Senior Health Care Support Worker - Community Services

St. Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; St Helens; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 23,000; Full time

Job summary

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking a Band 3 Health Care Support Worker to join our Community Services team in St Helens. You will work with registered nurses to provide end-of-life and personal care according to care plans, in line with Trust policies and patient centred care.

NVQ level 3 is essential, and you will contribute to safe practice, effective teamwork and compassionate care. Training and development are supported within the Service.

Qualifications

• NVQ level 3 Health and Social Care or equivalent.
• Care Certificate (equivalent to level 1).
• Literacy and numeracy functional skills level 2 or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Work as part of a team and duties will be delegated by the registered healthcare professional.
• Act within the scope of your training and competence, knowing who to ask for help and support if you are not sure.
• Follow relevant Trust standards, policies and protocols.

Skills

Communication skills

Teamwork

Flexibility

Prioritising workload

Resilience

Education

NVQ level 3 Health and Social Care or equivalent

Care Certificate

Literacy & numeracy level 2

Tools

Basic IT skills

Job description

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Thirdparty recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a band 3 Health Care Support Worker to join our Community Services

The post will be part of a skill mixed team providing a range of nursing interventions to patients registered with St Helens G.Ps. Examples of the duties carried out are as follows:

• Supporting registered nurses providing end of life care
• Provision of personal care in line with care plans
• Follow all care plans/wound care/catheter care/administration of medication

NVQ level 3 is essential.

Main duties of the job

The post holders will demonstrate an attitude which respects and values service users' and their carers.

The post holders will embrace the core values of the organisation. These principles will recognise the need to:

• Promote safe practices
• Value the aims of service users
• Work in partnership and offer meaningful choice
• Be optimistic about the possibilities of meaningful change
• Value social inclusion
• Supporting registered nurses providing end of life care
• Provision of personal care in line with care plans
• Follow all care plans/wound care/catheter care/administration of medication

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services: Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work as part of a team and duties will be delegated by the registered healthcare professional.
• Act within the scope of your training and competence, knowing who to ask for help and support if you are not sure.
• Work within agreed ways of working, following relevant Trust standards, policies and protocols.
• Communicate compassionately and effectively with individuals and their families, carers and health care practitioners using a range of techniques, maintaining confidentiality and using tact, empathy, persuasion and reassurance
• Observe, assess and respond to patients needs appropriately, escalating concerns to Nursing staff as required including instigating emergency procedures as per policy.
• Organises self and supervises other junior staff or learners in general work tasks or when delivering patient care with supervision from nursing staff.
• Prioritises a range of delegated clinical care duties.
• Acting on own initiative, undertake personal care duties and support activities of daily living, e.g. mouth care, personal hygiene and toileting needs, demonstrating person centred care.
• Assist the registered healthcare practitioners with clinical tasks, follow care plans, notice and report changes, assist with risk assessments, obtain samples and some specimens.
• Safely deliver care duties including manoeuvring of patient equipment such as hoists and wheelchairs.
• Gather evidence to assist registered healthcare practitioner in obtaining a patient/client history.
• Undertake delegated procedures as required within the limits of required training and measured competence e.g venepuncture / ECG recording / blood glucose monitoring, clinical observations, taking specimens, escalating any abnormalities to the registered nurse.
• Support of patients feeding, diet and nutritional needs and accurately record patients nutritional intake and fluid intake and output, noticing and reporting changes to the nursing staff.
• Ensure patient property is managed as per Trust policy.
• Monitor levels of supplies and order supplies for the department as appropriate
• Demonstrates own duties to new starters, contributing to the learning environment. Where requested, supports/supervises work of students and other junior staff.
• Occasionally participates in audits, surveys, development activities
• To work in line with Trust policies and procedures
• Contributes to maintaining a safe, healthy working environment
• Follow the principles for implementing a duty of care, always acting in the best interest of individuals to ensure they do not come to harm
• Work in partnership with the individual, their carers/ families and the wider healthcare team.
• Maintain and further develop your own skills and knowledge through development and learning activities; maintain evidence of your personal development and actively prepare for and participate in appraisal
• Participate in team handovers

Person specification Qualifications Essential criteria

• NVQ level 3 Health and Social Care or equivalent
• Care Certificate (equivalent to level 1)
• Literacy and numeracy functional skills level 2 or equivalent

Knowledge & Experience Essential criteria

• Knowledge of personal care and related procedures
• Demonstrable experience of working in a patient care/health related role
• Knowledge of relevant legislation related to healthcare
• Experience of working in a team

Skills Essential criteria

• Ability to communicate effectively in both verbal and written formats
• Good interpersonal skills
• Able to work within a team
• Experience of supporting junior staff and learners
• Able to accept direction and guidance
• Aware of own limitations
• Flexible in working hours
• Able to prioritise own workload and manage time effectively
• Flexible, adaptable and responsive to change
• Reliable and professional
• Ability to cope in stressful and challenging situations
• Inclusive and non-judgmental
• Punctual, motivated and committed
• Effective role model demonstrating Trust values
• Basic IT skills

Other Essential criteria

• Frequent moderate effort for several long periods during the shift such as manual handling patients to supporting patient's personal care.
• Concentration, focus and frequent record keeping requirements. Carrying out time critical tasks.
• Aware that developing resilience to distressing situations is necessary without losing the ability to care compassionately.
• Aware of the process for accessing staff health and wellbeing support
• Daily exposure to distressing situations which may include challenging behaviour, care of chronic health conditions, patient end of life care/care after death.
• Able to carry out direct clinical care as required on ward or department.
• Potential blood or body fluids exposure.

Our Values Essential criteria

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under-represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact