Health Care Assistant

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose: To assist in patient/clinical care and other duties as directed by practice

Reports/Responsible to: Practice nurse team and ultimately the practice manager and partners

Level of Responsibility: Routine duties as directed by, and under the supervision of the practice nurse team and doctors

Clinical duties and responsibilities

• Assist in delivering a high standard of holistic care to patients, promoting their equality and dignity at all times
• Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care
• Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that encourage patients to live healthily, and apply principles of self-care
• Deliver opportunistic health promotion using opportunities such as new-patient medicals
• Assist senior practitioners in providing minor surgery sessions
• Assess and care for patients presenting with uncomplicated wounds
• Undertake
• Simple dressings
• Wound swabs
• Dopplers
• Influenza vaccinations
• Blood pressure monitoring
• Phlebotomy
• ECGs
• Spirometry
• Chaperone ensuring dignity of patients while supporting clinicians
• Instruct patients on the use of home BP monitors
• Obtain urine, stool and sputum specimens and process for laboratory analysis
• Assist in the maintenance of treatment room cleanliness and monitoring of supplies
• Check resuscitation, oxygen and suction equipment monthly
• Perform basic life support/assist other team members if required
• Any other clinical duties required by the practice when competent

Communication

• Communicate effectively within the multidisciplinary team

• Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
• Communicate with and support patients who are receiving bad news
• 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
• Utilise communication skills to support patients to adhere to prescribed treatment regimes
• Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication
• Act as an advocate when representing the patients and colleagues viewpoints to others

Team Working

• Understand and apply legal policy that supports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, being aware of statutory child/vulnerable adult health procedure and local guidance
• Work within policies relating to domestic violence, vulnerable adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour, and refer as appropriate
• Understand own role and scope in the organisation and identify how this may develop over time
• Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
• Ensure clear understanding and utilisation of referral mechanisms within the practice
• Accept delegation from other nurses, prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded in own practice
• Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery. Participate in team activities that create opportunities to improve patient care

Delivering a Quality Service

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

Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation

Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required e.g. wound audits

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

Participate in the management, review and identify learning from patient complaints, clinical incidents and near-miss events utilising a structured framework (e.g. root-cause analysis)

Management of Risk

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

Undertake mandatory and statutory training

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

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

Participate in the local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice

Have knowledge of the universal precautions regarding infection control

Avoid needle-stick injuries by following correct procedures

Understanding what to do and who to contact should an accident/incident occur

Wearing gloves at all times for clinical procedures

Liaise with the nursing team if any concerns are raised regarding health & safety

Obtain and maintain the mandatory Hep B status

General

• Greeting patients in a professional manner
• Carrying out relevant procedures
• Liaising with hospitals and other outside agencies
• Preparing treatment rooms
• Understanding what to do in an emergency
• Understanding and following practice protocols to provide uniform good clinical care
• Keep up to date knowledge and practice changes

Utilising Information

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

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

Manage information searches using the internet and local library databases, for example, the retrieval of relevant information for patients on their condition

Understand own and others responsibility to the individual organisation regarding the Freedom of Information Act

Administration

• Labelling all relevant information correctly and accurately
• Recording timely, relevant and accurate information onto patients records
• Forwarding any results to relevant person/s
• Maintaining stock levels and monthly order

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 recognises 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 that 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
• Attend any training when appropriate and required
• Report back on training courses attended and share knowledge
• Attend practice meeting when required

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 recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise 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

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care

Desirable

• Qualified in phlebotomy

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a health care setting
• Experience of working within a nursing team
• Ability to prioritise workload

Desirable

• Experience of working in Primary Care

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Understanding of patient confidentiality
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Good IT skills
• Ability to work without direct supervision
• Sensitivity towards others

Desirable

• Experience of using EMIS

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice

Address

Brooklyn

Wadebridge

Cornwall

PL27 7BS

Employer's website

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