OPAT Specialist Nurse

# To work within the Intravenous Therapy (IV) OPAT team to establish and provide to ensure the maintenance of clinical excellence, underpinned by evidence-based practice.
# To facilitate admission avoidance and early supported discharge thus reducing the length of stay in hospital for patients receiving IV antimicrobial therapy with the support of microbiology.
# To repatriate Lewisham GP based patients safely that are requiring home IV treatment following appropriate governance processes.
# To support any new developments of service pathways that the Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) can provide.
# To support the service provision of IV monoclonal patient that may be encountered for example; COVID positive high-risk patients.
# To improve the overall knowledge, monitoring and management of vascular access devices.
# To support each other clinically in achieving competence within the specialist field of IV therapy.
# To assess and monitor patients requiring Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line access devices on an inpatient basis.
# To provide evidence of OPAT referrals / outcomes on a monthly / yearly basis.
# To support wards with out of borough, advise on inpatients
# To to visit patient at home for IV therapy and collect blood samples for review
# To participate in OPAT Virtual Ward Round MDT meeting that is scheduled once a week.

Working for our organisation
Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream, · Carries out diagnostic/therapeutic interventions as an independent practitioner, interprets, writes reports and commences further possible treatment on the basis of the findings.
· Become an essential member and point of contact and resource for the multi-disciplinary team and patients and carers.
· To demonstrate excellent clinical Knowledge within the specialty and work autonomously, managing jointly allocated clinics and seeking guidance/support when necessary
· Carries out therapeutic/investigational procedures under indirect supervision of the OPAT specialist nurse and Consultant. Ensuring that they are carried out using safe practice and under agreed guidelines/protocols to ensure that the highest possible standard is obtained based on competent clinical practice.
· To demonstrate the ability to develop new skills, to provide an expert high quality, nurse-led service.
· To provide ongoing follow-up care and support (home visits / telephone support / nurse led clinics / outpatient clinics) To develop the service with the OPAT specialist nurse thein a structured interdisciplinary way, initiating on-going change and progression in the expanding role of a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Specialist Midwife.
· Autonomously or in collaboration with the OPAT Specialist nurse or the multidisciplinary team, manage the care of patients carrying out relevant interventions, within agreed clinical protocols and in line with current practice/trends.
· To offer a supportive service to patients and their carers liaising with other healthcare professionals when necessary.
· To maintain accurate and legible records of all clinical and legal documentation with regard to Statutory and Trust policies.
· To assess, develop, implement and evaluate programmes of care within the acute and community setting
· To control patient admission via direct referral and with consultant guidance and supervision.
· Be aware of, understand, and act upon the Divisional Business Plan, with particular reference to nursing/midwifery care, in order to participate in the re-formulation of nursing/midwifery aspects of the plan.
· When required, investigate the nursing/midwifery aspects of incidents/complaints and initiate corrective action.
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We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.
As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.
Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.
Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.
We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 - the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.
To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here
Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.
LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.
We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham., An exciting opportunity has presented itself within the OPAT/IV service at Lewisham Hospital, under the Lewisham and Greenwich Trust for band 6 healthcare professionals. We are seeking motivated clinical experts in the field of OPAT / Intravenous therapy (IV) and vascular access devices.
We are a small but innovative service who are now expanding our roles to support the hospital at home / virtual ward program and save beds in hospital.