Deputy Department Manager Surgical Pre-assessment

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Deputy Department Manager Surgical Pre-assessment

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.

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 ISC in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

We are looking to recruit a dynamic nurse with excellent clinical nursing skills, to deliver a high quality service to patients attending the pre-operative assessment unit. We are looking for a nurse who has vision and passion to work within our nursing team to provide the best possible care for our patients. The successful applicant will be a motivated and enthusiastic individual with significant post-registration clinical experience within the area of pre-operative assessment or equivalent general adult surgical experience.

Applicants will need to have a clear understanding of nursing quality and be able to assure excellence in clinical care. Applicants must have the relevant experience and knowledge of care delivery appropriate to this patient group, be creative, enthusiastic, motivated and have excellent communication skills. The post holder will be expected to act as a role model and contribute to the development and training needs of staff within the department.

The ability to work collaboratively with all members of the multi-disciplinary team is essential, together with excellent communication skills.

Main duties of the job

Assess patients suitability and fitness for surgery and anaesthesia using agreed protocols

To take a targeted history of the patient including airway assessment.

Conduct assessment of both the medical and psychological status of elective surgical patients.

To order and perform diagnostic tests within set protocols and working to agreed actions where abnormalities are discovered.

To ensure all test results are available for day of surgery

To recognize the significance of any observation made and use them to highlight situations which may be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the patient.

Refer patients who fall outside the agreed criteria to an anaesthetist, who may then make further referrals

Refer patient back to primary care or another healthcare professional to optimize the patients' medical condition, according to local guidelines.

To provide information about the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative process, ensuring the patient has an understanding of the proposed procedure and any specific preoperative instructions

To identify any special requirements needed to facilitate prompt discharge

To communicate effectively and liaise with all members of the multidisciplinary team and primary care team as appropriate.

To comply at all times with the NMC code of conduct.

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:

• 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
• Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
• Improving the experience of staff with disability
• Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
• Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Assess patients suitability and fitness for surgery and anaesthesia using agreed protocols

To take a targeted history of the patient including airway assessment.

Conduct assessment of both the medical and psychological status of elective surgical patients.

To order and perform diagnostic tests within set protocols and working to agreed actions where abnormalities are discovered.

To ensure all test results are available for day of surgery

To recognize the significance of any observation made and use them to highlight situations which may be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the patient.

Refer patients who fall outside the agreed criteria to an anaesthetist, who may then make further referrals

Refer patient back to primary care or another healthcare professional to optimize the patients' medical condition, according to local guidelines.

To provide information about the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative process, ensuring the patient has an understanding of the proposed procedure and any specific preoperative instructions

To identify any special requirements needed to facilitate prompt discharge

To communicate effectively and liaise with all members of the multidisciplinary team and primary care team as appropriate.

To comply at all times with the NMC code of conduct.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

• Registered Nurse Level 1 register
• 1st Level Degree or equivalent
• Teaching and assessing qualification
• Specialist course

Experience

• to a minimum of 1 year of experience in a pre-assessment clinic.
• Experience of working within the multi disciplinary team
• Experience of liaising with other agencies
• Ability to work autonomously
• Previous experience in the specialty

Knowledge

• Well developed interpersonal skills
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant NICE guidance
• Evidence of continued professional development of self and other health care professionals
• Knowledge of research and audit

Personal Qualities

• Flexible approach to changing situations

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: Information provided during recruitment and pre‑employment checks must be accurate. Misrepresentation may be investigated as fraud and could lead to withdrawal from the process, professional sanctions, or criminal action.

Please note: that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.

Use of AI in recruitment: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support the initial review of applications against the essential criteria for this role. Where AI is used, it will support rather than replace human decision-making, and applications will remain subject to appropriate human review.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

To ensure fairness and manageable shortlisting processes, some vacancies may have an application cap. This means the vacancy will close once a set number of applications have been received even if this happens before the advertised closing date.

All applications received before the cap is reached will be considered equally and assessed against the person specification.

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