Frailty Health Care Assistant

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job purpose

Working under the direct supervision of a senior frailty nurse in accordance with specific practice guidelines and protocols, the HealthCare Assistant will assist the practice clinical team in the delivery of care to improve the overall health and wellbeing of our frail population.

Job summary

The primary role of the post holder will be to conduct home and clinic visits to identified people to proactively undertake various health checks.

People living with frailty will be targeted and seen either in their own home or in a clinical setting by appointment to undergo proactive assessments of nutrition, mobility, medication compliance, as well as physical and mental wellbeing. Using identified screening tools, it will include screening for dementia, depression, and atrial fibrillation.

The role will include liaising with the persons carers, carers lead, Wellbeing Team, and community teams, supporting the principles of good integration between health and social care.

In addition, the post holder will assist in peoples care to include any practice related duties as directed by and under the supervision of a registered healthcare professional.

The post holder will work collaboratively with the practice team to meet the needs of people with a frailty diagnosis, following policy and procedures.

A Full, clean driving licence is required.

Key duties and responsibilities

Working in peoples homes, care homes and clinical settings, the duties will include but are not limited to:

Frailty health checks.

ECG recording.

Phlebotomy.

Blood pressure recording.

Urinalysis.

Patient height and weight measurement.

Obtaining collection of specimens as directed.

Spirometry and pulse oximetry.

Measuring peripheral pulses.

Temperature recording.

Use of HAD and Step-Up tests.

Nutritional assessment.

Input, extract and interpret data from both computerised and hand-held recording systems.

Maintain accurate records (both computerised and hand-written) at all times.

Undertake administrative support as required.

Attend regular study days and update opportunities to maintain safe standards of practice and your personal development profile.

Act as a support and share good practice with members of the multi-disciplinary team.

Maintain confidentiality or information relating to people, relatives, staff, and the practice.

Help to raise awareness of health and well-being and how it can be promoted.

Assisting with the collection and collation of data on needs related to health and well-being.

Communication

Communicate effectively with other team members.

Communicate effectively with people and their carers, recognising their needs for alternative methods of communication.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I)

People, their carers and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect 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. People have a responsibility to treat other people and our staff with dignity and respect.

Health and Safety

The Blackmore Vale Partnership is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, well-being, and safety.

The post holder is to manage and assess risks within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and people and 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.

All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for themselves, their team, and others and to co-operate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. All personnel are to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999 and other statutory legislation.

Service Improvement

Be aware of and, if appropriate, assist in clinical audits.

Work with colleagues in the team on the development of current and new services and other initiatives.

Deal with requests from people for health information leaflets.

Confidentiality

The Blackmore Vale Partnership are committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. People entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will always respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality.

It is essential that, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of people is to be retained, all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk in the care of people.
• Practice in accordance with agreed standards of care.
• Ensure own actions are consistent with clinical governance systems.
• Ensure stock items under your control are ordered and available in the treatment and consulting rooms.
• Be aware of the practice policies.
• Be able to manage your own time effectively.

All staff are to contribute to investigations and root cause analysis whilst participating in serious incident investigations and multidisciplinary case reviews.

Induction

In addition to the induction process at BVP, where you will be provided with a full induction programme.

Service Delivery

Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.

The post holder must adhere to the information contained within the practice policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are always adhered to.

Security

The security of the practice is the responsibility of all personnel. The post holder must ensure they always remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately to their line manager.

Under no circumstances are staff to share the codes for the door locks with anyone and are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured. Likewise, password controls are to be maintained and are not to be shared.

Professional Conduct

All staff are required to dress appropriately for their role.

Review and Appraisals

All employees are entitled to have an annual review with their line manager, which will include drawing up a personal development plan and reviewing the job description.

Person Specification

Interpersonal Skills

Essential

• Ability to form positive relationships with colleagues
• Promote good communication with the multidisciplinary team and community organisations

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding of responsibilities under the Health and Safety Act, Infection Control and Risk Assessment
• Assessment and Review
• The ability to work under pressure
• The ability to work as a team player.
• Ability to self-motivate
• Judgement and initiative
• Respects patient confidentiality

Desirable

• Knowledge of the Francis Report on Standards for HCAs.
• (2013)

Motivation

Essential

• A commitment to provide high quality care standards for the frail population
• To promote equal opportunities and non-discriminatory practice.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications:
• Health and Social Care qualification or equivalent.
• Experience
• Previous experience in general practice, community nursing or in a rehabilitation setting.
• Knowledge:
• Understanding of responsibilities under the Health and Safety Act, Infection Control and Risk Assessment
• The ability to work under pressure.
• The ability to work as a team player.
• Ability to self-motivate
• Able to make good judgements and use initiative.
• Respects patient confidentiality.
• Motivation:
• A commitment to provide high quality care standards for the frail population.
• To promote equal opportunities and non-discriminatory practice.
• Interpersonal Skills:
• Ability to form positive relationships with colleagues.
• Promote good communication with multidisciplinary teams and community organisations.

Desirable

• Experience:
• Computer literate; basic knowledge & experience of MS Office applications.
• Experience with working with older adults.
• Experience of working with community/third sector organisations.

Experience

Essential

• Previous experience in general practice, community nursing or in a rehabilitation setting.

Desirable

• Experience with working with vulnerable adults
• Experience of working with community/third sector organisations

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

The Blackmore Vale Partnership

Address

Sturminster Newton Medical Centre

Old Market Hill

Sturminster Newton

Dorset

DT10 1QU

Employer's website

https://blackmorevalesurgery.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)