Clinical Nurse Specialist, Frailty, University Hospitlal

Details of Service

Cork University Hospital (CUH) has approximately 800 beds and this will increase further to 1,000 beds on completion of the transfer of additional services to the CUH campus. CUH currently employs approximately 4,571 (WTE) staff of multiple professions and is the primary teaching hospital for the Faculty of Health and Science in University College Cork (UCC). UCC is the Academic partner of the South/South West Hospital Group. CUH has very strong relationships with each of the six schools within the Science Faculty of UCC and this is a key area for future development to maximise the opportunities for both the service and academia.

CUH is a recommended Major Trauma Centre for the Republic of Ireland due to the wide range of specialties delivered by the hospital – including Neurosciences, Cardiac Services, Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Renal, Internal Medicine, Vascular, Ophthalmology, Urology, Plastic Surgery, Maxillary-Facial, Paediatrics, Intensive Care, Oncology, Haematology, Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Neonatology and Emergency Medicine.

CUH is the tertiary referral centre for the HSE Southern area, and the supra regional area of Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny. CUH therefore acts as a regional centre for secondary and tertiary care for the catchment population of approx. 550,000 served by the HSE Southern area and a supra-regional centre for a total a population of 1.2 million.

Six Health Regions have been established within the HSE, on the basis of the geographical boundaries agreed by the Government in July 2019 and they will be operational from 2024.

Each Health Region will be tasked with population specific planning resourcing and delivery of health and social care services for the needs of its unique population. This will result in improved accountability and governance in terms of finance and performance, while also bringing decision-making closer to the frontline.

Health Regions will enable and empower staff to provide services that are:

• Integrated, locally planned and delivered

• Easier to access and navigate

• Available closer to home

Health Regions are geographically-based units with clearly defined populations. They align community and hospital services within specific areas. The HSE will retain a strong but leaner central organisation, with more service provision developed at a local level.

The HSE South West health region will manage and deliver all public health and social care services in Cork and Kerry. HSE South West includes all hospital and community healthcare services in the region.

This includes:

• South / South West Hospital Group S/SWHG

• Cork Kerry Community Healthcare CKCH

• Midlands Louth Meath Community Health Organisation

• Community Healthcare Organisation Dublin North City and County

The Department of Population and Public Health is also now aligned with this health region

Services in the South West health region:

HSE Services working within this region include:

• Acute Hospitals

• Primary care services

• Community services

• Social care services

• Health and social care professionals

• Voluntary sector services

South / South West Hospital Group and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare will become part of HSE South West health region from 3rd March 2025

Purpose of the Post

The CNS post holder will deliver care in line with the five core concepts of the role set out in the Framework for the Establishment of Clinical Nurse/Midwife Specialist Posts, 4th edition, National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery (NCNM) 2008.

Caseload

The CNS will focus initially on the following service user groups:

· Frail older persons predominantly aged 75 years and older

· Patients under 75 years who are indicated by the Variable Indicative of Placement (VIP) assessment to be of extreme frailness

The concepts are:

o Clinical Focus (Direct and Indirect Care)

o Service user/client Advocacy

o Education and Training

o Audit and Research

o Consultancy (including leadership in clinical practice)

Frailty Team CUH

Frailty is a health condition where multiple body systems lose their reserves, making an older adult more vulnerable to illness and a sudden decline in function after a minor insult. It is not an inevitable part of aging and can be identified and managed with appropriate interventions.

The frailty team at Cork University Hospital (CUH) is called the Frailty Interdisciplinary Team (FIT) or Frailty Intervention Team. This multi-disciplinary team works in the Emergency Department (ED) to identify and manage older patients at risk of frailty, or those presenting with frailty, connecting them with appropriate care pathways, which can include hospital admission, discharge home with support, or referral to community services.

National Clinical Programme for Older People

Ireland is experiencing substantial growth in the older population. The number of people aged over 65 years increased by 14% between 2006 and 2011, 17% between 2011 and 2016, and a further 17% by 2021.

The National Clinical Programme for Older People ‘Specialist Geriatric Services Model of Care’ highlights the need to change health care practices in response to the needs of the older population. This model of care recommends that older people should have access, if required, to the following services in secondary care:

· Dedicated in-patient Specialist Geriatric Wards (SGW);

· Specialist Geriatric Teams (SGT);

· A Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for all those identified as frail, at risk, older people to fully assess their individual needs and the range of services they require

· Access to in-patient rehabilitation facilities

· Ambulatory day hospital services

· Improved links with community based services (residential care and home supports).

The application of specialty focused knowledge and skills of the Clinical Nurse Specialist will provide for the care and on-going management of patients with conditions relating to frailty and old age.

The post holder will be required to work as a key member of the Frailty Team in the hospital providing physical, psychological and emotional support to older people and their families/carers throughout their disease trajectory. They will act as a liaison between Services for Older People in Cork University Hospital, Primary Care, Community services and other agencies.

The appointment of the CNS is an essential element in the provision of effective, high quality, seamless integrated care for frail older persons with complex health care needs with a multidimensional and multidisciplinary input for acutely ill frail older persons as they move through the acute sector and home again.

Informal Enquiries

We welcome enquiries about the role.

Contact Siobhan Scanlon –Assistant Director of Nursing, Siobhan.scanlon@hse.ie /086 7872209- for further information about the role

Contact Tamara Broderick- People Resourcing, tamara.broderick@hse.ie – for enquiries relating to the recruitment process