Job responsibilities
JOB
TITLE: Phlebotomist
REPORTS
TO: The Partners (clinically), Practice Manager (administratively)
HOURS:Up to 37.5 hours per week
Job summary:
To join a well-established practice team, a phlebotomist
will assist the Practice clinical team by providing and maintaining a high
standard of care for patients. Working under the direct supervision of the
senior practice nurse and strictly in accordance with specific practice
guidelines and protocols, the post-holder will be responsible for performing
venepuncture to obtain blood samples from patients only as the result of a
direct referral from a GP or nurse practitioner.
Job responsibilities:
HCAs are involved heavily in the long term management of patients
with chronic diseases and have a pro-active role in providing more preventative
measures involving more individual and holistic interaction with the patients
primarily over the phone and by reviewing their records to determine what is
needed to ensure the patient has the best preventative measures taken.
Healthcare Assistants are expected to assist in and perform
routine tasks related to patient care as directed by senior nursing staff and
GPs. Such tasks may include:
- Ensuring that the patient is as comfortable and
relaxed as possible and confirming their agreement to the collection of a
blood sample
- Collection of sample(s)s of blood in accordance
with training and procedures
- Ensuring samples are stored in appropriate
containers
- Accurate, legible labelling of all samples to
confirm patient identity
- Checking patient identification against clinical
system and confirming with patient whenever possible
- Recording collection of blood sample in patient
record in accordance with practice procedure
- Ensuring that samples are dispatched to the
appropriate laboratories in a timely fashion.
- Ensuring that anomalies are reported to a
senior member of staff
- Notifying the GP/nurse of any significant
patient issues
- Liaising with and assisting members of the
administrative team
Special Requirements of the post:
- An understanding, acceptance and adherence to
the need for strict confidentiality.
- Ability to use own judgment, resourcefulness
and common sense.
- A commitment to maintain a high professional
standard of care and keep up to date with all aspects of care relevant to the
post.
- A commitment to ensure all Health and Safety
requirements and Infection Control measures are met and to report any problems
to the Practice Manager
- A commitment to the effective use of practice
and NHS resources.
- An awareness of own limitations and experience.
Confidentiality:
In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us
with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health
and other matters. They do so in
confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy
and act appropriately
In the performance of the duties outlined in this job
description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information
relating to patients and their careers, practice staff and other healthcare
workers. They may also have access to
information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All
such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other
healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to
authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures
relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data
Health & safety:
The post-holder will implement and lead on a full range of
promotion and management of their own and others health and safety and
infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the
practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy
and published procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):
- Using personal security systems within the
workplace according to practice guidelines
- Awareness of national standards of infection
control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional
requirements, and good practice guidelines
- Responsible for the correct and safe management
of the specimens process including collection, labelling, handling, use of
correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
- Management of Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) for the practice including provision, ordering, availability and ongoing
correct usage by staff
- Adhere to hand hygiene policy
- Ownership of infection control and clinically
based patient care protocols and implementation of those protocols across the
practice
- Active observation of current working practices
across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related
activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training
needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
- Identifying the risks involved in work
activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
across clinical and patient process
- Making effective use of training to update
knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the
full range of infection control and patient processes
- Safe management of sharps procedures including
training, use, storage and disposal
- Using appropriate infection control procedures,
maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from
hazards.
- Initiation of remedial / corrective action
where needed or escalation to responsible management
- Actively identifying, reporting, and correction
of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
- Keeping own work areas and general / patient
areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in
relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility
in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in
consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers
- Undertaking periodic infection control training
- Waste management including collection,
handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
- Routine management of own areas, and maintenance
of work space standards.
- Spillage control procedures, management and
training
- Decontamination control procedures, management
and training, and equipment maintenance
- Maintenance of sterile environments
Equality and diversity:
The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and
rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
- Acting in a way that recognizes the importance
of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with
practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
- Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and
beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
- Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and
of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances,
feelings priorities and rights.
Personal/Professional development:
The post-holder will participate in any training programme
implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to
include:
- Participation in an annual individual
performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record
of own personal and/or professional development
- Taking responsibility for own development,
learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who
are undertaking similar work
Quality:
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the
practice, and will:
- Alert other team members to issues of quality
and risk
- Assess own performance and take accountability
for own actions, either directly or under supervision
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by
reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to
improve and enhance the teams performance
- Work effectively with individuals in other
agencies to meet patients needs
- Effectively manage own time, workload and
resources
Communication:
The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective
communication within the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members
- Communicate effectively with patients and
carers
- Recognize peoples needs for alternative
methods of communication and respond accordingly
Contribution to the implementation of services:
The post-holder will:
- Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
- Discuss with other members of the team how the
policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
- Participate in audit where appropriate
