Detailed job description and main responsibilities

·     Provide clinical leadership and professional expertise ensuring each package of care delivers high quality care representing value for money within agreed available funding.

• Influence best practice by providing professional nursing advice on a range of nursing issues, to ensure patients health care needs are met appropriately and effectively, whilst achieving outcomes in a timely and appropriate manner
• Provide a nursing voice, ensuring that the NMC code of conduct is embedded into practice
• Challenge organisational and professional barriers that limits or inhibits successful service delivery
• Support and input to the development of training programmes and delivery plans in line with continuing care principles and practice to facilitate others learning
• Monitor and support the delivery of clinical supervision within the service, ensuring adequate training resources are available to support re-validation and continuing professional development
• Investigate and report upon complaints and incidents within the scope of the role and other areas as required or in the absence of other senior clinicians, in line with ICB policies and take remedial action where this is required
• Act as the lead for NHS Continuing Healthcare, from a clinical perspective and support the ICB with delivery against key objectives and will exercise advanced levels of clinical judgment and knowledge
• Deputise for the Head of Individual Assessment and Commissioning  as required

Clinical delivery

• Ensure initial assessments and reviews are completed in a timely manner acting as a line manager and point of contact providing advice and support to specialist nurses
• Responsible for ensuring assessment, case management and review systems are in place and that they are in line with best practice that follows national and local guidance where applicable
• Allocate cases according to complexity to named case managers of an appropriate band, skill and knowledge base
• Agree appropriate remedial actions to be taken to mitigate any concerns that could lead to a care package breakdown
• Support named case managers to clinically manage a caseload of the most complex cases where the patients primary diagnosis relates to mainly physical health conditions that are in receipt of an NHS Funded care package
• Support named case managers to clinically manage a caseload of the most complex cases where the patients primary diagnosis is a Mental Health condition or Learning Disability who are in receipt of an NHS Funded care package
• Support the repatriation of clients to the local area from out of area placements when a place is available and is clinically and socially appropriate
• Ensure that all decisions made about NHS Funding follow framework guidance
• Deal with contentious and conflicting situations in a professional empathetic manner
• Promote and support rollout of Personal Health Budgets for individuals
• Liaise with local health and social care lead professionals to establish effective discharge planning for patients, remove barriers to this process and improve the systems in place so that discharge is a smooth process for the patient
• Ensure revalidation of professional registration for self and staff is maintained, ensuring adherence to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct
• Adhere to and complete the NHS Continuing Healthcare competency framework on an annual basis
• Work closely with Local authority partners, Education and ICB colleagues to ensure local joint decision-making forums/panels are efficient, effective and smooth running
• Responsible for the interpretation and implementation of national and local policy and guidance

Commissioning, Finance and Contracting

• Liaise  with finance in line with the financial framework, ISFE and department scheme of delegation approving care packages and bespoke equipment keeping mindful of budget limitations
• Work with Contracts team colleagues to critically appraise and challenge provider clinical performance and service delivery against quality standards
• Ensure that statutory and service-related requirements are met
• Support the proactive monitoring of high-cost cases and ensure the provision of services which promote value for money, quality and safet
• Access up-to-date research evidence to secure cost and service improvements from alternative methods of operation through new goods and services or re-engineering existing processes
• To ensure proficient use of the ICB Commissioning Policy and support staff to consider exceptional circumstances appropriately

Quality and safeguarding

• To promote quality improvement across the service in order to improve outcomes for patients
• Ensure that quality standards are embedded into daily working linking with the safeguarding and quality team and that concerns regarding quality are escalated appropriately
• To ensure team members fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities, participating in Safeguarding meetings, case conferences and professional meetings as appropriate to their role
• Work with commissioning and provider colleagues to develop outcome-based indicators for inclusion within provider contracts and service specifications
• To investigate and report upon complaints and incidents within the scope of the role and other areas as required or in the absence of other senior clinicians, in line with ICB policies and take remedial action where this is required
• To ensure lessons learnt from complaints are used to revise local systems / procedures and individual actions
• To act as risk owner and proactively manage the service risk register.

Partnership working

• To deploy high quality interpersonal skills to establish credibility and confidence amongst clinicians, managers and other stakeholders
• To input to projects and manage specific pieces of work across the service as periodically required
• Develop and maintain close working relationships with colleagues across health, social care and education participating in network meetings where appropriate.  Use these meetings and relationships to influence the development and implementation of policy and initiatives
• Maintain effective communication with patients and carers/advocates and professionals across health and social services
• Undertake collaborative working with other professionals and agencies to ensure client’s needs are met, particularly in relation to ongoing care needs and discharge arrangements.