Healthcare Assistant

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Summary

To support the practice nursing and administrative teams in the delivery of clinical and administrative services, working as part of the practice multi-disciplinary team, delivering care within their scope of practice to the entitled patient population. The Healthcare Assistant will deliver and assist clinical staff in the provision of treatment, preventative care, health promotion and patient education whilst also supporting the administrative team on an as-required basis.

Primary Responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the Healthcare Assistant. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

Undertake annual health checks to monitor long term conditions

Support the practice nurse with health promotion programmes

Carry out baseline observations such as pulse oximetry, blood pressure, temperature and pulse rate, recording findings accurately

Identify and monitor patients needing regular medication monitoring by blood test

Facilitate routine and 24-hour BP monitoring, advising patients accordingly

Undertake wound care, dressings and other clinical tasks as required

Support the practice nurse with the management of chronic disease clinics

Carry out BMI checks as directed

Use call and recall to manage uptake or cervical screening

Act as a chaperone as required

When trained, undertake venepuncture

When trained, administer flu vaccinations

When trained, carry out ear irrigation under the supervision of the practice nurse

Carry out ECGs as requested

Carry out risk assessments as required

Ensure specimens are recorded and ready for onward transportation

Provide support during minor operations as required

Ensure all clinical rooms are adequately stocked and prepared for each session

Ensure fridges are cleaned routinely in accordance with extant guidance

Ensure clinical waste is removed from clinical areas and sharps bins replaced in accordance with the organisations IPC policy

Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

Secondary Responsibilities

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the Healthcare Assistant may be requested to:

Participate in practice audit as directed by the audit lead

Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care

Support and participate in shared learning within the organisation

Complete opening and closing procedures in accordance with the duty rota

Assist with CQC compliance

Generic Responsibilities

All staff at St Gabriels Medical Centre have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

A good attitude and positive action towards Equality Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) creates an environment where all individuals can achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do, and it is required by law. Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)

This organisation is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing, and safety. The post holder is to manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients and 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. All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for themselves, their team, and others and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.

All personnel are to comply with the:

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Environment Act 1995

Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999

Coronavirus Act 2020

Other statutory legislation which may be brought to the post holders attention

Confidentiality

The organisation is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality. It is essential that, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all staff must protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Safeguarding:

St Gabriels Medical Centre is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff employed here to share this commitment. Legislation places a statutory duty on all organisations and professionals to work together in the interest of protecting vulnerable children, young people, and vulnerable adults. All healthcare professionals, including those staff and volunteers who work within a healthcare setting, have a duty to safeguard and we are committed to this principle. The practice will provide training and induction programmes to include safeguarding to all existing and new staff and volunteers to promote these aims and raise awareness of the duties and responsibilities it places on our staff. All health professionals working directly with children, young people and vulnerable adults should ensure that safeguarding and promoting welfare forms an integral part of all stages of the service they offer.

Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of this organisations outputs, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work. The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the organisation to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice and to discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.

St Gabriels continually strives to improve work processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where everyone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Staff should interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice. All staff are to contribute to investigations and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigations and multidisciplinary case reviews.

Induction

At St Gabriels Medical Centre, you will be required to complete the induction programme and the practice management team will support you throughout the process. If not completed already, you will need to complete the mandatory training modules and the HCA Care Certificate.

Learning and development

The effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude, and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake in and complete mandatory training as directed by the Practice Manager. It is an expectation for this post holder to assess their own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate. The post holder will undertake mentorship for team members and disseminate learning and information gained to other team members to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g., courses and conferences). The post holder will provide an educational role to patients, carers, families, and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning.

Collaborative working

All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working and understand their own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time. Staff are to prioritise their own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team. Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments and the post holder is to work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working and work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery. Effective communication is essential, and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner. All staff should delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence. Plans and outcomes by which to measure success should be agreed.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSE grade A to C in English and Maths
• Qualified in Phlebotomy
• Vaccination certification

Desirable

• Qualified to NVQ level 2 in Health and Social Care
• Previous completion of the HCA Care Certificate
• Trained in ECG's and ear syringing

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with the general public
• Experience of working in a healthcare setting

Desirable

• Experience of working in primary care
• Experience of working in a GP practice

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• New patient medicals, including height, weight, BP, pulse
• Chaperone procedure
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Effective time management (planning and organising)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check

Desirable

• Wound care/removal of sutures and staples
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• EMIS clinical system user skills

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

St Gabriels Medical Centre

Address

St. Gabriels Medical Centre

4 Bishops Road

Prestwich

Manchester

M25 0HT

Employer's website

https://stgabrielsmc.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)