Health Care Assistant (Home Visit)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Duties and responsibilities:

• Ensure the delivery of nursing care is evidence based and own practice is clinically reviewed through supervision and reflective practice as part of revalidation.
• Provide clinical support to the Long Term Conditions team and promote collaborative working relationships between all members of the multi-disciplinary team.
• Contribute to clinical/staff meetings professionally and effectively.
• Achieve targets set thus contributing to the profitability of the practice, by timely completion of paperwork and clinical reviews
• Manage and control effective and economic use of diagnostic and screening equipment
• Have knowledge and experience of the Long Term Condition reviews in either pts home or clinical settings
• Attend training courses in line with organisational standards and expectations
• Communicate and present professionally at all times
• Offer additional support/holiday/sickness cover by arrangement
• Manage administrative patient task and documents
• Carry out home visits to house bound patients
• ECG recording
• Chaperoning duties
• Processing and management of laboratory samples requested by GPs/nurses
• Sterilising, cleansing and maintenance of surgical equipment
• Vaccine/cold chain storage, monitoring and recording
• Vaccine stock management and rotation. To include fridge temperature recording
• Preparing and maintaining environments and equipment before, during and after patient care interventions including assisting GPs during the performance of minor operations
• Helping to raise awareness of and promote health and well-being
• Assisting with the collection and collation of data when required
• Management of Ambulatory Blood pressure Machines
• Initiation and adherence to LH blood pressure protocol

Long Term Condition reviews:

• Thorough understanding of the Long Term Conditions framework and its role in delivering and maintaining high standards of care
• Knowledge in a broad range of clinical areas to support effective care delivery
• Health promotion
• Use of templates to aid standardisation of care
• Ability to interpret and manage results as appropriate, following practice policies

Confidentiality:

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will contribute towards the development of and adhere to Practice Health and Safety procedures, particularly with regard to Infection Control Procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines
• Responsibility for the correct and safe management of the specimens process including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
• Management and maintenance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the practice including provision, ordering, availability and on-going correct usage by staff
• Adherence to Practice hand hygiene policy.
• Ownership of infection control and clinically based patient care protocols, and implementation of those protocols across the practice
• Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes
• Monitoring practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that provision of hand cleansing facilities, wipes etc. are sufficient to ensure a good clinical working environment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate.
• Safe management of sharps procedures including training, use, storage and disposal
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers
• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum twice annually)
• Routine management of own team / team areas, and maintenance of work space standards
• Waste management including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
• Spillage control procedures, management and training
• Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance
• Maintenance of sterile environments

Equality and diversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal/Professional development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the Implementation of Services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate

THE ABOVE LIST OF RESPONSIBILITES IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER DISCUSSION WITH MANAGER WHERE APPROPRIATE.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The post holder will be required to use VDU frequently, for prolonged periods of time.

Person Specification

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Excellent keyboard and computer skills
• Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills
• Ability to listen and empathise
• Excellent time management
• Knowledge of Medical Terminology

Desirable

• Assess and provide basic wound management
• Perform venepuncture

Qualifications

Essential

• 5 GCSEs at grade C or above including Maths and English ( or Maths and English level 2 Functional Skills)
• NVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care

Desirable

• Immunisation Administration
• Care Certificate (COPD/ASTHMA/DIABETES)

Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Strict compliance and understanding of confidentiality
• A demonstrable commitment to professional development
• Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense
• Confident, reliable and self-reliant
• Positive attitude to change and a pro-active approach but also pragmatic and realistic
• Ability to work as part of an integrated multi-skilled team
• Adaptable, innovative, forward looking
• Honest, caring and sympathetic
• Methodical and organised
• Able to work under pressure
• Able to work in a changing environment
• Able to work using own initiative
• Ability to work flexibly

Experience

Essential

• Work in a caring environment

Desirable

• Work and knowledge of Primary Care
• Experience of using EMIS clinical system
• Long Term Condition management
• Exposure to chronic disease management

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

Lion Health

Address

2 Lowndes Road

Stourbridge

West Midlands

DY8 3SS

Employer's website

http://lion-health.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)