Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Nurse Specialist

Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.

For our current apprenticeship vacancies, please go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship and use Keyword ‘Whittington’

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technology that can perform various tasks that typically required human intelligence. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role.

We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

Further guidance can be found in the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.

Whittington Health NHS Trust is committed to ensuring that its recruitment processes are carried out with integrity, transparency, and fairness for all applicants. To help maintain these standards, we ask candidates to provide accurate and truthful information throughout the recruitment process.

If incorrect or misleading information is identified, this may affect the progression of an application, any employment offer, or continued employment. As part of our due diligence, the company may verify the information provided by applicants and take appropriate action where necessary.

We do not charge applicants any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including applications, interviews, sponsorship arrangements, pre-employment checks, or employment offers. All vacancies are advertised through TRAC/NHS Jobs and candidates are assessed solely on their skills, qualifications, experience, and suitability for the role. If you are asked to make a payment in connection with an NHS job opportunity, please treat this as suspicious and contact the organisation directly using the details published on our official career's website.

Applicants can refer to the Fraud Act 2006 for further information: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/35/contents

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Job overview

The Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Nurse Specialist is a senior member of the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Team and provides expert clinical leadership, specialist advice, education, surveillance, assurance and quality improvement support across Whittington Health NHS Trust integrated care organisation.

The role requires excellent clinical leadership, communication and analytical skills, with the ability to influence practice, support service development and promote continuous improvement across the organisation. The post holder will act as a visible and credible specialist within the Infection Prevention and Control Team and contribute to achieving the Trust's strategic objectives for quality, safety and patient experience.

This is a replacement post within the established Infection Prevention and Control Team and provides an excellent opportunity for an experienced registered nurse with specialist IPC knowledge to further develop their leadership and professional practice within a dynamic NHS environment.

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The post holder will work autonomously and collaboratively with clinical and non-clinical teams to promote safe, effective and evidence-based infection prevention and control (IPC) practice across acute, community and outpatient services. They will contribute to the prevention, surveillance and management of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), support compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, and lead initiatives to improve patient safety and quality of care.

As a specialist practitioner and educator, the post holder will support the development and delivery of IPC education and training programmes, promoting a culture of continuous learning and professional development. They will provide expert advice, clinical supervision, competency assessment, coaching and mentorship to multidisciplinary staff.

The post holder will contribute to the development and delivery of IPC audits, surveillance and assurance programmes, using audit and compliance data to monitor standards, identify risks and support quality improvement. They will work with clinical teams to implement and sustain improvements in practice, strengthen organisational learning and enhance patient outcomes.

The post holder will lead designated areas of the Trust's Infection Prevention and Control Programme, contribute to governance and assurance processes, support outbreak and incident management, and deputise for the Operational Lead Nurse for IPC and/or the Head Nurse for IPC as required.

Working for our organisation

Whittington Health NHS Trust provides integrated hospital and community healthcare services to people across North London. We are committed to delivering high-quality, safe and compassionate care, placing patients, families and staff at the centre of everything we do. Our values promote collaboration, innovation, respect and continuous improvement, creating an environment where staff are supported to develop and thrive.

The successful candidate will join a well-established and highly regarded Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Team that works across acute, community and outpatient services. The team provides specialist advice, education, surveillance, audit and assurance functions to support the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections and to ensure compliance with national standards and regulatory requirements.

Working closely with multidisciplinary colleagues, clinical teams, operational managers and senior leaders, the post holder will have the opportunity to influence practice across the organisation and contribute to strategic and operational IPC priorities. The role offers exposure to a wide range of clinical settings and quality improvement initiatives, supporting both personal and professional development.

We are committed to supporting lifelong learning. This is an exciting opportunity to join a friendly, experienced and supportive team dedicated to improving patient safety, quality of care and staff experience across Whittington Health.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main duties

Clinical Leadership

· Provide highly specialist infection prevention and control advice to staff across the Trust.

· Promote best practice and evidence-based infection prevention and control measures.

· Act as an expert resource for complex infection prevention and control issues.

· Undertake daily surveillance and review of microbiology and pathology results via the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), identifying healthcare-associated infections, alert organisms, clusters and emerging trends, and ensuring appropriate infection prevention and control actions are implemented in a timely manner.

· Support clinical teams in reducing healthcare-associated infections and improving patient outcomes.

· Provide visible leadership in promoting safe practice and a positive patient safety culture.

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS

To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:

• Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.

• Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.

• Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
• Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
• Participate in required training and supervision.
• Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct

Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Your application form –

1. Provide only business email address for your referees – we are unable to request references from yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail accounts.
2. Make sure you to include all evidence of where you meet the essential requirement on the jobs description as this forms the base of our shortlisting criteria.

Our processes –

1. Closing dates are given as a guide; we are within our right to close adverts early so please ensure you submit your application as soon as possible to avoid delay.
2. If you do not hear from us up to 3 weeks after the closing date of the job unfortunately this means you have not been successfully shortlisted for interview. If your require feedback on your application please contact the appointing manager detailed in the body of the advert.
3. Please check your emails regularly as all correspondence from us will be via trac.systems – occasionally these emails will go into your Junk folder.
4. Employment at Whittington Health is offered subject to successful completion of a 6 month probationary period for all staff with the exception of GMC Registered Doctors.

Other important information –

• You must already have the right to work in the United Kingdom or fully meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship; however, we can only consider these where all UKVI requirements are met. Before applying, please ensure that both you and the role satisfy the relevant UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) points‑based system criteria, as applications that do not meet these requirements cannot be progressed. For more information about the criteria, please click here
• Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.
• In submitting an application form, you authorise Whittington Health NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed to the post.

If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk

Please note that during the recruitment process your Identity Documentation (i.e. passport, driving licence, visa, etc.) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, Infrared and Machine Readable Zone security features of the documents provided

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

We would welcome applications from individuals who are from underrepresented groups in the organisation