Therapy Assistant and Single Point of Access Care Navigator

Job description

Job responsibilities

Role & Responsibilities:

As a therapy assistant you will:

Effectively and efficiently undertake all aspects of clinical duties and procedures required and identified in an individuals treatment plan, recognising own competencies and the scope of own role. This may be done at the hospice or within the patients own home.

Assess patients needs within the limits of your skills and competencies.

Apply competency-based treatment techniques/care to patients under the supervision of a qualified practitioner, following a prescribed treatment pathway including:

• Implementing activities/exercise programmes
• Ordering and supplying therapeutic equipment/aids, providing instruction and supervision/evaluation of use of equipment.

Communicate information to patients and carers regarding their health needs and associated treatment plans as well as provide education through programmes such as FAB (Fatigue, Anxiety and Breathlessness).

Make basic judgements on a patients response to prescribed treatment, and report findings to a qualified practitioner.

Plan and prioritise own visits in accordance with therapy guidelines and the

prioritisation tools used by the team to delegated patients and ensure these are documented on SystmOne.

Ensure that SystmOne inputting is completed daily.

Effectively recognise and manage challenging behaviours in patients, carers and or relatives.

Effectively use all forms/methods of communication and be aware of and manage barriers to communication. Where there are barriers to understanding, such as hearing impairment, mental capacity impairment and other difficulties in comprehension, adjust explanations to gain understanding, consent and concordance.

Establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with patients and carers, incorporating motivation, encouragement and confidence building to enable patients to engage in their treatment/care and management plan.

Make all necessary reasonable adjustments to enable all service users to achieve desired clinical outcomes and communicate these to facilitate on-going care

Provide information as required to the team, patient, carer and or relatives

Liaise with the wider BHH Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) and communicate with external health and social care teams as required to ensure identified needs are met and care is co-ordinated appropriately.

Report and take appropriate action regarding any change in patient condition or circumstance, and communicate verbal and written information to all relevant team members

Actively contribute to protecting people at risk by assessing and monitoring the care environment and individuals and by following and acting on and within Safeguarding policies and procedures.

Respect the dignity of individuals, obtaining consent and involving them, their carers and or families and relatives in shared discussion making.

Provide an administrative role for the patient groups.

As a Care Navigator you will:

Be the first point of contact for new referrals including triaging to establish patient concerns, help with non-clinical questions and signpost to other services where necessary

Co-ordinate and book appointments for further, more detailed assessment with Hub practitioners.

Utilise SystmONE to record new referrals, assist the clinical team with patient appointments and updates

Work closely with the clinical teams to ensure the right support for patients and their families/carers

Communicate effectively with patients, health professionals, volunteers and service providers to ensure that all support/treatment is provided in a timely manner

Support sessional workers with administration of caseloads

Create purchase orders for sessional workers and other ad hoc requests

Check on progress and ensure evidence of outcomes in own service

Assist with general administrative workload as well as data collection for Hospice services.

Create and provide regular clinical reports using a clinical database

Provide information and support for patients whose end of life journey could take many different pathways and may include a wide variety of conditions

Co-ordinate and monitor patient referrals, initial appointments and triage waiting lists and ensure steps are in place to minimise waiting times and ensure services are provided in a timely manner

Work with specialist teams to support the co-ordination and management of patients at key points in their treatment

Work closely with the organisations voluntary services manager to co-ordinate volunteer support for patients and carers

Provide reports as requested by the Senior Management Team

Work closely with the clinical and non-clinical teams maximise consistent delivery of service

Check availability of supplies and order as appropriate

Communicate and develop working relationships with external service providers to facilitate the timely treatment of all patients

Proactively support the Hub team to enable patients and carers to progress through the appropriate care, and any concerns related to waiting times and treatment schedules are communicated to the relevant service in a timely manner.

Provide the fundraising team with statistical reports and information when required for case studies and income generation schemes.

Expertise

Ensure an on-going focus on improving wellbeing through linking with service providers and understand healthy lifestyle services and support available

Maintain effective and efficient administrative procedures producing appropriate and accurate records in line with the Hospices policies

Contribute to the achievement of service outcomes against service KPIs and own individual performance measures.

• Be able to maintain a calmness, particularly when in contact with distressed people or dealing with emergency situations.
• Offer a flexible approach to meet the needs of the patient and the service.
• Observe patients both during activities and within general care periods.
• Concentrate on tasks (clinical and administrative), to ensure that they are completed efficiently and effectively.
• Perform duties in an unpredictable environment where priorities can change.
• Assess the needs of individuals through a triage process, identifying outcomes and determining the type of support required to overcome any barriers and achieve those outcomes.
• Support referral into services within the Hospice or externally which will support the individual in their achievement of wellbeing goals and to monitor positive engagement
• Provide a service that meets contractual requirements as well as a high level of organisational quality standards.

General

Support other departments as required

Maintain confidentiality at all times

Participate in training as required to maintain own knowledge and skills and share good practice with colleagues

Comply with all relevant policies and procedures

Represent Blythe House Hospice with a positive attitude and professional appearance.

Be required to demonstrate own duties to students, new starters and/or less experienced staff; and be involved in induction programmes for new staff / students as required.

Be aware of limitations of own scope of practice, and when to involve a more senior practitioner, both in daily practice and in emergency situations.

Acknowledge and recognise peoples expressed beliefs, preferences and choices.

Demonstrate an awareness of clinical governance and risk management and apply to work situation.

Provide peer support to other practitioners, demonstrating leadership skills as required.

Identify and explore own contribution to team working and reflect on own practice.

Child Protection and Vulnerable People:

It is the responsibility of all staff to:

Safeguard children and/or vulnerable adults; to access training to ensure they know what constitutes abuse, and what support is available to them, at a level appropriate to their role and responsibilities.

To report any concerns, without delay, to the identified person within their department/division or area of responsibility as per the relevant policies, keeping clear records, and following up as required to ensure necessary actions have been taken.

Equality and Diversity:

All employees have a positive duty to comply with our Equality and Diversity Policy and to ensure that their colleagues are treated with respect and dignity. It is important to both communicate and promote the equal opportunities policy as part of a collective effort on a regular and ongoing basis.

This job description describes the main duties of the post holder and is not exhaustive. It will be reviewed with the post holder as part of the regular performance review and staff development procedure. This job description does not form part of the Contract of Employment.

Person Specification

Skills/ Ability/ Knowledge

Essential

• IT skills including Microsoft software and to be able to process information electronically on data bases and maintain records
• Ability to facilitate and support people who are newly diagnosed and/or at End of Life
• Understand factors that influence health and wellbeing and be able to facilitate, engage, motivate and support clients and their carers
• Ability to support and empower clients to make their own decisions
• Understand the implications for, and responsibilities of the post relating to Risk Management and Safeguarding
• Ability to work under pressure and remain calm in stressful situations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with accuracy and attention to detail
• Good telephone manner
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Highly organised, ability to manage and plan workload and prioritise effectively
• Flexible approach in coping with varying demands of the role
• Ability to work alone or as part of a team
• Work to agreed targets

Desirable

• Able to run or facilitate groups
• Knowledge of, and signposting to other community services

Other

Essential

• Commitment to the work and values of Blythe House Hospice.
• Ability to work flexibly as required and according to the needs of the organisation
• Ability to kneel, bend & stoop, and work in sometimes cramped environments in peoples homes
• Ability to manoeuvre patients using handling aids
• Full current driving licence with ability and willingness to use own vehicle

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in adult health or social care setting
• Experience of signposting services for individuals
• Experience of working in a confidential environment
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team

Desirable

• Experience in health and social care field including safeguarding, motivational interviewing, mental health awareness
• Experience of delivering health and wellbeing interventions in a case management approach
• Experience of working in a hospice environment
• Experience of working within a community care setting in peoples own homes
• Experience of using SystmOne
• Experience of pathway navigation in a health/social care system

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level III in care / BTEC Health & Social Care or equivalent
• Foundation Degree programme or equivalent demonstratable knowledge and skills acquired through training and experience.

Desirable

• Additional training in:
• Palliative Care
• Care of the Older person
• Evidence of study at Diploma or Degree level

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

Blythe House Hospicecare

Address

Eccles Fold

Chapel-en-le-frith

High Peak

Derbyshire

SK23 9TJ

Employer's website

https://www.blythehousehospice.org.uk (Opens in a new tab)