judgm Good IT skills

Desirable

Knowledge of using electronic patient records , Systmone.

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