University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
Advanced Clinical Practitioner – Christchurch Day Hospistal
The closing date is 31 May 2026
Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Band 8a)
Older Person Rehabilitation & Ambulatory Care (OPRAC)
Shape the future of advanced practice in older persons care.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and highly motivated Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) to join our Older Person Rehabilitation and Ambulatory Care (OPRAC) service at Band 8a level.
This post is aligned to the NHS England Advanced Clinical Practice Framework, operating across the four pillars of advanced practice. The successful candidate will practise with a high level of autonomy and complex decision‑making authority, delivering expert care to frail older adults across hospital and community settings.
Working across Hospital at Home, Day Hospital and Ambulatory Care services, you will play a key role in admission avoidance, early supported discharge and the transformation of out‑of‑hospital pathways for older people.
This role requires an active UK NMC Registration
Based Location: Christchurch Day Hospital, Poole Hospital and community working across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole locality
Main duties of the job
Clinical Practice
- Provide advanced, autonomous assessment, diagnosis and treatment for older adults with complex, frailty‑related and multi‑morbid presentations.
- Manage undifferentiated and highly complex clinical scenarios across hospital and home environments.
- Synthesize information from multiple sources to formulate differential diagnoses and evidence‑based management plans.
- Support safe, effective patient flow and proactive pathway management.
Leadership & Management
- Provide visible clinical leadership within OPRAC and across the Directorate.
- Support prioritisation of workload and operational flow across community‑facing services.
- Contribute to service transformation, redesign and integration aligned to national and Trust strategic priorities.
- Support workforce development and advanced practice role‑modelling.
Education
- Act as an expert resource for ACPs, trainee ACPs, ECPs and the wider multidisciplinary team.
- Provide clinical supervision, mentorship and support.
- Develop, deliver and evaluate specialist education programmes.
- Contribute to embedding the ACP role in line with national capability standards.
Research & Evidence‑Based Practice
- Promote a culture of enquiry and continuous improvement.
- Apply critical appraisal skills to inform clinical decision‑making and pathway development.
- Participate in audit, service evaluation and quality improvement initiatives.
About us
UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service‑specific questions at interview.
If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions.
UHD has active networks including Women’s, BAME, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes.
AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Integrity is key to our recruitment process.
Job responsibilities
- Hold a Masters degree in Advanced Clinical Practice (or be near completion) aligned to the NHS England framework.
- Demonstrate capability across all four pillars of advanced practice.
- Be an independent prescriber (or working towards).
- Have substantial experience managing frailty, complex multi‑morbidity and older adult care.
- Be confident practising autonomously across hospital and community environments.
- Show strong leadership, influencing and service development skills.
- Be a car driver, hold a drivers licence valid in the UK and have access to a car for work purposes.
Why Join OPRAC?
- Be at the forefront of integrated, out‑of‑hospital care transformation.
- Shape innovative frailty and rehabilitation pathways.
- Work within a supportive, forward‑thinking multidisciplinary team.
- Influence strategic direction of advanced clinical practice locally.
- Make a meaningful impact on outcomes and experience for older people.
If you are an experienced ACP ready to lead, innovate and practise at the highest level of advanced capability, we would love to hear from you.
Apply now and help redefine advanced practice in older persons services.
Person Specification
Knowledge
- Demonstrable theoretical and practical knowledge of OPS specialty common presentations.
- Conversant in older persons Advanced practice developments at nation/ local levels.
- Legal/professional/ethical issues of advanced practice.
- Advanced clinical skills, such as assessing patient’s physical status requiring precision, accuracy, dexterity.
- Demonstrable ability to work in a busy environment and resilience when the service is under pressure.
- Ability to analyse and interpret complex information from patient assessment and interventions, such as specified OPS rays, ECGs and freedom to act in managing patients ‘care.
- Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative and as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
Experience
- Demonstrable experience of working independently at a Band 7 Clinical role within relevant specialty.
- Experience of leading & developing people.
- Demonstrates theoretical and practical knowledge OPS common presentations.
- Experience of teaching, mentoring and developing staff.
- Managing defined caseload of patient.
- Experience of working across organisational boundaries.
- Publication/ Conference Experience.
- Team leader.
Qualifications
- Professional registration with relevant professional body.
- Recognised teaching or mentoring qualification.
- Masters level Advanced Clinical Practitioner/ Equivalent Masters.
- Non‑Medical Prescribing.
- Budget Management.
- Recognition as Advanced Practitioner by the National Centre for Advancing Practice.
Personal Attributes
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, using a range of methods, e.g. verbal, written, record keeping , complex report writing.
- Able to deal with demands of rapidly developing and changing service, problem‑solving and prioritising abilities. Ability to lead on and respond positively to change.
- Self‑motivated and reliability.
Other requirements specific to the role
- The use of a car for transportation to visit patients at home is essential, as well as the willingness to obtain business car insurance.
- A commitment to improving patient services through an ability to sustain a clear performance focus on achieving demanding goals.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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