Podiatrist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical Duties:

*To be responsible for the assessment diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation of Podiatric care to a variety of patients with a wide range of clinical needs including:

oAcute conditions e.g. onychocryptosis (ingrowing toenails)

oHigh Risk Diabetes

oChronic Neuropathy

oChronic disease e.g. Rheumatoid Arthritis

oVascular problems

oWound management/tissue viability

oTerminally ill patients

*Have post-registration experience dealing with a wide range of clinical problems including the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of specialised care needs) and/or having completed a Band 6 Competency based programme.

*Care will be provided in a range of primary and secondary care settings, some of which may be in isolation:

oHospital Clinics

oHospital Wards

oHealth Centre Community Clinics

oResidential Homes for the Elderly

oPatients Homes

*Care Centres for the Disabled and Learning Difficulties

*To be responsible for the assessment and diagnosis of new patients with subsequent production of individual care packages and provision of the appropriate footcare education advice to groups of patients.

*To have highly developed physical skills, precision hand/eye co-ordination for prolonged periods.

*With the ability to use the decision making process to identify when patients require the intervention of other professional and/or departmental specialist areas by following agreed departmental referral pathways e.g. acute wound care/biomechanics.

*To participate in the departmental rota for nail surgery.

*To perform diabetic assessment review in community clinics where duties will include:

*Diabetic Foot assessment using the appropriate equipment i.e., Doppler, Monofilament, tuning fork

*To identify risk factors and categorise patients into appropriate risk banding

*To refer to specialist services as required and to liaise with other Health Care professionals to enable optimum and seamless patient care.

*To be responsible for the day to day planning of personal workloads for the completion of home visits and visits to Residential Homes for the Older Person.

*To be actively involved in the provision of Foot Health Education advice to patients, relatives and carers and to participate in foot health training where appropriate.

*To be actively involved in the development and implementation of Departmental policies and procedures.

*To be responsible for the security and maintenance of stock levels.

*To follow departmental Policies Procedures and Guidelines but have the discretion to interpret and make own clinical diagnosis and decisions within professional boundaries.

*To have the capability to move and handle patients who may be immobile, wheelchair or bed-bound often in confined spaces, and assess the risks involved with these procedures.

*To be flexible and provide cover for other Podiatrists at short notice or during periods of absence.

*Liaison with GP or consultant to arrange intervention as necessary e.g.:

oAntibiotic cover

oReferral to Accident and Emergency

*To be able to manufacture simple chair side orthoses and produce templates and foot casts for appliance manufacture.

Communication

*To work effectively as a member, and liaise with other members of the multi professional team.

*To liaise with other agencies e.g. social services, hospitals.

*To ensure effective communication of complex and changing disease process/foot health issues with patients, relatives and carers where there may be barriers to understanding.

*To maintain accurate records of all patient consultations and related work carried out at each clinical session, including data collection.

*To attend and actively contribute to departmental meetings.

*To ensure that all information relating to clients and staff gained thorough employment with ECCH is kept confidential. Disclosure to any unauthorised person is a serious disciplinary offence.

*To ensure effective communication with other professionals in the necessary delivery of all aspects of patient care.

Health and Safety

*To report any accidents, complaints, defects in equipment, Near Misses, and untoward incidents, following ECCH procedure.

*To ensure that Health and Safety Legislation is complied with at all times including COSHH, Workplace Risk Assessment, Control of Infection, CHS Sharps Policy and Lone Worker Policy.

*To attend all mandatory training sessions as required by ECCH.

Research and Development/Audit

*To participate in audit activities and development of outcomes.

*To keep up to date with and apply relevant evidence-based research finding to practice.

*To be involved in research and development Department Programme, including possible new/alternative ways of working.

*To participate in the department's Clinical Governance initiatives and the development and implementation of standards, guidelines, policies and protocols.

Professional Development

*To maintain Registration with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC).

*To work within the HPC code of Conduct, ECCH Policies and procedures, and adhere to the Patient's Charter.

*Actively participate in Continuing Professional Development to develop new skills, and maintain and update existing skills.

*To participate in individual Performance Review with the Professional and Clinical Head of Podiatry.

*To ensure high quality delivery of the Podiatry service, and fulfill CPD requirements identified through the appraisal process. Staff may be expected to rotate into specialist areas within the department.

*To supervise Podiatry Assistants/Technical Grades and Band 5 Podiatrists and may be required to take an active part in the training of students acting as a mentor where appropriate.

*To participate in the observational placements of Student Podiatrists.

*To act as a mentor to colleagues as part of peer review, clinical supervision and professional development.

*To participate in the planning and delivery of Departmental in service training.

*To share knowledge gained through external, professional and multi-disciplinary training at regular service meetings.

*All roles within East Coast Community Healthcare CIC (ECCH) require staff to demonstrate our Values and Signature Behaviours in the care and service they provide to patients, service users, stakeholders and colleagues. All members of staff should consider these as an essential part of their job role.

*Our Values outline the core behaviours that we can all achieve and are summarised as an acronym within the word 'CARE'. These stand for: Compassion, Action, Respect and Everyone.

*Underpinning our Values are our Signature Behaviours which highlight by taking the right actions we continue to build a strong culture. Our four Signature Behaviours are: Compassion - We Listen, We Learn, We Lead| Action - My Accountability, My Responsibility | Respect - Respect Our Resources: People, Time and Money | Everyone - Work Together, Achieve Together.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• *Registration to HPC
• *Podiatry Diploma/Degree.
• *Local Analgesia Administration Certificate
• *Post-registration experience, including dealing with the 'at risk' foot and completing a Band 6 competency programme.

Desirable

• *IT skills
• *Previous SystmOne Experience

Experience

Essential

• *Previous post-registration experience
• *Worked in both a team and in isolation managing a caseload of "at risk" patients.
• *NHS student placement.

Desirable

• *Involvement in Health Education packages and departmental protocols.

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Skills and Knowledge
• *Good verbal and written communication skills, as they will be dealing with predominantly elderly patients, and also other health care professionals.
• *Good organisational skills, as they will be managing their own caseload and also expected to accept responsibility for the day-to-day running of the clinics in which they work.
• *Skills in managing a caseload with a high proportion of high risk.
• *Ability to use vascular and sensory equipment.
• *Produce, document, implement and evaluate care plans.
• *Cope with unpredictable work patterns.
• *Ability to prescribe orthoses and assess / evaluate footwear.
• Personal Attributes
• *Able to work under pressure and respond to change
• *Have a responsible and caring attitude.
• *Able to work independently, but also as part of a Team when required.
• *Flexible as changes in timetables can be made at short notice.
• *Ability to embrace our Culture, Values and Signature Behaviours:
• (Compassion - We Listen, We Learn, We Lead| Action - My Accountability, My Responsibility | Respect - Respect Our Resources: People, Time and Money | Everyone - Work Together, Achieve Together).
• *Willingness and ability to work across different sites and travel to alternative sites and across the community as required.

Desirable

• Skills and Knowledge
• *Experience in the field of biomechanics and gait analysis

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

East Coast Community Healthcare CIC

Address

Kirkley Mill

Clifton Road

Lowestoft

Suffolk

NR33 0HF

Employer's website

https://www.ecch.org/ (Opens in a new tab)