Physician Associate

Job description

Job responsibilities

A34PCN based at

Strawberry Hill Medical Centre

Physician Associate in General Practice

Title: Physician Associate (PA) in General Practice

Responsible to: Named GP Partner

Salary: Negotiable within nationally recommended range, based on experience

SHMC will fund all necessary training to undertake this role in full

Hours: Full-time (37.5hrs per week)

Appointment: PCN contract with 6-month probationary period.

Location of post: Strawberry Hill Medical Centre, Newbury, Berkshire

Ability to travel independently to any registered patients home address. Not suitable for working from home/remote working

Flexibility: Hours to be delivered within Surgerys contracted working day, which may include weekends in event of changing working practices as determined by NHS-E

Strawberry Hill Medical Centre has c22,000 registered patients, with the expectation of further growth from current and planned housing developments in and around Newbury

The practice is one of the largest in the West Berkshire and enjoys good relationships within the community and across the locality effectively participating in many local initiatives and is the largest member of the A34 Primary Care Network. The practice is also a member of BOBICB (Berkshire West, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire)

The Physician Associate is a key role in the practice clinical team. They will work under the mentorship of a named GP, with daily support from the entire medical team, contributing to acute and chronic medical care of all patients.

The PA will independently assess diagnose and manage patients with acute and chronic medical conditions, coordinating with other primary and secondary healthcare services as appropriate, seeing patients in the Surgery and in their own homes or care homes, and coordinating care with other members of the Surgerys team and external providers.

Although not being able to prescribe independently at present, they will be able to make recommendations on drug treatment and medication reviews. We will support you gaining your prescribing qualification when permitted.

They will work under the supervision of named GPs, but make professional autonomous decisions about patient care. The expectation is that they may not be able to undertake all aspects of this role at the outset, and appropriate training and mentoring will be provided as necessary.

Whilst not intended to be exhaustive, the main responsibilities of the post-holder are given below. These may be changed after consultation with the post-holder, or upon a change in national directives delivered by NHS-England or PHE.

Assess, investigate and diagnose patients presenting with an undifferentiated diagnosis, calling on the expertise of GPs as needed

Plan implement and evaluate treatment/interventions for patients with acute and chronic physical and psychological conditions

Utilise as needed the full range of non-drug therapies for all patients, consider pharmacological interventions and make recommendations to prescribers in accordance with evidence-based practice and national, local and practice protocols

Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care

Contribute as needed to services provided for health promotion and disease prevention

Writing care plans with the support of the care coordinators

Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care

Contribute to any and all enhanced services and screening programmes offered by the Surgery

Be responsive to the changing needs of patients and service provision in terms of scope and nature of clinical practice, and to undertake clinical responsibilities as required by the Surgery within scope of practice defined by RCP/GMC, with training as needed.

Be proactive in developing the role of PA, including CPD as agreed with clinical mentor.

Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment, providing information in an acceptable format to all patients

Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating, anticipating barriers to communication and taking appropriate action to improve communication

Maintain effective communication within the practice environment and with external stakeholders

Act as an advocate for patients and colleagues

Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the GMC

Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures

Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality

Deliver evidence-based patient-centred care in accordance with national and local guidelines

Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation, and use audit for of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required

Initiate and participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities

In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate

Evaluate patients response to health care provision and the effectiveness of care

Support and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation

Contribute to and provide leadership within internal and external significant event procedures

Assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery

Working with the practice management monitor and develop the performance of the clinical team in accordance with local policies

Contribute to the appraisal of the performance of the wider clinical team, providing feedback as appropriate

Understand and apply all national and local policies relating to the safeguarding of children and adults, providing leadership to other members of Surgery staff

Take responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model

Support development of all staff in order to maximise potential

Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from external good practice

Critically evaluate and review innovations and developments that are relevant to the area of work

Enlist support and influence stakeholders and decision-makers in order to bring about new developments in the provision of services

Work with practice management to ensure sufficient staff of appropriate ability, quality and skill-mix are available to meet current and future service delivery, that selection and recruitment processes are effective and that equality of treatment of the team incorporates quality HR principles and processes

Contribute to the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards

Maintain effective communication with those responsible for the overall design and delivery of services

Promote the role of the Physician Associate in general practice

Be flexible and responsive to changing needs of own role with time

Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working

Prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team

Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery

Work proactively with the clinical team to create opportunities to improve patient care

Manage and lead on the delivery of specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the practice management team

Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients

Monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines

Work collaboratively to ensure appropriate supervision of safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs, including monitoring, stock control and documentation of controlled drug usage according to legal requirements where appropriate

Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines

Advocate for policies that reduce environmental health risks, are culturally sensitive and increase access to health care for all

Interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice

Use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring of care, presenting and communicating information

Review and process data using accurate Read codes in order to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes

Manage information searches using the internet and local library databases

Understand responsibility of self and others to the practice and primary care trust regarding the Freedom of Information and Data Protection legislation

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications
• Physician Associate Postgraduate Diploma/Masters from accredited UK university

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of working in a clinical setting

Desirable

• Experience of working or training in a Primary Care setting

Skills

Essential

• Ability to assess & manage patient risk effectively and safely
• Well-developed IT skills
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Reflective practitioner
• Ability to work under pressure and prioritise
• Access to vehicle for work-related use
• Enthusiastic and dynamic member of the clinical team
• Good personal organisational skills

Desirable

• Experience of using emis web or other clinical patient database

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Strawberry Hill Medical Centre

Address

Strawberry Hill Medical Centre

Old Bath Road

Newbury

Berkshire

RG14 1JU

Employer's website

https://www.strawberryhillmedicalcentre.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)