Sister / Charge Nurse - Endoscopy POAC | Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	31 March 2025
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	pa pro-rata
Hours:	Part time
Closing date:	23 May 2025
Location:	Crewe, CW1 4QJ
Company:	Mid Cheshire Hospitals
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	7064089/412-SC-7064089

Summary

JOB PURPOSE

The post holder will bean experienced and competent health care professional who isresponsible for the delivery of the Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic (POAC) service within the Endoscopy department.

They will assess patients for endoscopic procedures either by telephone appointment or face to face, for those who have been identified as requiring a POAC by the referrer. They will request pre-procedure tests, where applicable and liaise with members of the Multi-Disciplinary Team to formulate a patient specific plan where necessary.

They will assess patients’ suitability for oral bowel prep and will issue this, if appropriate to do so, as a Registered Nurse, under the approved Patient Group Directive (PGD) in the absence of a prescription.

The post holder will provide procedure specific information to patients and their carers and take written consent for diagnostic upper and lower Gastrointestinal (GI) procedures

The post holder will provide information and advice to the scheduling team on clinical issues as appropriate to their level of expertise and knowledge.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) provides good quality, safe and effective healthcare to the people of Cheshire and beyond.

The Trust, which manages Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford, was established as an NHS Trust in April 1991 and became a Foundation Trust in April 2008.

We employ almost 5,000 members of staff, provide around 540 hospital beds, with a range of services including accident and emergency, maternity, outpatients, therapies, and children's health.

The Trust is also part of Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership (CCICP), a unique local health partnership that provides a range of community services for people across South Cheshire and Vale Royal.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Trust was recognised nationally for its Be Safe Be EquiPPEd campaign, which aimed to make the Trust as safe as possible for staff and patients, through supporting the correct use of PPE.

The results in the 2020 national NHS Staff Survey showed improvements in all elements of the safety culture theme, with 92% of respondents feeling their role made a difference to our patients. We were also recognised nationally for our workforce health and wellbeing initiatives.

At Mid Cheshire, we value our staff and appreciate that in order to give our patients the best quality, compassionate care, we also need to look after our colleagues.

SERVICE DELIVERY

Deliver safe practice by adhering to the NMC code of practice and all relevant local, national, and professional standards always, working collaboratively within the multidisciplinary team/agencies to ensure that patient needs are met
1. The post holder will work with their colleagues in POAC and the Scheduling teams, providing expertise, and ensuring optimum patient experience and flow through to their procedure appointment.
2. Develop and implement innovative practices within endoscopy POAC nursing using a research based approach
3. Ensure that all nursing records and documents are completed accurately and legibly
4. Collect, collate, and report information, ensuring that accurate patient records/documentation are maintained
5. Act as an advocate for patients and protect their dignity and rights
6. Involve patients, relatives/carers in the delivery of care, providing reassurance and support to assist their understanding and co-operation
7. Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations
8. Ensure that all patients receive appropriate advice about their procedure.
9. Contribute to and assist with the gathering of evidence for compliance with the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) standards.



GOVERNANCE


1. Promote the individual needs of the patient, by acknowledging preferences, rights and choices, respecting privacy and dignity, and by promoting anti-discriminatory practice, alerting senior staff if patient care appears to be disrespectful or discriminatory
2. Establish and maintain effective communication, maintaining confidentiality of information
3. Lead upon improvements in advancing knowledge within own specialist field, by continually monitoring standards, and by identifying risks, benchmarking, audit and research
4. Participate in the effective management of risk, by accurate recording and reporting and correct maintenance of records and documentation
5. Contribute to the content of policies, procedures and guidelines related to own clinical area/practice
6. Ensure compliance with Trust policies, procedures and guidelines for self and others, by taking action/alerting senior management team if practice appears to contravene policy, or if concerned about any aspect of patient care, including completion of adverse incident reports.



MANAGERIAL/LEADERSHIP


1. Maintain a healthy, safe, and secure working environment, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, maintaining accurate documentation, and reporting any concerns.
2. Contribute to the development of endoscopy services from the patients’ perspective, making suggestions for change and improvements, including taking part in patient and public involvement activities.
3. Provide expert clinical knowledge and leadership on improvements in the specialist area of endoscopy on behalf of the team to the benefit of patients, carers, and relatives
4. Maintain effective and efficient use of physical and financial resources, alerting managers when resources are short, and by implementing improvements to reduce waste

EDUCATION/LEARNING
1. Take responsibility for own learning and development by recognising and taking advantage of all opportunities to learn, including full participation in appraisal, supervision, action learning and by maintaining a professional/personal portfolio of learning.
1. Comply with plans to improve knowledge/clinical practice within the team, including involvement in supervision and mentorship

ENDOSCOPY POAC RELATED SPECFIC SKILLS
1. Obtain informed consent from patients using advanced communication skills.
2. Perform and document pre-procedure assessment. Give pre-procedure advice and support and check appropriate referrals have been made to other members of the multi-disciplinary team as part of the patient pathway.
3. Check organisation of relevant pre procedure investigations as per protocols e.g. blood tests, ECG, imaging.
4. Collate clinical information and present to Gastroenterology Consultant, Endoscopist, or other appropriate Clinician, to aid decision making in terms of suitability for procedure.
5. Provide clinical advice to other team members in endoscopy pre procedure assessment.
6. Assess patients’ suitability for oral bowel prep and will issue this, if appropriate to do so, as a Registered Nurse, under the approved Patient Group Directive (PGD) in the absence of a prescription.

This job description is an outline of the role and function. It is not intended to describe all specific tasks.

All staff at MCHFT have a responsibility to:

Maintain active registration status
• Always act in accordance with professional Codes of Conduct and guiding documents
• Where applicable, always act in accordance with the Code of Conduct for NHS Managers,
• Maintain up to date skills and knowledge
• Maintain an awareness of patient led service issues
• Maintain a professional/personal portfolio
• Adhere to all Trust policy, procedures and guidelines.
• Adhere to Trust standards of behaviour and expected performance
• Comply with Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C) policies and procedures as appropriate to their role and responsibilities in their individual work setting. Staff are required to be personally accountable for their actions and be responsible for their own compliance in relation to IP&C polices, protocols or advice.
• Ensure they work in accordance with local procedures and report any issues which they consider to be a risk to the health and safety of themselves and/or others.
• Act in accordance with the Trusts values and behaviours
• Where applicable to participate in and provide data on the efficacy of treatment and specialties

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is looking to ensure that we provide equity of services across seven days of the week. This post may be reviewed in line with this plan and in some cases an element of weekend working may be required.


This advert closes on Wednesday 30 Apr 2025