Salaried General Practitioner - North Staffordshire GP Federation

Job responsibilities

Main tasks/overview of responsibilities:

• In accordance with the Practice rota, as agreed, the post-holder will make him/her-self available to undertake a variety of duties including surgery consultations, telephone consultations and queries, visiting patients at home, checking and signing/authorising repeat prescriptions and dealing with queries, paperwork and correspondence in a timely fashion.
• Making professional, autonomous decisions in relation to presenting problems, whether self-referred or referred from other health care workers within the organisation.
• Assessing the health care needs of patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed problems.
• Screening patients for disease risk factors and early signs of illness.
• In consultation with patients and in line with current practice disease management protocols, developing care plans for health.
• Providing counselling and health education.
• Admitting or discharging patients to and from the caseload and referring to other care providers as appropriate.
• Recording clear and contemporaneous consultation notes to agreed standards.
• Collecting data for audit purposes.
• Compiling and issuing computer-generated acute and repeat prescriptions.
• Prescribing in accordance with the practice prescribing formulary (or generically) whenever this is clinically appropriate.
• The post-holder will be required to visit patients during surgery time in an emergency if clinically indicated.
• The post-holder will undertake a fair percentage of On Call sessions per week as allocated on the practice rota.
• The post-holder will undertake fair share of home visiting sessions per week as allocated.

Training/Meetings

• Attending training and events organised by the practice or other agencies, where appropriate.
• Participate positively and actively in clinical and practice meetings.
• The Practice has a strong ethos around training and development of others, therefore the successful candidate will be willing and able to support medical students, and other training roles.
• Patient Management.
• Create opportunities to address patients care needs in the most expedient way, taking into account that continuity of care and access to services are often in direct conflict.
• Make improved use of the telephone and other technologies. Encourage patients to rely on face- to-face consultation only where there is a clinical need to do so.
• Communicate and reassure patients of the need to offer alternative care options where appropriate and safe to do so.
• To immediately highlight any concerns you may have in respect of safety or quality of patient care to the Practice Management team.

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, to include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines.
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
• Reporting potential risks identified.

Equality and Diversity

• Acting in a way that recognises 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.
• 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

• Develops and maintains up to date personal development plan and professional portfolio for purposes of annual individual performance review, appraisal and revalidation.
• Is able to develop own knowledge and clinical practice to meet objectives and changes in service.
• Manage own time, workload and resources effectively.
• To provide education and training to other staff and Registrars as appropriate.
• Operate a high standard of probity.
• A commitment to life-long learning and audit to ensure evidence-based best practice.
• Awareness of and compliance with all relevant practice policies/guidelines, e.g. prescribing, confidentiality, data protection, health and safety.

Quality

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
• Work to practice protocols.
• 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.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Communication

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

• Communicate effectively with other team members.
• Be familiar in all mediums of communications such as email, tasks, telephone etc.
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers.
• Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
• Communicate effectively to outside agencies.
• Communicate clearly with their lead GP.

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.

General

This job description reflects the current situation. It is subject to review and updating in the light of changing service needs. Details may be changed in consultation with the role holder and/or reviewed at their annual appraisal. Job descriptions are not designed to be all-inclusive although they will, as far as practicable, be a reasonably accurate and understandable specification of duties. The nature of our organisation demands a flexible approach in order to provide efficient and modern services to our patients. This job description may be amended by North Staffordshire GP Federation and you may be required to carry out additional or other duties as may be reasonably required.

Other Requirements

Essential

• Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions.
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands.
• Champion of equality and valuing diversity.
• Always operates in line with Confidentiality and Data Protection Act.
• Working flexibly and prioritising competing demands on time to ensure agreed deadlines are met and organisational effectiveness within limited hours available.
• PCN as a whole within the constraints of limited resources and different ways of working.
• Eligible to work in the UK.

Experience

Essential

• Knowledge and understanding of triage.
• Appropriate level of primary care experience.
• General Practitioner with over 5 years experience..
• Experience of ICB initiatives.
• Knowledge of clinical governance.
• Knowledge of Quality and Outcomes Framework.
• A good understanding of Patient Choice.
• Experience of medicines management.
• Potential to cope with stressful situations.

Desirable

• An understanding of GP commissioning.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualified General Practitioner.
• Full GMC Registration to practice as a GP.
• Inclusion on Performers List as a GP Performer. Eligibility for Medical Indemnity Membership. Commitment to professional development.

Desirable

• MRCGP.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Ability to work autonomously.
• Ability to work as a be part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Problem solving and analytical skills.
• IT skills MS Office, Internet etc able to competently use all basic IT software.
• Flexible and a good timekeeper.
• Good telephone skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Detail-Oriented.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills/

Desirable

• Knowledge of General Practice Clinical Systems such as EMIS and SystemOne.

Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Adaptable and open to new situations and changes. Understanding and relating to patients' feelings and concerns.
• Respectful and polite in interactions.
• Showing kindness and care towards patients. Confident in decision-making and actions.
• Effective at planning and structuring tasks.
• Able to perform well under pressure and meet deadline.
• Committed and reliable in teamwork.
• Taking initiative to identify and tackle tasks independently.
• Self-motivated to achieve personal and professional goals.
• Maintaining confidentiality with sensitive information.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).