1.            Duties of the Post

1.1             To be a fully active and committed member of the Stroke multidisciplinary team.

1.2             To lead and coordinate timely and effective pathway planning for stroke patients from the point of admission,

1.3               To lead and support effective and timely communication between the Trust, Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and external agencies involved throughout the patient pathway, in order to ensure a high standard of stroke specialist care and to support the Stroke MDT.

1.4             To support the stroke nurses to actively involve stroke service users in feedback of their experiences on the stroke pathway, utilising this information to develop both new and existing ways of working.

1.5             To act as a resource person to provide accurate information, advice and support to the hospital staff, patients, carers and outside agencies about issues relating to the patient pathway

1.6             Ensure patient records are completed accurately and contemporaneously; using Trust IT systems when required.

1.7             Have an awareness of Health and Safety within the work environment.

1.8             To be aware of the Data Protection Act and maintain patient confidentiality as well as maintaining the patient’s privacy and dignity.

2.            Professional Leadership and Development

2.1              Maintain effective working relationships with the wider Stroke team, enabling joint working initiatives between both sites.

2.3              To take responsibility for own professional development by participating in regular education and training by attending appropriate courses and meetings.

2.4              Support the Stroke Team to lead and manage change that will provide efficient and effective service developments.

2.5              Participation in Ward or Departmental Meetings to promote good communication and staff involvement / empowerment within the team.

2.6             Ensure that when clinical practice or patient pathways are changed that this is communicated with the wider organisation.

2.7              To participate in, and encourage team involvement in, Clinical Governance and Risk Management initiatives.

2.8              Ensure confidentiality of all patient and staff information at all times.

2.9             Use advanced IT skills to be able to access information for patient care.

2.10         Establish and maintain effective links with local and National agencies to provide appropriate support for patients and their carers.

2.11         Network with, and establish effective relationships with users, carers, professional and managerial colleagues as well as representatives from statutory organisations and voluntary groups.

2.12         Ensure the availability of adequate and appropriate supplies of specialist equipment, pharmaceutical products and educational materials for people following a stroke, their families and carers and health care professionals.

2.13         To contribute to clinical governance developments in line with the strategic development of the Trust.

2.14         Undertake risk assessments within the working environment and take appropriate action.

3.            Education, Training and Development

3.1             To pursue a programme of continuous education to achieve and maintain expertise in relation to Stroke.

3.2             In collaboration with staff, patients and carers take a role in service development of Stroke Services in line with nationally agreed guidelines, so to achieve nationally set targets for optimum stroke care.

3.3             In conjunction with Stroke CNSs lead the patient and carer forum and local implementation team meetings.

3.4             To ensure that Trust staff have access to stroke policies and key best practice standards through structured induction for new starters and regular teaching, both informal and formal.

3.5             To participate in, and facilitate, local stroke research studies.

3.6             To work with Stroke Unit Team to establish where change/ service improvement in the patient pathway is required.

3.7             To participate in relevant stroke groups.

3.8             To take minutes for team meetings as required.

4.        Personal Professional Development

4.1        To demonstrate an insight into own professional development, contributing to the process of identifying own educational and training needs in conjunction with the line manager.

4.2        To ensure own educational commitment is at least sufficient to maintain revalidation requirements for professional body and to ensure own mandatory training certificates are current, in liaison with Line Manager.

4.3        To undergo, and actively participate in, own performance appraisals.

5.         Evaluation of Care and Research

5.1        To ensure a working knowledge of key Trust and national targets and strategies which impact upon patient flow and discharge related activity.

5.2        Use advanced IT skills to be able to access / enter information and data on to the computer.

5.3        Ensure robust Stroke data collection against minimum data set, to maintain up to date records through data entry, and meet local standards for data submissions.

5.4        To utilise and maintain database, together with the Stroke Specialist Nurses and Medicine Stroke Service Manager, to ensure accuracy / quality of this data and to utilise this data to prepare reports as indicators of stroke service performance and development.

5.5        To monitor patient pathway for breaches and delayed discharges, performing a root cause analysis on the delays, and escalating appropriate cases to senior team within the Directorate and other relevant areas in the Trust as required

5.6        Ensure all disciplines involved in Stroke Care complete relevant data requests in a timely manner.

5.7        Compile and circulate weekly breach reports with rationale behind the data.

5.8        Liaise with Clinical Coding regarding Stroke admissions and data when required.

5.9        Participate in data collection to ensure Stroke register is maintained.

5.10    In conjunction with the Trust Communications team, maintain the Stroke intranet page, ensuring it is kept up to date with current Stroke services.