Deputy Ward Manager, Older Adults Inpatients

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Responsibilities 
Central and North West London NHS Trust is committed to providing safe, effective services and providing patients and families with a positive experience.
 
Patient Safety 
Band 6 nurses contribute to the provision of safe and reliable services by:

• Using their clinical judgement and risk assessments to keep the people using our services as safe as possible 
• Safeguarding people by recognising and responding when an adult or child might be at risk from abuse but also recognising their own limits and asking for help and escalate concerns when necessary 
• Escalating safety concerns and by doing so acting as effective advocates for those who use our services
• Being open and transparent about their own practice 
• Supervising the work of others
• Reflecting on everyday practice to identify areas where improvements in safety or quality can be made
• Working with others to create a culture of continuous improvement 
• Maintaining accurate, legible, comprehensive records 
• Maintaining compliance with their mandatory training requirements
• The NMC plays an important role in safeguarding the public by regulating the work of nurses and all 
  nurses, including Band 6 nurses, are expected to register with the NMC each year and adhere to the 
  NMC Code of Conduct. 

Clinical Outcomes

Band 6 nurses often work with people who have complex needs and contribute to the effectiveness 
of services by:
• Being confident, autonomous practitioners who take responsibility for the care they give to 
patients but also take responsibility for overseeing the work of others in the team including 
less experienced nurses and staff without a professional qualification
• Providing skilled, evidence based nursing care which adheres to agreed policies and 
procedures 
• Working with patients and families in all stages of the care planning process including 
assessing risks and needs 
• Acting as patient advocates in the multi-disciplinary team and overseeing the work of others 
to ensure that they are also responding to the needs of patients and providing clinically 
effective care
• Working as autonomous practitioners and taking responsibility for the care they give to 
patients but also work as team members
• Contributing to creating and maintaining high performing teams by:
• communicating well with all members of the team
• understanding their role in the team and how they help the team achieve its’ objectives
• reflecting on their own practice regularly and encouraging the whole team to reflect on their 
practices in handovers and team meetings 
• encouraging the team to learn from adverse events or respond to data analysis from audits 
or benchmarking exercises and implement sustainable initiatives which improve clinical 
outcomes 
 
Patient Experience 
Band 6 nurses contribute to the people using our services feeling respected and empowered to make 
decisions about their health and wellbeing by:

• Working in partnership with patients and their families and carers 
• Gaining consent and, as far as possible, involving people in all decision making 
• Signposting patients and carers to the courses provided by the Recovery and Wellbeing 
  College or services provided by the local authority or voluntary sector 
• Reassuring people by being professional, responsive, knowledgeable and confident
• Demonstrating clinical leadership and challenging any poor behaviour to patients, families or 
  other staff members and creating a positive, inclusive culture in which everyone is treated 
  with kindness and respect and the trust’s values are embedded in all practice 
• Responding to complaints or concerns effectively and quickly in line with the Trust policy
  Supporting yourself and others All services and teams in the Trust should be able to demonstrate that they are meeting the Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards of care. Band 6 nurses are expected to be Clinical Leaders and play an active role in ensuring that the team understands the CQC standards and what individual team members do to help achieve those standards by:
• Taking a lead role in gathering and recording evidence which demonstrates that CQC and 
  locally agreed standards are being met: assessing the performance of the whole team by 
  using audit and benchmarking exercises and often contribute to the implementation of quality 
  improvement initiatives.
• Contributing to the performance management of teams and creating a positive culture in which 
  the team can learn from mistakes and is enthusiastic to improve 
• Deputising for the team leader / ward manager and ensuring that there is no fall in 
  performance in their absence.

This may include managing the team and coordinating shifts. 
Engaged staff are more productive and Band 6 nurses play a role in engaging in other staff members 
in the Trust and the work we do by:

• Providing supervision and annual appraisals to individuals and giving constructive, regular 
  feedback which helps those individuals reflect on their work, understand their objectives and 
  the CQC standards and monitor their progress towards achieving them 
• Participating constructively in their own supervision and annual appraisal processes
• Using continuing professional development funds to develop a relevant clinical specialism, 
  gain sign-off mentorship skills or undertake accredited leadership or management modules