Job responsibilities
The post holder is an experienced clinician, who acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the presenting patient from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of their care. They will demonstrate safe, critical thinking in clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within the general practice.
They will work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary General Practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, and providing nurse leadership as required.
In order to work at this level, professional requirements for advanced practice must be met.
- To deliver a high standard of patient care as an Urgent Care Practitioner (UCP) in general practice, using advanced autonomous clinical skills, and a broad and in-depth theoretical knowledge base. Have a good understanding and appreciation of clinical governance and to work within ones sphere of competence.
- To manage a clinical caseload, dealing with presenting patients needs in a primary care setting, responding effectively and holistically to patient needs and ensuring patient choice and ease of access to services
- To triage patients into the most appropriate appointment based on their triage request and presenting symptoms
- Ensure development and use of referral pathways for UCPs to the local services
- To mentor and support other clinical staff in developing and maintaining clinical skills.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
CLINICAL ROLE:
The post-holder will:
- Provide the choice of direct access to an UCP, both in the Practice and over the telephone, for the general practice population
- Make professionally autonomous decisions for which they are accountable
- Provide a first point of contact within the Practice for patients presenting with undifferentiated, undiagnosed problems, making use of skills in history taking, physical examination, problem-solving and clinical decision-making, to establish a diagnosis and management plan. This could be here in the practice as well as seeing patients in their own homes.
- Instigate necessary invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports
- To prescribe safe, effective and appropriate medication as defined by current legislative framework and considering agreed prescribing formula guidelines
- To maintain comprehensive, accurate and contemporaneous computerised records of all consultations and contacts with patients and, when appropriate, written or printed records
- To maintain confidentiality and privacy while communicating data, plans and results, in a manner that preserves the dignity and privacy of the patient and provides a legal record of care
- Provide safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualised patient care
- Offer a holistic service to patients and their families, developing where appropriate an on-going plan of care/support, with an emphasis on prevention and self-care
- Promote health and well-being through the use of health promotion, health education, screening and therapeutic communication skills
- Refer patients directly to other services/agencies as appropriate and as agreed by the practice and partners
- To liaise with a doctor about patients with complex problems who need the expertise of a general practitioner
- To liaise with all members of the practice, community teams and other agencies local authority, social services, secondary care and voluntary agencies to assure appropriate care is provided for the practice population.
- Work with nursing, medical and health care assistant colleagues to ensure that National Service Frameworks (e.g. Coronary Heart Disease/Older People/Diabetes/Mental Health) are being delivered
- Work with multi-disciplinary team within the Practice, and across the wider local trust, to promote integrated and seamless pathways of care
- Contribute to the practice achieving its quality targets to sustain the high standards of patient care and service delivery
Participate in identification of community health needs and develop patient/family-centred strategies to address them
Help develop and set up new patient services and participate in initiatives to improve existing patient services
- Be aware of and contribute to planning and delivery of practice-based commissioning.
PROFESSIONAL ROLE:
The post-holder will:
- Promote evidence-based practice through the use of the latest research-based guidelines and the development of practice-based research
- Monitor the effectiveness of their own clinical practice through the quality assurance strategies such as the use of audit and peer review
- Maintain their professional registration
- To promote personal and clinical excellence
- Participate in continuing professional development opportunities to ensure that up-to-date evidence-based knowledge and competence in all aspects of the role is maintained
- Record accurate consultation data in patients records in accordance with the latest guidance and other pertinent standards
- Keep up to date with pertinent health-related policy and work with the practice team to consider the impact and strategies for implementation
- Work collaboratively with colleagues within and external to the practice
- Pro-actively promote the role of the UCP within the Practice, and externally to key stakeholders and agencies.
ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE:
The post-holder will encourage and develop teamwork within the practice
Working within the different practice teams in developing new roles, responding to changing healthcare needs
Identify appropriate opportunities to delegate both clinical and administrative tasks
Help the practice operate in a cost-effective manner
Interpret variations in outcomes and use of data from information systems to improve practice
Participate in practice meetings
Participate in audits and inspections as appropriate, using such data to make improvement to service
Work closely with the GPs and management in the setting up and/or improving of practice systems for monitoring/measuring performance against Clinical Governance and Quality Indicator targets
To actively participate in the delivery for such QOF and other targets
Ensure that all Practice Policies are fully implemented
To keep Partners and management informed about pressures and difficulties or problem areas when aware
To understand and participate the role of risk management within the practice, contributing to risk assessment, significant event audits and infection control.