Job summary
Employer heading
Lead Nurse – Infection Prevention and Control
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust.
The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust is the largest orthopaedic hospital in the UK and a global leader in our field. We provide a dynamic working environment where we support frontline staff to implement improvements so that we can realise our vision of being a world leading neuro musculoskeletal hospital providing the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS, delivering world leading research, and offering a strong foundation of education, training and career progression. Our dedicated staff come from diverse backgrounds, and our patients benefit from the wide range of experience they bring to the Trust. The RNOH brings unrivalled expertise together in one place allowing us to deliver some of the world’s most complex and innovative care to our patients
- Rated Good by the CQC
- Two sites, one in central London and one in Stanmore - which has recently opened The Stanmore Building, a new, state-of-the-art inpatient facility
- Our Research and Innovation Centre works closely with our main academic partner, University College London
- Recognised as a centre of excellence, leading on national initiatives, such as the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme
- Further major redevelopment underway across the Stanmore site – improving and modernising our facilities to maintain our position as the UK’s leading centre for orthopaedic medicine
- In the NHS staff survey, over 90% of our staff were satisfied with the quality of care they are able to give to patients - the best result of any NHS Trust in the country
- Our staff also indicated that they had the best experience of appraisals as compared to all other NHS Trusts.
This is a great time to join us and play a critical role in the next stage of RNOH’s journey to achieving an outstanding CQC rating.
Our aim is to remain a world-leading orthopaedic hospital with the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS. To do this, we have four core values that underpin everything that we do. We use our values to help ensure that we are always focused on the things that our staff and patients believe are most important:
- Patients first, always
- Excellence, in all we do
- Trust, honesty and respect, for each other
- Equality, for all
Our annual staff survey results have been improving year on year, with our staff telling us that their experience of working at the Trust is getting better and better. They also indicate that our staff feel very loyal to the RNOH and committed to its role in providing the very best care to our complex patient group. We hope that we can welcome you to our growing team soon.
Job overview
The Lead Nurse for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) will ensure the smooth running of all operational elements of an effective IPC service which includes (but is not limited to):
- Surveillance, management and reporting of healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) and alert organisms
- Audit of clinical environment and practices related to IPC
- Outbreak prevention and control
- Development and implementation of IPC policies and strategies
Main duties of the job
The purpose of the post is to lead and provide expert advice for all staff, patients and service users on issues related to the prevention and control of infections and infectious diseases. The post holder will be leading the service by demonstrating expert specialist clinical practice and skills using evidence based best practice in line with current guidelines, research and innovation.
Working for our organisation
RNOH Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust (RNOH) is the largest orthopaedic hospital in the UK and a global leader in our field. We provide a dynamic working environment where we support frontline staff to implement improvements so that we can realise our vision of being a world leading neuro-musculoskeletal hospital providing the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS, delivering world leading research, and offering a strong foundation of education, training and career progression. Our dedicated staff come from diverse backgrounds, and our patients benefit from the wide range of experience they bring to the trust. RNOH brings unrivalled expertise together in one place allowing us to deliver some of the world’s most complex and innovative care to our patients. RNOH is rated good by the CQC and covers two sites, one in central London and one in Stanmore - which has recently opened The Stanmore Building, a new, state-of-the-art inpatient facility. For more information, please access the following link: https://www.rnoh.nhs.uk/
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will;
- Lead all IPC audit and surveillance activity, overseeing the management of HCAIs and alert organisms in the Trust, and reporting locally or nationally where necessary.
- Function as an autonomous practitioner providing an expert level of care, developing own and other’s knowledge of the prevention and control of infections.
- Be responsible for ensuring site visits and conduct audits for all new builds, refurbishments, and environmental alterations in the Trust by working closely with Estates and Facilities, commissioners, and stakeholders, to ensure that infection prevention and control is always given due regard in these projects.
- Ensure that the infection risks of patients are reported and IPC measures are carried out with up-to-date and relevant patient information included in all relevant Trusts records.
- Represent the Trust and the Profession at meetings and conferences.
- Demonstrate advanced professional knowledge and skills for clinical competency and assumes responsibility for own professional development with the support of the Deputy Chief Nurse.
- Advise the DIPC on all matters pertaining to IPC.
- Provide management and leadership of the Infection Prevention and Control Team and the Bone Infection/OPAT Team.
Clinical Responsibilities
- To be highly visible clinical specialist and leader, ensuring an accessible presence throughout the Trust, for staff, patients and service users, providing assistance, advice and support on IPC issues and concerns
- Work closely with the Chief Nurse/Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC) and the IPC Doctor/Lead Consultant Microbiologist to provide leadership and expert knowledge in respect of infection control and prevention across the organisation.
- To act as a role model and clinical expert, providing evidence based guidance for staff and members of the multidisciplinary team in relation to the specialist service
- Maintain a high level of expert practice in the speciality, acting as a resource for specialist advice across the Trust.
- To ensure operational practice, management oversight and audit activity promotes Trust compliance with the Health Act 2006; Code of Practice for Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infection.
- To advise on IPC risks, control measures and lead their implementation.
- To act as ‘specialist advisor’ in matters relating to infection prevention for all health care workers within the Trust.
- To ensure outbreaks of infections are effectively managed and controlled in collaboration with the DIPC and IPC Doctor/Consultant Microbiologist.
- To work in partnership with multi-disciplinary teams to implement and evaluate action plans resulting from the environmental audits.
- To work with the IPC doctor to provide specialist advice and ensure appropriate IPC oversight in regard to the planning/upgrading of capital projects and equipment within the Trust and other purchaser units and advise the DIPC accordingly.
- To compile and deliver to and annual IPC workplan as agreed with the DIPC and shared with the Board.
- To participate in the collection and analysis of the data generated from the surgical site infection surveillance scheme, enabling the service to plan, monitor and achieve its SSI objectives.
- To play an active leadership role in the winter vaccine campaign and undertake practice as a peer vaccinator
Professional Leadership and Management
- Develops strategies to ensure that all Trust employees contribute to the achievement and adhere to the policies and clinical practices developed for the prevention and control of infection.
- To coordinate the monitoring and reporting of key performance indicators, both locally and nationally
- Through the DIPC, deliver an IPC Annual Report to the Trust Board.
- Together with the IPC Doctor to lead and prepare for the Infection Control Committee and Surgical Site Infection group.
- Lead on national and local initiatives related to the specialist service and represent the Trust and the profession at meetings and conferences.
- Provide line management and professional leadership to the IPC and Bone Infection/OPAT teams.
- Direct and support the ongoing professional development of the team
- Attend the Nursing Leadership Forum and play an active part as a nurse leader across the nursing portfolio trustwide.
- Organise and lead on development and innovations in the prevention and control of HCAIs working in partnership with other Trust within the North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB).
Quality Governance
- Sustain/lead an effective means of capturing incidents relating to the IPC service and supporting investigations/participate in after action reviews (AAR).
- Liaise with the Deputy Chief Nurse and the Deputy Director for Quality to advise and contribute to clinical governance activities within the trust around the speciality.
- Maintain and update the Board Assurance Framework
- Maintain a risk register for IPC matters as indicated.
- To be responsible for the development, implementation and audit of IPC policies and procedures – working with managers in taking appropriate action resulting from the audit
- To monitor and analyse data and use it to challenge practice.
Research and quality improvement
· To network with other CNS specialist services throughout the UK joining the appropriate organisations in order to collaborate, share and benchmark practices and initiatives
· To act as a research resource in IPC matters.
- To critically appraise current practice and best evidence – develop/introduce new practices in accordance with audit or research findings.
- To lead quality improvement initiatives within the speciality.
Workforce and Education
- To maintain an active awareness
- To update and maintain own knowledge of current local and national IPC issues and clinical/ professional developments within the service and disseminate that knowledge to colleagues.
- Participate in the informal/formal IPC education and training programmes for the multi-disciplinary teams.
- Ensure a robust education and professional development programme is maintained for the IPC champions in the Trust
- Develop learning opportunities for all Trust employees that are flexible and accessible and support the needs of the organisation in collaboration with members of the Learning and Development Team.
Person specification
IT skills
Essential criteria
- Essential IT skills including database and spreadsheet management
- Ability to input data
Responsibility for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable commitment to anti-discriminatory and inclusive behaviours and practices
Education and Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Level 1 registration with NMC
- Recognised IPC post-graduate course/module in Infection Control
- Masters level study or equivalent experience
- Evidence of continuous professional development
Desirable criteria
- Leadership / Management course/qualification
- Masters level award
- Teaching/Mentoring qualification
Knowledge, Training & Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant post registration/graduate experience in relevant area of clinical practice
- High level IPC knowledge and skills
- Knowledge of current IPC guidelines, communicable diseases policies and procedures
- Leadership experience at Band 7
- Experience of teaching/ presentation
- Knowledge of current development in nursing and the NHS
- Experience of quality/service improvement/ change management
- Experience of managing people/a team
Desirable criteria
- Team Management experience
- Experience as an IPC specialist nurse
- Experience as a clinical nurse specialist or practice educator
- Experience as Band 7 IPC Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Experience of managing HR processes
Analytical & Judgment Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to performance manage using Trust standards/matrix
- Ability to operationalise workforce management policies when required
- Ability to interpret data and use data to initiate/evaluate change
Planning & Organisational Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to manage a team rota/allocate staff effectively
- Ability to work to tight deadlines and under pressure
- Ability to negotiate complex issues with managers and staff to support change
- Ability to prioritise workload to deliver on key projects/ work
- Ability to provide supervision and support to junior members of staff/team members across the Trust
- Ability to develop supportive working relationships across multidisciplinary teams
Desirable criteria
- Budget management skills
- Experience of using eRoster systems
Communication & Relationship Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent report writing skills, producing documents to a high quality finish
- Ability to present at meetings both internally and externally
- People management skills
Responsibility for Policy/Service Development
Essential criteria
- Experience in writing/ developing and implementing policies/procedures/guidelines
Desirable criteria
- Experience in building a business case
Responsibility for Research & Development
Essential criteria
- Experience in developing / quality improvement/ service improvement project
- Ability to undertake a literature search and appraise evidence
Desirable criteria
- Experience of participating in clinical research
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mercy Wasike
- Job title
- Deputy Chief Nurse
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0203 947 0420
- Additional information
N/A
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