Job responsibilities
Communication
Utilise and
demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully
informed and consent to treatment.
Communicate
with and support patients who are receiving bad news.
Communicate
effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative
methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding,
cultural background and preferred ways of communicating.
Anticipate
barriers to communication and take action to improve communication.
Maintain
effective communication within the urgent care service and with GP practices
and external stakeholders.
Act as an
advocate for patients and colleagues.
Ensure
awareness of sources of support and guidance (e.g. PALS) and provide
information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any
difficulties and referring where appropriate.
Delivering a Quality Service
Recognise
and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by
the GMC. Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient
consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.
Prioritise,
organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes
quality.
Deliver
care according to NICE guidelines and evidence-based care.
Assess
effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and
formal evaluation.
Initiate
and participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes
across the organisation and its activities.
Utilise the
audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the
team, implementing improvements where required.
In
partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of
health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as
appropriate.
Evaluate patients
response to health care provision and the effectiveness of care.
Support and participate
in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation.
Use a structured
framework (e.g. root-cause analysis) to manage, review and identify learning
from patient complaints, clinical incidents and near-miss events.
Assess the impact of
policy implementation on care delivery.
Understand and apply
legal issues that support the identification of vulnerable and abused children
and adults and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients health
procedures and local guidance.
Leadership - Personal
and People Development
Take
responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in
clinical supervision and acting as a positive role mode.
Support
staff development in order to maximise potential.
Critically
evaluate and review innovations and developments that are relevant to the area
of work.
Enlist
support and influence stakeholders and decision-makers in order to bring about
new developments in the provision of services.
Take a lead
role in planning and implementing changes within the area of care and
responsibility.
Contribute
to the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards.
Team Working
Understand own role and
scope and identify how this may develop over time.
Work as an effective and
responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to
develop new ways of working.
Delegate clearly and
appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of
competence.
Create clear referral
mechanisms to meet patient need.
Prioritise own workload
and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture
of the team.
Work effectively with
others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care
delivery.
Discuss, highlight and
work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.
Manage and lead on the
delivery of specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the
practice management team.
Agree plans and outcomes
by which to measure success.
Management of Risk
Manage and assess risk within the
areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect
staff and patients.
Monitor work areas and practices to
ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and
security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
Apply infection-control measures
within the practice according to local and national guidelines.
Advocate for policies that reduce
environmental health risks, are culturally sensitive and increase access to
health care for all.
Interpret national strategies and
policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values
and culture of general practice.
Managing Information
Use
technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in planning,
implementation and monitoring of care, presenting and communicating information.
Review and
process data using accurate Read codes in order to ensure easy and accurate
information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.
Manage
information searches using the internet and local library databases.
Understand
responsibility of self and others to the practice and primary care trust regarding
the Freedom and Information Act.
Learning and Development
Undertake
mentorship for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards.
Disseminate
learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good
practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g. courses
and conferences).
Assess own
learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate.
Provide an
educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment
that facilitates.
Other Responsibilities
Work with the GPs and other primary
care professionals within the PCN to identify and manage a caseload of
patients, and where required and as appropriate, refer people back to other
health professionals within the PCN.
Raise awareness within the PCN of
shared decision-making and decision support tools.
Raise awareness of how to identify
patients who may benefit from shared decision making and support PCN staff and
patients.
The post holder will maintain the security of
sensitive personal and other confidential information and will apply all
relevant Information Governance policies reliably to working practice.
Additionally, they will be expected to follow secure operating procedures for
handling information in all formats, including verbal, written and that held
electronically.
The post holder will have the appropriate
level of child protection and adult safeguarding knowledge, skills and practice
required for the post; be aware of and comply with child protection and adult
safeguarding policies and procedures.
This post will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure
and Barring Service) Check.
In addition to observing the host Practices
rules and procedures, which all staff are required to observe and follow, the
post holder is also required to follow general policies and procedures that
apply to the employment relationship. It is the duty of the post holder to
accept personal responsibility for the practical application of these policies,
procedures and standards.
Confidentiality
While 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 individual practices. 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 Practices may only be divulged to
authorised persons in accordance with the host Practice policies and procedures
relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
Health and Safety
The post-holder will assist in promoting and
maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the
host practice Health and Safety Policy, to include:
Using appropriate infection control
procedures, maintain work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
Identifying the risks involved in work
activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
Promptly report any potential risks
identified.
Using personal security systems within
the workplace according to practice guidelines.
Making effective use of training to
update knowledge and skills.
Being familiar with the operation and maintenance schedule for
fire, panic and intruder alarms.
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 host 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-judgemental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and
rights.
Quality
The post-holder will strive to maintain
quality within the host practice/PCN 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.
