Job overview

We are looking for trainee advanced autonomous practitioners to join our team. Are you excited by primary and urgent care? Do you enjoy working in a dynamic busy environment?

MedOCC is a primary medical care service providing 2 functions. One function is the provision of primary care out of hours services for Medway and Swale and the second function is to provide the primary care element of the Urgent Treatment Centre at Medway Foundation Trust.

The services consist of General Practitioners, Advanced Clinical Practitioners/trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioners, administrative staff and drivers.

The out of hours primary care provision also delivers the cellulitis and DVT pathways for both Medway and Swale. The service is provided out of hours between the hours of 18:30 pm to 08:00 am. On weekdays and from 18:30 pm Friday through to 08:00 Monday morning including Bank Holidays.

The Urgent Treatment Centre primary care element operates in hours including weekends treating patients with a wide range of medical presentations referred via 111 and streamed by the UTC front door.

The clinical team operate a rostered shift system. MedOCC has multiple pathways in and out of our service and have direct referral routes to all MCH services and many more with our partner organisations such as SECAmb, MFT, KMPT and Primary Care.

Main duties of the job

The Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner (tACP) will be supported through indirect supervision to be responsible for assessing, diagnosing, interpreting investigations, and treating patients within MCH and in line with a developing scope of competence. They will monitor and assist with improving standards of care utilising clinical expertise and experiences. They will teach and support colleagues where appropriate, providing professional clinical leadership. Where appropriate they will act as an expert in their field and lead and/or participate in initiatives to improve standards of care for the client group and assisting to advancing the ACP role.

The tACP is service driven, and will be developing themselves around the Department of Health Guidance across the four domains of Advanced Practice, those being:

1.     Expert Practice

2.     Practice and service development, Research and Evaluation

3.     Education and Training

4.     Professional leadership and Consultancy

The tACP will develop specialist knowledge and skills to provide healthcare autonomously to patients in their speciality through an established ACP training pathway. The Trainee will work to develop and demonstrate competence in expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and build competences for expanded scope of advanced clinical practice.

Whilst in training the tACP will undertake the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice; included in the curriculum are work-based learning modules. As well as the academic pathway the tACP will follow the three-year supervisor-supported ACP training program mapped against established national and regional competencies. 

The tACP will gain the skills under direct supervision to undertake clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients with undiagnosed and undifferentiated conditions. The tACP will develop advanced skills in clinical decision making, critical thinking, and clinical management skills based upon evidence-based practice.

The tACP will have protected time to maintain and further develop their professional competence and act as a constant source of clinical and theoretical knowledge for all grades and disciplines of staff as well as patients / prisoners and service user and their significant others, providing support and clinical advice in specialist areas, based on evidenced based research.

The specific characteristics of the role are shaped by the clinical context, profession, scope of practice and/or qualifications but will always include all 4 pillars of clinical practice, education and personal development, Leadership and management and research, evaluation and audit.

Working for our organisation

So what else?

• This is your chance to join a progressive and innovative service in a social enterprise that is patient and staff focused - you’ll even have the opportunity to become an MCH shareholder.
• We encourage staff to get involved in exploring new ways of working and service development.
• We’ll provide well established, in-service training, one to one supervision, and appraisals with regular support.
• You’ll be able to develop your skills in a friendly and supportive team.

Would you like to work flexibly?  In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important work life balance is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.

The small print

• Informal visits can be arranged on request.
• We will offer you the choice of two pension schemes; the NHS Pension scheme and the scottish widows group pension scheme.
• MCH encourages all staff to be double COVID vaccinated to protect themselves, their colleagues, their family and their patients.