Job responsibilities
General: To assist medical personnel in the care of
patients in the surgery and set up preventive care programmes including the
running of various screening procedures and patient education sessions.
To carry out
general nursing procedures as and when required.
Care of equipment and stocking of vaccines, consumables and laboratory items.
Maintaining a supply of sterile treatment packs. Stock-keeping to be done in
liaison with the practice manager.
Collection of
pathological specimens, including intravenous blood samples; and performing
certain investigations at the request of GPs for example; ECG, Peak flow, spirometry,
audiometry
Supervision of
patients with chronic illnesses. This will include setting up and running
various screening and treatment protocols as and when required and maintaining
an appointment and recall system for patients.
Prevention work
such as immunisations, cervical cytology, family planning, weight reduction,
smoking cessation, cardiovascular risk reduction, fitness promotion and any
other designated Health Promotion areas.
Assisting
and/or chaperoning GPs performing surgical or family planning procedures or
examinations.
To attend patients in their homes when requested by a general practitioner.
To have regard for the emotional and social needs of patients and communicate
these perceptions to the relevant member(s) of the PHCT.
To be aware and take responsibility for personal safety in performing
procedures and to identify and recommend safe procedures to be adopted in the
practice.
Administrative
Keeping full and accurate notes in the patient's records and/or in any other
from used in the practice, of all consultations
and treatments.
Co-operation with any practice research projects.
The collection and collation of any relevant data far compiling practice reports.
Identification (in conjunction with the practice nurse manager/practice manager if necessary) of any
deficiency in the practices target for 100% success in preventive and surveillance
protocols and anticipate the measures needed to rectify the deficit.
Attending
practice meetings as required.
Maintaining
equipment in GP rooms and treatment rooms.
Maintaining stocks of sterile supplies for use by GP's and nurses.
Ensure payments for private treatments are paid by the patients before
treatment is given. Also, ensure all activity relating to NHS claims and
reimbursement are properly coded and recorded.
Identifying
care needs within the practice population by undertaking a practice profile or
similar exercise and organising work to best meet the needs identified.
Ability to demonstrate the rationale behind the various methods chosen to meet
care needs of patients, to evaluate those methods and change them as necessary.
Educational
To participate in any further education/training deemed useful or necessary.
To use
opportunities to educate patients in their abilities to help themselves and to
reinforce education from other health sources.
To be involved as required in the teaching and training of other health care
personnel attached to or visiting the Practice.
To avoid significant deviation from normal practice clinical or administrative
procedures without first having discussed and agreed proposed changes with your
colleagues and subsequently obtaining approval from the Doctors or the Practice
Manager.
Remember that care of patients ultimately rests with the general practitioner
with whom they are registered and that patient care can only be undertaken with
the certain knowledge that the GP concerned has requested this either directly
or as part of the practice policy.
Public Relations
You are required to maintain and promote the good name of the practice by
dealing with patients in a confident, caring, friendly and professional way.
You must do everything possible to protect the reputation of the Practice and
the Doctors and avoid saying or doing anything that could bring the Practice
into disrepute.
Patient complaints must be dealt with speedily and efficiently according to the
practice complaints protocol and the patients complaints information leaflet.
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.
General and Health and Safety
To be responsible for your personal safety when performing procedures.
To identify any safety risks within the practice and notify G.P./Practice Lead Nurse
Practice Manager.
To read and to follow the NMC Code of Professional Conduct.
This is not
meant to be a fully comprehensive or exhaustive list. Therefore, this job
description is presumed to include any other tasks or responsibilities that the
partners or the practice manager decides are reasonable for this work environment
and for whatever presently unforeseen circumstances might prevail at the
time.