Health Care Assistant

Integrated Care System; Doncaster; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Doncaster is seeking a Healthcare Assistant to support clinical and administrative services. The successful candidate will assist clinical staff in providing preventative care, health promotion, and patient education. Responsibilities include health checks, wound care, and supporting chronic disease management. A healthcare qualification and experience in a primary care setting are required.

Benefits

NHS Pension Scheme

Westfield Healthcare Level 1

Qualifications

• Previous experience of working with the general public is essential.
• Experience of working in a healthcare setting.
• Experience of working in a primary care environment.

Responsibilities

• Undertake new patient health checks.
• Support the Practice Nurse with health promotion programmes.
• Carry out baseline observations and record findings accurately.
• Facilitate routine and 24-hour BP monitoring.
• Undertake wound care and dressings as required.

Skills

Ability to record accurate clinical notes

Chaperone procedure

New patient medicals, including height, weight, BP, pulse

Venepuncture

ECGs

Wound care/removal of sutures and staples

Education

Healthcare qualification (level 3 or 4) or working towards

Completion of the HCA Care Certificate

Job description

To support the practice nursing and administrative teams in the delivery of clinical andadministrative services, working as part of the practice multi-disciplinary team, deliveringcare 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.

Main duties of the job

The following are the core responsibilities of the Healthcare Assistant. There may be, a requirement to carry out other tasks

a. Undertake new patient health checks

b. Support the Practice Nurse with health promotion programmes

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

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

e. Undertake wound care, dressings and other clinical tasks as required

f. Support the Practice Nurse with the management of chronic disease clinics

g. Carry out BMI checks as directed

h. Act as a chaperone as required

i. When trained, undertake venepuncture

j. When trained, administer flu vaccinations

k. When trained, carry out ear irrigation under the supervision of the Practice Nurse

l. Carry out ECGs as requested

m. Ensure specimens are recorded and ready for onward transportation

n. Provide support during minor operations as required

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

p. Ensure fridges are cleaned routinely in accordance with extant guidance

q. Ensure clinical waste is removed from clinical areas and sharps bins replaced inaccordance with the organisations IPC policy

r. Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

About us

We are a practice of five GP partners, and 1 salaried GP, we also use regular GP Locums. The nursing team currently consists of one nurse practitioner, three practice nurses, one HCA and a phlebotomist. We have various ARRS roles working in the practice; pharmacy team, mental health practitioner and MSK specialists. We are also a training practice with six GP registrars in practice as well as two students from Sheffield Medical School.

Hereat the Lakeside Practice, we care for a community of over 9200 patients. Askern issituated 7 miles North of Doncaster City Centre. We have a mixed class of patients whichinclude farmers, traveller population and low-income families. It is an ex-mining community, which nowprovides a workforce for the services industry and light industry. The coal mines have long gone, but they left alegacy in our older patients which means now we must care for a community withvery high incidence of COPD, lung cancer and heart disease. There is also a high prevalence of diabetesand obesity within our community.

Thisis balanced by also having a high number of very young children (and theiryoung mums), which offers further challenges.

Job responsibilities

To support the practice nursing and administrative teams in the delivery of clinical andadministrative services, working as part of the practice multi-disciplinary team, deliveringcare 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 while also supporting theadministrative team on an as-required basis.

To provide the highest quality of patient care in the area

All staff have a duty to conform to the following - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I)A good attitude and positive action towards Equality Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) createsan environment where all individuals can achieve their full potential. Creating such anenvironment is important for three reasons it improves operational effectiveness, it ismorally 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 indecisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity andrespect 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 canexpect to work in an environment where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity ispromoted. 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 theytreat 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 tomaintain their health, wellbeing, and safety.The post holder is to manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuringadequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients and monitor work areas andpractices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety andsecurity legislation, policies, procedures, and guidelines.All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work forthemselves, their team, and others and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliancewith health and safety requirements.All personnel are to comply with the:Health and Safety at Work Act 1974Environmental Protection Act 1990Environment Act 1995Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999Other statutory legislation which may be brought to the post holders attentionConfidentialityThe organisation is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patientsentrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health andother matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expectall 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 tobe retained, all staff must protect patient information and provide a confidential service.Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)To preserve and improve the quality of this organisations outputs, all personnel arerequired to think not only of what they do but how they achieve it. By continually reexamining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectivenessof the way we work.The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the organisation to look foropportunities to improve quality and share good practice and to discuss, highlight and workwith the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.At this organisation, we continually strive to improve work processes which deliverhealthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote aculture of continuous improvement where everyone counts, and staff are permitted to makesuggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.Staff should interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategiesthat are aligned to the values and culture of general practice. All staff are to contribute toinvestigations and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigationsand multidisciplinary case reviews.InductionWe will provide a full induction programme and management will support you throughoutthe process.

Learning and developmentThe effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff areequipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude, and competences to perform theirrole. All staff will be required to partake in and complete mandatory training as directed. Itis an expectation for this post holder to assess their own learning needs and undertakelearning as appropriateThe post holder will undertake mentorship for team members and disseminate learning andinformation gained to other team members to share good practice and inform others aboutcurrent and future developments (e.g., courses and conferences). The post holder willprovide an educational role to patients, carers, families, and colleagues in an environmentthat facilitates learning.Collaborative workingAll staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working and understand their ownrole and scope and identify how this may develop over time. Staff are to prioritise their ownworkload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within theculture of the team.Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments and the post holder is to work asan effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring themechanisms to develop new ways of working and work effectively with others to clearlydefine values, direction and policies impacting upon care deliveryEffective communication is essential, and all staff must ensure they communicate in amanner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.All staff should delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practiceand assessment of competence. Plans and outcomes by which to measure success shouldbe agreed.Managing informationAll staff should use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in theplanning, implementation and monitoring of care and presenting and communicatinginformation.Data should be reviewed and processed using accurate SNOMED to ensure easy andaccurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.Service deliveryStaff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy andprocedure.The post holder must adhere to the information contained within the organisations policiesand regional directives, ensuring protocols are always adhered to.SecurityThe security of the organisation is the responsibility of all personnel. The post holder mustensure they always remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately to theirline manager.Under no circumstances are staff to share the codes for the door locks with anyone andare to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured. Likewise, password controlsare to be maintained and passwords are not to be shared.

Professional conduct All staff are required to dress appropriately for their role.LeaveAll personnel are entitled to take leave. Line managers are to ensure all their staff areafforded the opportunity to take leave each year and should be encouraged to take all theirleave entitlement.Public holidays will be calculated on a pro-rated basis dependent on the number of hoursworked.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Healthcare qualification (level 3 or 4) or working towards
• Previous completion of the HCA Care Certificate - as
• detailed within GP Mythbuster No 57 - HCAs in General
• Practice

Experience

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

Knowledge and Skills

• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Chaperone procedure
• New patient medicals, including height, weight, BP, pulse
• Venepuncture
• ECGs
• Wound care/removal of sutures and staples

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.

Depending on experienceincludes NHS Pension Scheme & Westfield Healthcare Level 1