Health Care Assistant

Job description

Job responsibilities

To assist in the delivery of patient care, ensuring that patient safety and well-being is respected at all times. This will include taking significant numbers of blood samples, therefore experience in phlebotomy is essential.

Carrying out new patient checks, testing urine, blood pressure checks, heights, weights, ECGs and assisting with BP monitoring.

To communicate courteously and effectively with patients, relatives and carers.

To ensure the practice treatment rooms and consulting rooms are kept in a clean and tidy state and that equipment is in working order, clean and available for use.

To ensure that the drug refrigerators are at the correct temperature and that drugs are within their expiry dates and used in correct sequence.

To advise the Practice Manager and Assistant Practice Manager of the need for drugs and other supplies, ordering as appropriate, ensuring that adequate levels of stock are available and stocking rooms.

To report all matters pertaining to patient care (e.g. changes in condition or circumstances) to a relevant member of the nursing or medical team as a matter of priority and to ensure that a document record is kept.

To make sure that health promotion materials are available & displayed within the surgeries ordering new stock when needed.

To record all patient contacts as appropriate.

To participate in audits as required

To undertake other such duties as the Practice Manager may reasonably require

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 assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include:

Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards

Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised

Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean

Reporting potential risks identified

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 recognizes 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

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication:

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

Communicate effectively with other team members

Communicate effectively with patients and carers

Recognize 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

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level 3 HCA in Primary Care/Secondary Care

Desirable

• Experience in Phlebotomy essential

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Chirk Surgery

Address

Castle Health Centre, Colliery Road

Chirk

Wrexham

LL14 5DH

Employer's website

http://chirksurgery.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)