Guys and St Thomas is among the UKs busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guys is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Marys Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Childrens Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. 

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of Kings Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with Kings College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities and a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of good. Our adult community services achieved a rating of outstanding.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.

Job overview

The Health Inclusion Team (HIT) works across Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham to provide a multidisciplinary service for clients who are marginalized and have difficulty accessing primary care services e.g. refugees and asylum seekers, homeless clients, and clients with addictions.

We provide our services in hostels, day centers, hotels (that offer temporary accommodation) and on the street (street outreach). The nurses work independently and run clinics from the different sites.

We provide a health screening service, preventative interventions, treatments for minor aliments and management/support of chronic conditions .

The work is varied and the client groups are vulnerable, the right candidate needs to be a confident and competent clinician with a passion for working with marginalised and disadvantage cohorts. This post is for a Band 6 nurse primarily working with our homeless client group. We are a passionate inclusion team and there is a wealth of knowledge and experience across the team. We welcome applicants who share our passion and drive.

Closing Date: 10th of August

Interview Date: 22nd of August

Main duties of the job

The Health Inclusion Team works across Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham to provide a high quality comprehensive specialist nurse service for clients who have difficulty accessing primary care services e.g. refugees and asylum seekers, homeless clients, and clients with addictions and high users of A&E. The Health Inclusion Team aims to assist these clients to access mainstream health services.

Key services provided are:

  • Assistance with GP registration,
  • Health screening (i.e. TB, blood borne virus screening, sexual health screening, baseline routine blood tests)
  • Comprehensive health assessment
  • Minor illness / injury management
  • Chronic disease management
  • Harm reduction work
  • Wound care
  • Case management of complex clients
  • Referral to other services as appropriate

    • Working for our organisation

    Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UKs best known hospitals Guys, St Thomas, Evelina London Childrens Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

    We are among the UKs busiest, most successful foundation trusts. We provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services as well as a full range of local hospital and community services for people in Lambeth and Southwark.

    We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and as part of Kings Health Partners we are one of Englands eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Researchs biomedical research centres, established with Kings College London in 2007, as well as dedicated clinical research facilities.

    Detailed job description and main responsibilities

    The post holder will run health screening clinics independently and jointly with other team members. All nurses within the team will at times work across all the areas of homelessness, refugees, asylum seekers and addiction clients.

    The post holder will also be covering other types of accommodation for asylum seekers such as hotels for asylum seekers and bridging hotels for resettlement families and individuals and refugee services.

    Please see the Job description for full details.

    Person specification

    Skills

    Essential criteria

  • Able to take blood.
  • Computer literate. Internet, email, Excel spreadsheet, Word, patient systems
  • Ability to write detailed reports, patient records and other documents that exhibit fluency and accuracy
  • An understanding of audit and research based nursing practice

    • Desirable criteria

  • Previous experience of running audits with direct relevance to this clinical area

    • Experience

    Essential criteria

  • Significant experience of working within community settings
  • Teaching experience informal and formal
  • Experience of providing complex packages of care, which involve other agencies
  • Experience of working with vulnerable adults eg including the homeless/asylum seekers/refugees cohort.

    • Desirable criteria

  • Considerable experience of working with marginalised health setting
  • Experience of working in partnership with voluntary / statutory agencies within Service Level/ Partnership Agreements
  • Experience of using PGDs

    • Qualifications

    Essential criteria

  • BSc/1st degree (health related) in Nursing or equivalent qualification/training and experience
  • Mentorship and / or teaching certificate
  • Evidence of professional development

    • Desirable criteria

  • Masters Level training/education relevant to the post.
  • Advanced Nursing Competencies – Management of Minor Ailments and assessment

    • Guys and St Thomas celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or studys at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.