Sister/Charge Nurse - Virtual WardNHS

Job summary

Are you an experienced and motivated Registered Nurse with a passion for improving outcomes for older people living with frailty? An exciting opportunity to join our expanding Virtual Ward service, supporting patients to transition safely from acute hospital care into community-pathways while receiving acute-level care in their home. The role focuses on advanced assessment, care coordination, discharge planning, and clinical case management for patients requiring ongoing support following an acute episode of illness.

Working within Frailty SDEC, Frailty Wards, and alongside community services, you will play a pivotal role in reducing avoidable admissions,facilitating early supported discharge, and ensuring seamless transitions of care across organisational boundaries. You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams,

This is an excellent opportunity for a nurse with significant post-registration experience in frailty, elderly care, acute medicine, community services, or urgent care, who is passionate about service improvement, clinical excellence, and delivering care closer to home. If you share our values of being Kind, Open and Inclusive, and are committed to providing high-quality care for some of our most vulnerable patients, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

As Virtual Ward Nurse:

• Undertake comprehensive assessments of frail patients todeterminesuitability for Virtual Ward pathways and support safe discharge from acute services.
• Coordinate care across acute, community and primary care services to ensure seamless patient transitions and continuity of care.
• Manage a caseload of patients, developing and implementingpersonalisedcare plans that promote recovery and independence at home.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, including consultants, therapists, pharmacists, communityteamsand GPs, to support complex patient pathways.
• Monitor patients using remote monitoring technology and respond appropriately to clinical deterioration through agreed escalation processes.
• Support admission avoidance and early supported discharge initiatives, helping patients receive acute-level care in their usual place of residence.
• Contribute tocomprehensive geriatric assessment processes and provide education and support to patients,carersand families.
• Provide clinical leadership, support junior colleagues, and contribute to service development, qualityimprovementand pathway redesign initiatives.
• Maintainhigh standardsof clinical documentation, governance,safeguardingand professional practicein accordance withthe NMC Code and Trust policies.

Job description

Please find attached job description and person specification for main responsibilities and requirements.

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.