The 0-19 service provides support to children, young people and their families within a progressive universal model of service delivery dependant on assessed need.
The service offers every child/family a programme of screening, developmental reviews, information and guidance to support parenting and healthy choices as defined by The Healthy Child Programme.
The Health Visitor is an integral member of the children’s team and utilises management skills to work in partnership with individuals, families, communities and agencies in order to identify and address health needs in line with both local and government initiatives.
We have the opportunity to offer full time and part time posts in Liverpool and Sefton
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to appoint Health Visitors across Liverpool and Sefton.
The successful applicants will be dynamic, highly motivated individuals who possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work autonomously and as a member of the wider children's team.
As a Caseload Holder you will be expected to work closely with various stakeholders including GP's, midwives, family hubs, specialist services and where appropriate, social care services.
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Manage a defined caseload of clients working within policies but having the freedom to prioritise the needs of individuals within that caseload.
Be the accountable practitioner for the defined Health Visiting caseload, prioritising and delegating planned interventions appropriately to members of the support Team in accordance with individual’s skills and abilities.
Monitor, prioritise and delegate client contact within the Service and alert managers if additional resources are required due to changes in demand and capacity.
Be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the work delegated from the defined caseload to team members.
Line manage and supervise skill mix and support staff on a day-to-day basis.
Ensure that the standard of record keeping and report writing is maintained within the team as per the record keeping policy.
Ensure that organisational policies, Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards and competencies within the skill mix are adhered to by team members.
Utilise the knowledge and skills framework and related performance review for those for whom line management responsibility is held.
Identify and facilitate learning and training needs of self and team members in line with NMC and revalidation requirements, skill mix competencies, personal development plans (PDR) and appraisals of staff, eg. support staff, not covered by any guidance.
In conjunction with the Team Leader/ Manager provide day- to- day supervision and support for junior staff and students
Act, contribute to and where appropriate take lead role in a multi-agency / multi-disciplinary arena when developing packages of care to improve health and social well-being.
Act as a positive role model and provide clinical leadership to colleagues with the team.
Provide professional expertise to other professionals and agencies in health needs profiling.
Leadership
Actively seek the views of the community, in order to influence and work alongside local organisations to improve the health and social well-being of the local population.
Profile health needs and target services to meet clients’ needs and evaluate the effectiveness of intervention.
Work closely with other professionals to promote health for a defined population and to liaise closely with other statutory and voluntary agencies as appropriate to ensure that the needs of individuals and community are met.
Raise awareness about health, social well-being, related factors, services and resources by providing accurate, up-to-date evidence-based information that is appropriate to the needs context and cultures of groups and individuals.
Provide leadership, mentorship and role modelling to Child health practitioners/ Community Staff Nurses, Nursery nurses, students and other support staff in the team.
Undertake the role of mentor as stipulated by the NMC.
Take an active role in service development activities, identifying areas for improvement and options for change. To lead or participate in working groups for service development, in Health Visiting and within the organisation.
Support and be involved in the development of protocols, standard operating procedures (SOPs), policies and guidelines within the organisation.
Be a member of working parties and groups considering aspects of the service and professional practice as required.
Clinical
Promote health to families and individuals within the community by working with individuals to plan, implement and evaluate a programme of care to meet their specific health need, referring and liaising with other professionals and agencies appropriately.
Undertake holistic client assessment, Child health Reviews as per HCP and respond appropriately including referring directly to appropriate primary and secondary care, social care and Children centres when indicated.
Provide relevant evidence-based information to clients to assist them to lead and to make informed choices about their own and their families’ health and to carry out the HCP in accordance with the relevant clinical policies for the organisation.
Prescribe independently from the nurse prescriber’s formulary and / or recommend over-the-counter treatments where appropriate in accordance with NMC guidelines and organisational policy.
Work in collaboration with the Safeguarding Children’s Team and other agencies according to Trust policies with regard to Safeguarding Children procedures to ensure the highest level of protection is given to children at risk.
Work to Safeguarding guidelines, providing professional expertise to other agencies including preparing reports for child-in-need meetings, case conferences and legal proceedings.
Be actively involved in attending safeguarding meetings and court when required.
Respond to urgent and risk situations as they arise with due regard to safeguarding, Risk management and Health and Safety guidance of the organisation.
Attend Safeguarding supervision 3-monthly
Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records both electronic and written.
Training & Education
A learner can be defined as the child, family, carer, student, other learners or any individual or group for whom behaviour has changed following the learning process.
Contribute to the development of an environment in which current evidence-based practice is fostered, implemented, evaluated and disseminated.
Act as a mentor, assessor and health educator both formally and informally, to all persons involved in the case of clients.
Identify within the team, areas of improvement through PDR and facilitate life long learning within community practice, and nurture reflective practice.
Utilise an evidence-based approach to teaching learners including evaluating the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies.
Utilise the appropriate theories, for teaching individuals and groups, within the community settings.
Select, support and assess a range of learning opportunities for pre-and post-registration students.
Demonstrate an understanding of assessment strategies and be accountable for confirming that students have met the NMC standards of proficiency.
Support students to identify learning needs and to facilitate appropriate to their level of learning and utilise a range of learning experiences to meet defined learning needs.
Identify and document any aspect of the pre-registration students work which may require action planning and implement an appropriate plan in conjunction with the Practice Education Facilitator.
Support students in critically reflecting upon their learning experiences in order to enhance further learning.
Act as a preceptor and mentor on programmes for the Specialist Community Public Health students as allocated by the line manager
Clinical Governance/Research and Audit
Maintain professional registration and portfolio in line with NMC requirements. Act in accordance with the NMC Code of Conduct, Standards and Guidelines.
Maintain standards of record keeping and report writing in accordance with NMC guidelines and LCH organisation policy.
Participate in relevant training both within and outside the organisation and take personal responsibility to keep professionally up-to-date with Health Visiting and Public Health nursing practice.
Engage in clinical supervision as per organisation policy.
Identify and report any accidents / incidents in appropriate documentation in accordance with organisational policy and take remedial action as appropriate.
Manage complaints from clients and colleagues as per organisation policy. Analysing and responding as appropriate.
Manage risk, health and safety and work within policies and procedures laid down by the organisation
Lone-worker for majority of patient interactions and as such will be expected to work within agreed Lone-worker Policy / Guidelines.
To involve service user experiences to improve service provision.
To participate in practice development projects and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current research and evidence-based practice appropriate to Health Visiting and Public Health nursing.
To be actively involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of professional and clinical audits.
Work collaboratively with IT and Informatics initiatives to utilise appropriate information systems as they are developed.
Utilise health intelligence information to inform practice.
Contribute to the collection and maintenance of evidence for Care Quality Commission (CQC) outcomes.
To be responsible for the care and safe keeping of equipment issued for personal and team use and to report any defect or loss.
Communication
Use effective interpersonal skills when communicating in all work situations to:
Communicate highly sensitive and highly complex information, including information concerning child abuse.
Communicate highly sensitive and highly complex information to clients, carers, colleagues and other professionals where there may be barriers to understanding, utilising interpreting services and aids to communication where appropriate.
Establish robust communication channels both within the team and with other professionals and agencies.
Maintain knowledge of and comply with Information Governance Policy.
Interpret verbal and written information, from a variety of sources, in order to elicit accuracy of content and assist appropriate planning of client care.
