PCN Physicians Associate

Job description

Job responsibilities

As a Physicians Associate (PA) you will be acting within your professional boundaries, providing care for patients from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of their care under the supervision of a GP. You will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within the general practice, in consultation with the duty GP. You will work with the multi-disciplinary general practice team to support the delivery of policy and procedures and meet the needs of patients.

Mentorship and supervision will be provided by designated senior medical personnel. The level and type of supervision will be dependent on the post holders skills and knowledge and determined by the organisations clinical governance arrangements. You will follow recommended annual appraisals and continuing professional development set out by the Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA).

1.Scope & Purpose of Role

• To deliver a high standard of patient care using advanced autonomous clinical skills with in-depth theoretical knowledge and evidence based practice working under the supervision of a GP

• To manage a clinical caseload and deal with presenting patients needs in a primary care setting

• To provide clinical leadership where appropriate within the practice and support other members of the team to develop and maintain clinical skills appropriate to your role and expertise.

2. Primary Duties & Areas of Responsibility

Clinical

The post holder will under appropriate supervision:

• Provide first point of contact for patients presenting with undifferentiated, undiagnosed problems, utilising history taking, physical examination, problem-solving and clinical decision-making skills to establish a working diagnosis and management plan working in partnership with patients.

• Undertake as agreed surgery based consultations for emergency or routine problems including management of long term conditions. In addition, undertake telephone consultations / home visits and participate in duty rotas

• Instigate necessary invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports within the scope of a PAs practice. Discuss the result and implications of laboratory investigations with patients

• Utilise clinical guidelines and promote evidence-based practice

• Offer a holistic service to patients and their families, developing where appropriate an on-going plan of care/support with an emphasis on prevention and self-care

• Refer patients directly to other services or agencies using appropriate referral pathways

• Ensure safe handover of care within and outside the practice as appropriate

• Work directly with members of the practice primary health care team and support integrated patient centred care through appropriate working with wider primary care / social care networks

• Identify community health needs and participate in the development of patient/family-centred strategies to address them

• Contribute to the practice quality targets to consistently achieve high standards of safe, evidence-based, cost-effective patient care and service delivery

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Able to work well with colleagues and within a team
• Ability to organize and prioritise workload effectively
• Ability to exercise sound judgements when faced with conflicting pressures
• Ability to motivate and develop the multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to manage and lead a working group
• Sound IT knowledge, including internet, Outlook, Word, Excel
• Experience of conducting clinical audit
• To assist in the development of the Physician Associate role in the UK
• Assist in the educational development of Physician Associate students through student shadowing and/or teaching
• Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of patients
• Energy and enthusiasm and the ability to work under pressure
• An enquiring and critical approach to work
• Caring attitude to patients
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, patients, relatives, nurses, other staff and agencies
• Commitment to Continuing Professional Development

Desirable

• Experience of working within a medicine environment
• Experience of preventative medicine and chronic disease management
• An awareness of current developments and initiatives in health care
• An understanding of the current NHS environment, particularly in relation to reforms, initiatives and issues

Qualifications

Essential

• Undergraduate science based degree at 2.2 level or above
• PG Dip in Physician Associate Studies from a UK PA programme
• Current and valid certification by the UK Physician Associate National Examination
• Member of Faculty of Physician Associates at the RCP, including registration on the UK Physician Associate Manager Voluntary Register.

Desirable

• MSc Degree in Physician Associate Studies

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

South Norfolk Healthcare CIC

Address

Wymondham Medical Partnership

London Road

Wymondham

Norwich

NR18 0RF

Employer's website

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