Nurse Consultant – Urgent Community Response & Virtual Frailty Ward
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation TrustJob overview
We are seeking a Nurse Consultant to work alongside our existing UCR VFW Nurse Consultant and join our Berkshire UCR VFW teams, where your clinical expertise and strategic leadership will make a real difference.
This is a rotational post across our four UCR VFW teams, giving you the opportunity to work with a range of professionals, share best practice and influence the delivery of high-quality consistent care across the service.
As Nurse Consultant for UCR VFW, you will be working closely with our Nurse Consultant and be jointly responsible for leading and developing advanced nursing practice across the service. Operating at a strategic level, you will collaborate with Consultant Geriatricians and multidisciplinary teams including nursing, therapy and medical colleagues to deliver safe, effective and person-centred care that supports people to remain well at home.
You will jointly lead on clinical innovation and excellence in patient care, provide strategic and operational leadership, and work flexibly across the four teams within Berkshire. You will spend at least 50% of your time in direct autonomous clinical practice, maintaining a strong connection to patient care.
We are looking for a senior nurse with extensive experience in older adult care, strong leadership and strategic thinking skills, a commitment to continuous improvement and evidence-based practice, and the flexibility to travel across multiple sites as required.
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Advanced and Expert Level Practice
- Lead advanced, autonomous clinical care for older adults living with frailty, including assessment, prescribing, and care planning.
- Maintain expert clinical skills and provide direct patient care (minimum 50% of time).
- Support safe, evidence-based practice across UCR VFW service and promote patient-centred care in partnership with families and carers.
- Actively contribute to multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings and apply advanced clinical reasoning in complex cases.
Consultancy and Leadership
- Lead the development and implementation of frailty care models across the service
- Act as a senior clinical leader, offering expert advice, driving quality improvement, and promoting patient safety.
- Represent the service in internal and external reviews, legal proceedings, and trust-wide initiatives.
- Provide compassionate leadership, coaching, and mentorship to support team development and workforce sustainability.
Education and Training
- Create a learning culture that supports professional development for nurses and students.
- Collaborate with education providers to develop and deliver training on frailty, ageing well, and clinical excellence.
- Promote evidence-based practice and enhance the clinical competence of UCR VFW staff.
- Service Development, Evaluation, Research & Audit
- Develop and implement clinical standards, policies, and protocols aligned with national best practice.
Working for our organisation
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.
Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
- Caring for and about you is our top priority
- Committed to providing good quality, safe services
- Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
- Flexible working options to support work-life balance
- 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
- Generous NHS pension scheme
- Excellent learning and career development opportunities
- ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
- Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
- Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
- Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
- Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
- Free parking across Trust sites
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main duties cont.
Staff Leadership and Management
- Act as a role model, mentor, educator, and coach, supporting staff development and succession planning.
- Follow performance management policies and recognise staff achievements.
- Promote effective communication, collaboration, and sharing of best practice.
- Oversee service delivery, ensuring patient and carer feedback is managed and addressed appropriately.
- Participate actively in regular team meetings.
Record Keeping
- Maintain accurate, timely documentation and care plans following NMC and governance standards.
- Lead inpatient documentation audits and share findings with the team.
- Monitor and record service activity, using data collaboratively to inform decision-making.
The “must haves” for this role:
- Registered Nurse with the NMC
- Teaching qualification with recent experience of delivering training
- Advanced history taking and physical examination with clinical reasoning qualification
- Non-medical prescribing
- Leadership & management qualification
- Previous experience within older & adult and urgent care.
- Advanced and effective leadership/communication skills, written & verbal.
- UK driving licence
For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.
We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.
We have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and ‘Other’ Ethnic Groups
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Deepa Devadas (UCR VFW Nurse Consultant) on 07836 778002 or email: [email protected] who’ll be delighted to help.
Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
These are the values that we live by at Berkshire Healthcare:
- Caring for and about you is our top priority
- Committed to providing good quality, safe services
- working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
We welcome people who share these values to come and work for us.
Please find attached the behaviour framework that underpins these values for this job role.
At Berkshire Healthcare, we foster an inclusive workplace where everyone belongs.
Watch our careers video to learn more.
We welcome talent from all backgrounds and offer guaranteed interviews to disabled applicants and armed forces community members who meet the minimum criteria.
Please note we may close positions before the advertised date.
If you need help with your application, please contact us on [email protected]
Once you have applied, please check your email regularly for updates. All appointments are subject to NHS Employment Checks, and false information may result in withdrawal of offers. For information on how we store your information, please review our privacy statement.
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