Senior Healthcare Assistant (B3) - Inpatient Unit

Job responsibilities

As a SMH Band 3 Healthcare Assistant, you will be responsible for providing compassionate and high-quality care to patients on the inpatient unit. You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver person-centred care, supporting patients and their families to manage their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs during their stay.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Clinical

To work collaboratively with the nursing team to deliver high-quality care to patients on the inpatient unit.

To assist patients with activities of daily living, including personal hygiene, feeding and mobility.

To monitor and report changes in patient condition, escalating concerns to senior staff as appropriate.

To contribute to the development and implementation of care plans, ensuring that they are regularly reviewed and updated.

To provide emotional and spiritual support to patients and their families, always promoting dignity and respect.

Mentoring new Healthcare Assistants

To maintain accurate and up-to-date patient records, adhering to confidentiality and data protection regulations.

Additional tasks as agreed with IPU Lead e.g. audits and other projects as required

To adhere to all health and safety policies and procedures, ensuring a safe environment for patients, staff and visitors.

Understand and promote infection control practices and policies.

To undertake skilled nursing activities for which training will be provided and competency assessment has been assessed and achieved. Such as:

Vital signs observations

Insertion and removal of urinary catheters

Insertion and removal of intravenous cannulas

Assist in reporting care and transfer of continuing care between shifts

Perform ECGs and basic rhythm recognition if required

Take an active role in the facilitation and education of other Healthcare Assistants

Venepuncture for routine blood tests

Blood glucose monitoring

Urinalysis

Care for the persons body after death

To guide and assist other support workers in the delivery of basic nursing care.

Learning and Development

Positively commit to annual staff appraisals and regular performance / competencies reviews to ensure personal professional development.

Participate in educational programmes and specifically attend teaching identified to meet your development aims and objectives.

Support teaching students on practical placements.

Engage in reflective practice and assessment of professional competencies.

To participate in mandatory training and continuous professional development activities, ensuring that knowledge and skills are kept up to date.

Professional

Work to maintain the values, vision and aims of St. Michaels Hospice.

Practice and always promote patient confidentiality.

Maintain accurate and timely documentation.

Practice safely, within hospice policies, procedures and guidelines.

Demonstrate efficient time management and flexible attitude to working patterns.

Participate in agreed methods of off duty rota, working flexibly to provide a 24-hour, 7 day a week service for patients.

Work within the limits of your own competency and responsibility and refer areas that are outside of your competency to a registered nurse.

To complete competencies related to this role, recorded in the competency document

Treat everyone with respect and dignity.

To report any feedback, concerns and complaints, issues around safeguarding from patients, their relatives, or others acting on their behalf.

Ensure all safeguarding concerns are raised in line with SMH policy and escalated to the SMH Nominated Healthcare Professional for Safeguarding or their deputy or a member of the Safeguarding Committee.

Communication

Communicate effectively within your team, and the wider Multi-Disciplinary Team, the care needs of the patients and families within your workload.

Supports patients and family members to foundation level 1 psychological support (NICE approved four-tier model of psychological support)

Communicate respectfully in an open, accurate, straightforward and confidential way with colleagues across the organisation.

Verbally alert the nurse in charge to any urgent, sensitive matters, or matters outside your role and competency or escalate to the appropriate level, if appropriate.

Proactively share information to identify and reduce risk to patients and staff.

General Responsibilities

Work to maintain the values, vision and aims of St. Michaels Hospice.

Additional Duties In discussion with the line manager to undertake work, as and when required, in support of St. Michaels Hospice as an organisation.

Public Relations To represent St. Michaels Hospice in the community and public domain, including social media, appropriately.

Undertake all statutory and mandatory training, as required.

To be conversant with and adhere to all St. Michaels Hospice Policies and Procedures.

Be responsible for upholding and promoting St. Michaels Hospice safeguarding policies, ensuring the safety and well-being of all individuals, and promptly reporting any concerns or incidents in accordance with established procedures.

This is an outline job description and may be subject to change, according to the needs of the service, in consultation with the post holder.

Take responsibility for own personal safety and of others whilst at work. You will take appropriate action or report any concerns to address any health and safety issues that you or members of your team may be aware of.

This job description is an outline of the role and responsibilities. From time to time, due to the needs of the service, we may ask you to flexibly undertake other duties that are consistent with your role and banding, including project work, internal job rotation and absence cover.

Skills, Knowledge, Abilities

Essential

• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Basic IT skills
• Able to take initiative
• Be able to reflect upon knowledge and skills
• Able to encourage and enhance performance in others
• Able to undertake full internal rotation of shifts
• Ability to measure and record blood pressure, oxygen saturation, temperature, pulse and monitor fluid balance and show an understanding of these measurements. Escalate when necessary.
• Blood glucose monitoring

Desirable

• Working knowledge of NHS supply system
• Insertion and removal of urinary catheters
• Insertion and removal of intravenous cannulas
• Perform ECGs and basic rhythm recognition if required
• Venepuncture for routine blood tests

Qualifications

Essential

• Care Certificate
• NVQ level 3 qualification (or currently working towards it)

Desirable

• Course in Palliative and end of life care

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in health care environment
• Experience of working effectively in a multi-disciplinary team
• Understanding of the nature of palliative care
• Understanding and the ability to contribute to the assessment of patient needs and evaluation of care interventions and delivery.
• Experience of supporting new members of staff

Desirable

• Experience of working with end of life patients in a generalist or an acute environment

Attitude, aptitudes, personal characteristics

Essential

• Demonstrate a flexible and adaptable approach
• Able to work (autonomously) and in a team
• Effective time management
• Respectful and supportive of all colleagues
• Professional, friendly and positive nature
• Able to act as a positive role model and ability to mentor other healthcare assistants in the role.

Other requirements

Essential

• Be physically able to undertake all duties and responsibilities

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).