Healthcare Assistant

Job description

Job responsibilities

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Patient Care

- Assessment, management and treatment of conditions within competence and as delegated.

- Blood pressure measurement / monitoring

- Chaperoning duties

- Ear examination and syringing

- ECG

- Flu immunisation

- Height, weight measurement

- Hypertension management

- Long Term Conditions management

- Men and Womens health / lifestyle advice

- NHS Health Checks

- Pneumococcal immunisation

- QoF

- Removal of sutures

- Scalds and burns management

- Spirometry

- Support and advice for patients in managing their own disease

- Take pathology samples from patients for analysis (blood, sputum, urine etc.)

- Urine testing / analysis

- Vitamin B12 injections

- Wound care / dressings / tissue viability

Record Keeping and Administration

- Accurately label and document patient samples and submit for collection and analysis

- Contribute to nursing team record keeping (clinical, administrative, health and safety related

records)

- Maintain skills in using patient appointment system

- Make accurate and contemporaneous records of all patient encounters in accordance with

practice records, protocols and coding protocols

MAINTAINING A SAFE CLINICAL ENVIRONMENT

General:

The Healthcare Assistant will be aware of and comply with the Practices Health and Safety policy.

This will include:

- Adhering to all relevant policies including infection control and cold chain

- Applying correctly spill control and decontamination policies

- Attending regular health and safety training

- Contributing to keeping the working area and patient areas tidy and free from hazards

- Ensuring sufficient supplies of all cleansing and infection control materials

- Handling specimens and clinical waste / sharps in accordance with practice policy

- Identifying and reporting hazards / risks and contributing to control measures

- Minimising risk to self and others in the workplace

- Using protective equipment and clothing provided and in accordance with the practices policy

Specific:

- Clean / maintain all equipment in accordance with infection control and equipment maintenancepolicies

- Dispose of all clinical waste/sharps in accordance with the Practices Infection Control protocol

- Prepare clinical areas between patients in accordance with infection control procedures includingcleaning surfaces and equipment

- Record fridge temperatures, clean fridges, promptly report temperature variations from standard

- Rotate stock according to date, maintain appropriate records and discard out of date stock inaccordance with practice protocol

- Take action to manage spills or decontamination affected areas

Supplies Management:

- Check stock in all clinical rooms

- Maintain accurate stock records, including liaison with Nursing Team Manager and / orOperations Manager by providing order confirmations for invoice checking

- Order and maintain stock of health information leaflets and keep displays up to date

- Order most economic supplies available and use with economy

- Order replacement stock and restock clinical rooms

- Order vaccines to maintain stock levels and store according to practice cold chain and storagepolicies

Equipment Maintenance and Calibration:

- Clean and disinfect some items of equipment and keep a record

- Contribute to care and maintenance of equipment

- Organise repair and regular maintenance and calibration of equipment, including equipmentmaintenance / checking / calibration log

Quality:

- Contribute to clinical governance activities / clinical audit to ensure continual improvement ofservice delivery

- Contribute to complaints responses / reviews, significant event, peer review and other sharedlearning activities

- Provide services to the practices patient population to the highest possible standard

- Take action if standards are not met (self or others)

- Work to agreed standards, monitor and maintain the standard of care offered

Communication:

- Advise patients of the Healthcare Assistant role, its extent and limits

- Appropriately advise patients if they require the services of a GP or other clinical team member

- Communicate effectively, promptly and appropriately with patients and team members

- Communicate risk to patients and ensure proper consent gained where appropriate

- Contribute to practice meetings

- Modify method of communication with patients to suit the situation, recognise problems / barriersand take action or seek help at an early stage when they arise

Contribution to the implementation of services:

- Apply Practice policies, standards and guidance

- Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affectown work

- Participate in audit where appropriate

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Healthcare Assistant will:

- Attend and contribute to in-house training events

- Behave as a positive role model

- Be aware of the legal issues pertinent to the role of a Healthcare Assistant

- Be able to demonstrate or work towards the Royal College of GP competency framework forHealthcare Assistants

- Maintain awareness of current evidence-based approaches to patient care and update practiceaccordingly and in consultation with the team

- Prioritise own work and work effectively with others to prioritise team and practice workload

- Take responsibility for own development, including maintenance of a personal development planand record of learning, clinical supervision, staff appraisals, revalidation, giving and receiving feedback, performance, management with the support and supervision of qualified staff

- Undertake regular mandatory training (Safeguarding Adults and Children, Basic Life Support,Information Governance, Moving and Handling etc.)

- Undertake training needed to ensure competencies for delivering all responsibilities

Confidentiality

- In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitiveinformation in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have theright 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 accessto confidential information relating to patients and their carers, 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 confidential

- Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, healthcare workers or the business of thepractice may only be divulged to authorised persons, in accordance with practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Health and Safety

The Healthcare Assistant will adhere to Infection Control policy and published procedures.

This will include (but will not be limited to):

- 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

- Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazardsimmediately when recognised

- Awareness of national standard of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual /professional requirements, and good practice guidelines

- Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance

- Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children

- Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way thatmanages those risks across clinical and patient process

- Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues andhazards / 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

- Maintenance of sterile environments

- Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage thetraining of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes

- Management and maintenance of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the practice includingprovision, ordering, availability and ongoing correct usage by staff

- Monitoring practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that provisionof hand cleansing facilities, wipes etc. are sufficient to ensure a good clinical workingenvironment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate.

- Responsible for the correct and safe management of the specimens process, includingcollection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements

- Safe management of sharps procedures including training, use, storage and disposal

- Spillage control procedures, management and training

- Undertaking periodic infection control training

- Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean andsterile, and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management

- Waste management including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storageand collection

Please see the attached job description for more information.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level 3 in Care.
• A demonstrable commitment to Continuous Professional Development.

Experience

Desirable

• Experience of working within Primary Care.
• Experience of SystmOne clinical system.

Qualities / Attributes

Essential

• Able to demonstrate enthusiasm to develop nursing skills.
• An understanding, acceptance and adherence to the need for strict confidentiality.
• Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense.
• Ability to work without direct supervision and determine own workload priorities.
• Ability to work as part of an integrated multi-skilled team.
• Pleasant and articulate.
• Able to work under pressure and use own initiative.
• Able to work in a changing environment.

Knowledge / Skills

Essential

• Competent in basic Healthcare Assistant duties required for the post including: Ear syringing, NHS Health Checks, some vaccinations i.e. flu, Wound care management.
• Excellent communication skills

Desirable

• Long Term Condition reviews

Other

Essential

• Flexibility of working hours, ability to work at the desired times and across multiple sites.

Desirable

• Hold full UK driver's licence.

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

Aspiro Healthcare

Address

Hollybrook Medical Centre

Hollybrook Way

Littleover

Derby

DE23 3TX

Employer's website

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