Job overview

This post will join our new virtual ward team of nurses, therapists and consultants and deliver the Newham University Hospital’s Virtual respiratory ward, expediting discharge of patients with chronic respiratory disease. The role will deliver person centred care, comprehensive respiratory assessment of adults with chronic respiratory disease, both within the hospital and within Newham community.
This post will be of interest to Nurses who are working at Band 6 or 7 level with acute or chronic respiratory patients, who wish to progress and apply their expertise in an expanding and developing service. You will be supported in your development within an expert team.
The team includes doctors, specialist nurses and therapists who care for patients with chronic respiratory disease from attendance to hospital through to care at home via early supported discharge or admission avoidance processes. Our vision is for the people of Newham to experience well-coordinated care and support in the most appropriate setting, which is truly person-centred and helps them to maintain their 
independence. The Virtual Ward service will be available 7 days a week.

Main duties of the job

To draw on advanced nursing knowledge and practical skills to care for patients 
living with chronic respiratory disease.
• To lead on service improvement exercises and support junior staff and other professionals in gaining competence and confidence in respiratory patient management.
• Triage referrals to ensure that correct patients are recruited to the service and feed back to referrers if inappropriate.
• Provide a day to day oversight of the expected patient flow in the Community Virtual Ward in relation to timelines and service expectations.
• Perform home visit at appropriate times after a patient’s discharge from the acute setting. To work closely with other respiratory teams as required.
• To work closely with the respiratory wards and medical areas of Newham Hospital and the Respiratory MDT within these acute sites – to identify potential patients that require follow up with the Community Virtual Ward/ Supported Discharge service.
• To identify and create individualised self-management plans with patients, to improve patient’s ability to manage their own condition and also communicate this plan to their GP’s and any other services as appropriate
• Undertake autonomous patient assessments and plan appropriate clinical interventions in the community setting.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.  

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.  

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.  

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.