Paramedic Practitioner

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: Primary Care Paramedic (Non-medical Prescriber preferred however not essential)

REPORTS TO Community Matron

HOURS: 37.5 hours per week

Band 7

Job Summary:

The Paramedic will act autonomously within their professional scope of practice providing care for patients face to face, telephone consultations and home visits.

The postholder will operate within their own sphere of competence and agreed acceptable limits of practice to provide expert professional clinical advice to patients, carers and colleagues, ensuring clinical safety and excellence.

The Paramedic will need to prioritise and triage the needs of patients accordingly, making any necessary referrals for investigations in the appropriate manner.

The postholder will use skills, knowledge and competencies as a qualified Paramedic in order to be responsible and accountable for managing patient caseloads for treatments, referral, admission and assisting in safe planning for patients as appropriate.

Qualifications Required:

• Paramedic Science Degree
• Minimum 2 years experience
• Non Medical Prescribing - Preferred but not essential.

Job responsibilities:

Clinical Practice

• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team to deliver safe and high quality care.
• Carries out clinical practice at an advanced level using expert clinical skills, critical judgements & knowledge to deliver appropriate and safe care.

Delivery of care in line with NSF, NICE guidelines and evidence-based care

• Triage and treat patients, performing specialist assessment of their needs and make referrals as necessary to other members of the primary and secondary health care teams as appropriate.

Co-ordinate the planning and delivery of care ensuring patients and carers or relatives are involved.

• Prescribing and reviewing medication that is appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with latest evidence-based practice, national and practice protocols and within the scope of qualified practice.
• Diagnose and manage acute and chronic conditions, including drug and non-drug based treatment methods into a management plan.

Request diagnostic investigations and interpret within agreed protocols e.g. x-ray, blood tests, scans, etc.

• Assess, diagnose and treat patients in their own home/Care homes who require medical attention and/or refer to appropriate agency.
• Refers patients to other members of the multi-disciplinary practice teams, secondary care organisations and other organisations as necessary.

Care Management

Communicates confidential and sensitive information to patients, relatives and carers in relation to their condition.

Provide highly specialised care advice beyond the scope of normal Paramedic practice e.g. care treatment plans, making referrals as appropriate (including fast track referrals).

To monitor and meet care outcomes against standards and recommend or initiate changes as necessary.

Health Improvement

Innovation in practice to meet ongoing demands on the practices delivery of care.

Improve health outcomes for patients by introducing new developments, and can demonstrate them as reports and presentations where appropriate.

Supports practitioners in reporting the practice population to promote health improvement and disease prevention.

Makes referrals to appropriate agencies (statutory and voluntary) where necessary

Providing assessment, screening services, health education advice:

These may include (but not restricted to);

• Clinical Examination and Observations
• Urinalysis
• Nutritional Assessment
• Falls Assessment
• Routine vaccinations e.g. annual flu
• First registration checks / health surveillance / general health advice

Administration and professional responsibilities

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

• Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the primary care network team
• Accurate and legible notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patients notes
• Ensure clinical systems kept up to date, recording and/or amending accurate details
• Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice
• Attend and participate in allocated meetings as required

Training and personal development

• Maintain up to date skills and knowledge, maintaining awareness of professional issues at an advanced level.
• Training needs will be monitored by yearly appraisal and will be in accordance with practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the primary care network.

Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self-reflection and peer review, as well as benchmarking and formal evaluation.

Contribute to the identification and assessment of learning needs of staff and other professionals and assist in planning effective programmes of education.

• Participate in the education and training of students of all disciplines and the introduction of all members of the practice staff where appropriate.
• Act as a mentor for junior staff, assessing competence against set standards.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work and ensure own educational commitment is at least sufficient to maintain revalidation requirements.
• Regularly participate in clinical supervision.

Leadership personal and people development

• Clinical leader in the delivery of practice nursing services ensuring that the needs of the patient are a priority
• Support staff development 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
• Work with PCN Manager to ensure sufficient staffing to provide a safe service, and that staff have the appropriate ability, quality and skill-mix to meet current and future service delivery
• Take part in recruitment processes where appropriate.
• Maintain effective communication and active involvement in the planning and processes of practice-based commissioning or similar initiatives

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will comply with primary care network policies, procedures and clinical guidelines for self and others. This includes (but not limited to):

• Identifying, reporting, and correcting health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the primary care network
• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness, as well as ownership of infection control and clinically based patient care protocols and implementing them across the primary care network.
• Active observation of current working practices across the primary care network 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, raising them with appropriate management and managing those risks across clinical and patient processes.
• Safe management of sharps procedures, including training, use, storage and disposal
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other managers
• Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Adults/Children.
• Routine management of own team / team areas, and maintenance of work space standards;
• Waste management, including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
• Spillage control procedures, management and training
• Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the primary care network, 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

Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance (e.g. PALS) and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate.

Contribution to the implementation of services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply Primary Care Networks 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.

Research:

The post holder will:

Regularly undertake clinical audit as part of primary care network need and contribute/assist in the development of multidisciplinary research in the service area, implementing effective and evidence based practice.

Develop research skills and provide support and appropriate implementation strategies for changes in clinical practice.

Share best practice through publications and attendance/presentation opportunities at conference level.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications Required:
• Paramedic Science Degree
• Minimum 2 years experience
• Non Medical Prescribing - Preferred but not essential.

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

Hyde PCN

Address

Healthy Hyde PCN

Clarendon Mall

Hyde

Tameside

SK14 2QT