Advanced Dialysis Assistant

King's College Hospital; Dartford; Remote; GBP 33,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Dartford is seeking a Band 4 Advanced Dialysis Assistant on a fixed-term maternity cover contract. The role is 37.5 hours per week with a mix of shifts, reporting to the Renal Unit team and rotating across sites as needed.

Working within a busy Renal Dialysis setting, you will assist in hands-on HD care, perform routine sampling, cannulation, and HD circuit management while adhering to governance, safety and infection control guidelines.

Qualifications

• Care Certificate
• Able to use Microsoft Word to draft letters and reports
• Experience in the haemodialysis setting
• Advanced Kidney Assistant Course completed and assessed as competent

Responsibilities

• Be able to safely and competently connect patients to the haemodialysis system after verification by a Registered Nurse
• Measure, monitor and record patient vitals and lab values as directed
• Assist nursing staff in delivering holistic care and patient education
• Maintain infection control guidelines and complete related documentation

Job description

Main area Renal Dialysis Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (maternity cover) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (combination of 7.5hrs and 11.25hrs, 4-5 working days/week) Job ref 213-DivisionB-8279075

Employer King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Dartford Renal Unit Town Dartford Salary £33,262 - £36,027 per annum, including HCA Salary period Yearly Closing 27/10/2026 23:59

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£2.1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

To participate in the delivery of high quality, patient focused clinical care.

To support registered healthcare professionals in the provision of a safe and caring environment

To work effectively as part of the nursing team

Assist in the induction, supervision and training of HCA’s band 3 and trainee Dialysis Assistants

To uphold a duty of care and clinical governance

The post holder may be required to rotate between sites to meet service needs, including rotation between the main site and satellite units where applicable and when required to do so – this may be at short notice

Main duties of the job

• Be able to safely and competently connect patients to the haemodialysis system, only after all setting and programming have been verified by a Registered Nurse
• Measure, monitor and record the following, escalating and reporting any abnormalities to the RGN:

Temperature

Respiratory rate

Blood sugar

Vascular access arterial and venous pressure

Ongoing monitoring via the EPIC flowsheet

Patient environment for risk of falls

• Be able to cannulate both arterial and venous sites of mature AV fistulas with minimal or no support as directed by a registered nurse
• Be able to undertake routine and monthly blood sampling as requested by a registered nurse
• Be able to competently and safely discontinue haemodialysis when treatment has been completed
• Be able to safely remove and dispose of AV fistula needles
• Be able to dispose of all HD circuit lines following infection control guidelines
• Be able to decontaminate dialysis equipment following infection control guidelines and document using the HD decontamination checklist.

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. Transforming Healthcare is the vision at the heart of the King’s Strategy – 2026 to 2031. Together, we are pursuing six strategic ambitions: delivering high-quality patient care; being a great place to work; leading pioneering research, innovation and education; building strong and successful partnerships; providing timely and efficient care; and ensuring long-term financial sustainability. Achieving these ambitions will require all of us to work as one Team King’s, united by a shared commitment to our values of being caring, collaborative, inclusive and innovative. By living these values every day, we will transform healthcare for our patients, our communities and each other

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work within the recognised boundaries of the remit of Advanced Dialysis Assistant.
• Assist the nursing staff in delivering a high standard of holistic care to patients, promoting their equality, privacy, dignity and confidentiality at all times.
• Assist in and perform patient assessment including HD intentional rounding (under supervision and an appropriate delegation from the registered practitioner), plan and deliver high standards of HD care.
• Be proficient with IT systems used in the Trust for patient’s records
• Demonstrate a variety of communication skills: provide concise handovers to the nursing team, provide and receive complex sensitive information with reference to patients, carers and members of the MDT regarding all aspects of care, which may be sensitive or contentious.
• Obtain, relay, record and store information relating to care episode via EPIC, whilst at all times maintaining confidentiality.
• Demonstrate an understanding and knowledge of accurate documentation and contribution towards recording dialysis encounters via EPIC, recognising that the qualified practitioner has personal accountability for entries to patient records.
• Provide and promote health education to delegated patients within the unit in which they work in line with national and local policies
• Ensure the appropriate HD related nutritional intake and advice is provided to delegated patients, with due consideration to dietary and cultural needs.
• Prepare patient for and assist with specific HD related clinical procedures appropriate to the area in which they are working, for example; insertion of temporary vascular catheter.
• Perform and record blood glucose, and potassium levels utilising point of care monitoring equipment as per Trust policy, report adverse results to a registered nurse.
• Assist with basic cardio-pulmonary resuscitation procedures.
• Patients delegated per shift will be at the discretion of the Nurse in Charge/Unit Manager

Haemodialysis specific responsibilities:

Be able to ‘set up’ all models of Haemodialysis machines according to patients’ dialysis prescription.

Be able to safely and competently connect patients to the haemodialysis system, only after all setting and programming have been verified by a Registered Nurse

Measure, monitor and record the following, escalating and reporting any abnormalities to the RGN:

Temperature

Respiratory rate

Blood sugar

Vascular access arterial and venous pressure

Transmembrane /Dialysate Inlet pressure

Blood flow

Ongoing monitoring via the EPIC flowsheet

Patient environment for risk of falls

Assesses the patient for risk of needle dislodgement

Treatment start/stop time

Machine number

• Be able to cannulate both arterial and venous sites of mature AV fistulas with minimal or no support as directed by a registered nurse
• Be able to undertake routine and monthly blood sampling as requested by a registered nurse
• Able to meet the needs or care and support at the end of life as well as provide care for the deceased person respecting cultural requirements and protocols, involving families and carers.
• Be able to competently and safely discontinue haemodialysis when treatment has been completed
• Be able to safely remove and dispose of AV fistula needles
• Be able to dispose of all HD circuit lines following infection control guidelines
• Be able to decontaminate dialysis equipment following infection control guidelines and document using the HD decontamination checklist.
• Ensure that the HD station equipment is decontaminated accordingly depending on the shift following infection control guidelines and complete documentation via the HD station checklist

Person specification

interview

• Care Certificate
• Able to use Microsoft Word to draft letters and reports
• Experience in the haemodialysis setting
• Successfully completed the Advanced Kidney Assistant Course and has been assessed as competent

IMPORTANT

• We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.

AI tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can support you as you complete your application. For example, they can check for spelling or grammar errors, or help you to decide what to include. They shouldn’t however replace your own responses or be used to write the application for you.

Relying too much on AI can negatively impact your chances of success because automatically generated answers:

• might not be specific or relevant enough to address the criteria in the recruitment profile
• often seem generic and not personalised enough – an AI response won’t show your unique voice and perspective
• could misrepresent information about you, such as your qualifications, skills and experience

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.

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This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.