Paramedic Practitioner

Job responsibilities

Job summary

To be responsible for the provision of paramedical services, working as part of the practices multidisciplinary team, delivering care within their scope of practice to the entitled patient population. The paramedic practitioner will be required to work autonomously in the practice and in the community (home visits), providing a range of services such as assessment, arranging investigations and commenting on results, diagnosis, treatment, telephone triage and referring patients appropriately, as well as supporting the management team in the reviewing of clinical policy and procedure.

Primary responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the paramedic practitioner. There may be on occasion a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent on factors such as workload and staffing levels. The paramedic practitioner will work within their scope of clinical practice and:

Identify, signpost or refer patients at risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing adverse effects on the patients health

Provide routine care to patients as required in accordance with clinically based evidence, NICE and the NSF

Examine, assess, arrange necessary tests and diagnose patients and provide clinical care/management as required

Triage patients and provide the necessary treatment during home visits

Deal with medical emergencies at the surgery

Maintain accurate clinical records in line with legislation

Ensure that read codes are used effectively

Ensure continuity of care, arranging follow-up consultations or reviews as necessary

Review the effectiveness of the treatment provided, making changes where necessary to improve patient outcomes

Chaperone patients where necessary

Prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately

Act as the lead clinician when dealing with clinical emergencies

Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs

Support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over-the-counter medicines (within own scope of practice)

Liaise with external services/agencies to ensure that the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients, etc.)

Ensure that they adhere to the relevant patient group directives and local clinical pathways at all times

Support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies

Understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately

Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

Secondary responsibilities

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the paramedic practitioner may be requested to:

Support the practice audit programme, undertaking audits when necessary

Support junior members of the team, providing guidance when necessary

Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care

Support and participate in shared learning within the practice

Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate

Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events, applying a structured approach, i.e. root cause analysis (RCA)

Take personal responsibility for own learning and development, including the requirement to maintain currency, achieving all targets set in own Personal Development Plan (PDP)

Generic responsibilities

All staff at Stock Hill Medical Centre have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, diversity & inclusion

A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I creates an environment where all individuals are able to 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 to 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 practice is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety. You have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for you, your 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 and other statutory legislation.

Confidentiality

This practice 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 that all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times. It is essential that if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, that all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality & Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of our output, 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 practice to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice.

This practice continually strives to improve work processes in order to 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.

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 training coordinator, as well as participating in the practice training programme. Staff will also be permitted (subject to approval) to undertake external training courses which will enhance their knowledge and skills, progress their career and ultimately enable them to improve processes and service delivery

Collaborative working

All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working. Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments. Effective communication is essential, and all staff must ensure that they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.

Service delivery

Staff at Stock Hill Medical Centre must adhere to the information contained within practice policies and regional directives, ensuring that protocols are adhered to at all times. Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.

These duties may be changed from time to time, dependent on the needs of the practice. This will be done in consultation with the employee and, if appropriate, training and instruction will be given.

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• EMIS
• Effective time management (planning & organising)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Problem-solving & analytical skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure

Desirable

• Understanding of the audit process
• Understanding of clinical risk management

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Paramedic (HCPC)
• Prescribing qualification (Independent prescriber)

Desirable

• Postgraduate diploma or degree (primary care)

Experience

Essential

• Experience in triage
• Experience of dealing with a range of clinical conditions

Desirable

• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Experience of working as a paramedic practitioner

Clinical knowledge and skills

Essential

• Ability to effectively triage, assess and diagnose
• Wound care
• Chaperone procedure
• Requesting pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Ability to work within own scope of practice and understanding of when to refer to GPs

Desirable

• Understands the importance of evidence-based practice
• Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
• Knowledge of health-promotion strategies
• Understands the requirement for PGDs and associated policy

Personal qualities

Essential

• Polite and confident
• Flexible and cooperative
• Motivated, forward thinker
• Problem-solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required
• High levels of integrity and loyalty
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Ability to work under pressure / in stressful situations
• Effectively able to communicate and understand the needs of the patient
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Effectively utilises resources
• Punctual and committed to supporting the team effort

Other requirements

Essential

• Flexibility to work outside core office hours
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Current Hepatitis B immunity certificate
• HCPC registration

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).