Job responsibilities
Nene Valley Hodgson Medical Practice
Health Care Assistant (HCA) Job Description
Job Title:
Health Care Assistant (HCA)
Line Manager:
Lead Nurse
Accountable to:
Lead Nurse and Management Team
Hours per week:
Working pattern of hours:
Job Summary
The role of the Health Care Assistant in General Practice is to
support the practice nursing team in the delivery of nursing services to our
patient population, working as part of the practice multidisciplinary team,
and delivering care within their own scope of practice.
The
healthcare assistant will deliver and assist clinical staff in the provision
of treatment, preventative care, health promotion and patient education.
Practice Mission Statement
Our
aim is to provide a high quality, caring and personal health care service to
our whole patient population by:
Putting our patients at the centre
of what we do
Having a highly qualified and
trained multi-professional integrated primary Healthcare Team
Offering our services in a
safe, supportive, and suitable equipped environment, using technological
advances in healthcare systems for our patients benefit.
Generic Responsibilities for all staff
All staff at Nene Valley Hodgson Medical
Practice have a duty to conform to the following:
1.
Health and Safety including Fire regulations at
work:
This practice is
committed to supporting and promoting opportunities to for staff to maintain
their health, well-being and safety. You
have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for you,
your team and others, and to cooperate 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.
2.
Confidentiality:
This practice is committed to maintaining an outstanding
confidential service. Patients 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 respect their privacy and always maintain
confidentiality. It is essential that
if, the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to
be retained that all staff protect patient information and provide a
confidential service.
3.
Quality
& Continuous Improvement:
To preserve and improve the quality of our
output, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do, but how
they achieve it. By continually
re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the
overall effectiveness of the way we work. The responsibility for this rests with
everyone working within the practice to look for opportunities to improve
quality and share good practice.
This practice continually strives to improve work
processes which deliver health care with improved results across all areas of
our service provision. We promote a
culture of continuous improvement, where everyone counts, and staff are
permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service
delivery and enhance patient care.
4.
Induction
Training:
On arrival at the practice all personnel are to complete a
practice induction programme; this is managed by the Practice Manager.
5. Service Delivery:
Staff at Nene Valley Hodgson Medical
Practice must adhere to the information contained with practice policies,
ensuring protocols are always adhered to. Staff will be given detailed
information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.
6. Security:
The security of the practice is the
responsibility of all personnel. Staff must ensure they always remain
vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately to the Practice
Manager. Under no circumstances are staff to share the codes for the door
locks to anyone and are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively
secured.
Key Responsibilities
The following are the core responsibilities of the healthcare
assistant. There may be on occasion, a requirement to
carry out other tasks; this will be dependent upon factors such as workload
and staffing levels and changes in our contract and services we offer:
a.
Support the practice nurse with
health promotion programmes
b.
Carry out baseline observations such
as pulse oximetry, blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, recording
findings accurately
c.
Facilitate routine and 24-hour BP
monitoring, advising patients accordingly
d.
Undertake wound care, dressings and
other clinical tasks as required
e.
Support the practice nurse with the
management of chronic disease clinics
f.
Carry out BMI checks as directed
g.
Act as a chaperone as required
h.
Undertake venepuncture
i.
Administer flu vaccinations under
PSDs
j.
Carry out ECGs as requested
k.
Ensure specimens are recorded and
ready for onward transportation
l.
Provide support during minor
operations including coils and implants as required
m.
Ensure all clinical rooms are
adequately stocked and prepared for each session
n.
Ensure fridges are cleaned routinely
in accordance with extant guidance and fridge temperatures logged if this is
part of your role
o.
Ensure clinical waste is removed
from clinical areas and sharps bins replaced in accordance with the practice
IPC policy
p.
Deliver opportunistic health
promotion where appropriate
q.
Support infection control procedures
in the practice
r.
Undertake new patient health checks
s.
Undertake the first part of the long
term condition review
t.
Assist the practice with infection
prevention and control
u.
Support with minor surgery and coil
and implant clinics when required
v.
Give vaccinations as part of a
patient specific direction (PSD) if appropriate and the correct level of
training is attained.
Communication and Collaborative Working
All staff are to recognise the
significance of collaborative working.
Effective communication is essential,
and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the
sharing of information in an appropriate manner.
Additional Responsibilities
In addition to the primary responsibilities, the healthcare
assistant may be requested to:
a.
Participate in practice audit as
directed by the audit lead
b.
Participate in local initiatives to
enhance service delivery and patient care
c.
Support and participate in shared
learning within the practice
d.
Complete opening and closing
procedures in accordance with the duty rota
Team Working
Teamwork is essential in
multidisciplinary environments.
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
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
Management of Risk
Monitor their own work area to
ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and
security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines
Will ensure they undertake mandatory
and statutory training requirements
Apply infection-control measures within
the practice according to local and national guidelines
Learning and Development
Disseminate learning and information
gained to other team members in order to share good practice
Assess own learning needs and
undertake learning as appropriate
The post
holder will be given training to help them to undertake
their role
Equality and Diversity
Identify patterns of discrimination
and take action to overcome this and promote diversity and equality of
opportunity
Enable others to promote equality
and diversity in a non-discriminatory culture
Support people who need assistance
in exercising their rights
Act as a role model in the
observance of equality and diversity good practice
Accept the rights of individuals to
choose their care providers, participate in care and refuse care
Assist patients from marginalised
groups to access quality care
This document may be amended following
consultation with the post holder, to facilitate the development of the role,
the practice and the individual.
All personnel should be prepared to accept
additional, or surrender existing duties, to enable the efficient running of
the practice.
