Heart Failure Nurse Specialist

This is an exciting opportunity to join the UHD heart failure team to help set up and provide a new heart failure project in the community. You will be utilising the brand new Astra Zeneca Cardiovascular Renal and Metabolism (AZ CVRM) dashboard tool to identify undiagnosed and undertreated cases of heart failure on GP registers. Once identified the intention would be to establish patients on heart failure medication and optimise doses as per guidelines.

The aim of this heart failure specialist nurse service is to work across primary and secondary care teams, improve communication, ensure a more integrated and seamless care pathway for patients and in so doing, reduce admissions and increase survival. The service will cover East Dorset, and will integrate with the other provider of specialist heart failure nursing services, Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust (DHUFT). Training and support will be provided by the RBCH heart failure consultant and nursing team.

You will work closely with existing community heart failure providers to further develop and implement shared care pathways promoting multi-disciplinary care.

You will have experience in the management of patients with Cardiac conditions requiring timely intervention and will be able to demonstrate excellent communication skills. The position will be based both in primary and secondary care, with the majority of time on RBCH site, shift patterns and times will vary according to the needs of the service.

The service will:

• Enhance support for safe discharge and management of care within the community, will see patients within 2 weeks of discharge from secondary care where this is not possible within existing pathways. This will involve individual case management of high risk patients and close liaison with case managers (matrons) and general practice.
• Initially focus on East Dorset as a pilot, but any successful learning will be shared with neighbouring NHS trusts. It is anticipated that data obtained during the project will inform a future business case for long-term NHS funding of the post.
• Enhance the skill base within community and primary care staff to improve quality and timeliness of referrals and up-skilling to manage lower risk patients.
• Work as part of an extended multi-disciplinary team to support the discharge process and the interface with primary care.
• Participate in weekly MDTs for high risk patients.
• Help to address NICE guideline 106 (section 1.7.3) that stable patients with chronic heart failure are reviewed every 6 months (the role is intended to shape and improve local patient heart failure services for the future in accordance with NICE guidelines)

Our values define who we are as #TeamUHD. They underpin everything we do now and in the future. They define how we treat our patients, visitors, and each other, our valued team mates and colleagues.

This is a fixed term post for 12 months, a secondment would be considered.

Base Location: Royal Bournemouth Hospital

Interview Date: to be confirmed

To understand the role in more detail please read the full job description and person specification documents which are attached to this advert.