Job summary
We are offering an exciting opportunity to join an established diabetic foot team at LUHG, on the Aintree site. This is a new role that will suite someone who has good communication skills, who is looking for carer speciality development.
Working under supervision, the successful candidate will provide support and assistance to the podiatry team. An integral part of the role will be to provide diabetic foot screening and wound dressings to complex diabetic foot wounds.
The successful candidate will provide support to all aspects of the podiatry department in the care of their patients. They will be a key member of the team ensuring clinic flow and supporting the clinical and administrative duties of the department.
We are looking for an enthusiastic, team member who is well organised and can cope in a busy clinical environment.
This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a supportive and patient focused team and make a difference to the lives of local people.
Main duties of the job
As a B4 Podiatry Assistant (Diabetic Foot), working within the Podiatry Service at Aintree Hospital, you will work as an integral part of the multi-disciplinary diabetic foot team (MDFT), delivering safe and high-quality foot care services (including wound care as well as nail care) for outpatients and inpatients, as required (with close supervision from a team of HCPC registered podiatrists). You will play a proactive role in supporting and developing the podiatry service and will provide comprehensive foot care services to new and existing patients. You will work with the podiatry team, following wound management plans and will independently remove and apply wound dressings. You will support all aspects of the foot ulcer team and be empathetic to patients receiving distressing clinical diagnosis. In addition, you will be responsible for clinical stock levels and the maintenance of clinical equipment. The list below is to outline the main duties involved; however, this is subject to change and will vary within the given role. We ask all employees to be flexible in their role and to always ensure we are living our values of being caring, fair and innovative.
About us
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients.
UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.
For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West.
Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.
For roles at Liverpool Women's, visit their careers page.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. To provide support to highly specialised podiatrists in clinics and on the wards, as required.
2. To liaise with and refer to colleagues and other healthcare professionals (internally and externally) following pathways and protocols.
3. Carry out aseptic wound dressings as directed by the MDFT (for which ongoing training will be provided).
4. Assist with specialist wound dressings such as larvae and negative pressure therapy, as required.
5 To carry out diabetic foot assessments and nail care as directed by the MDFT (training will be provided).
6. To co-ordinate patients attending by ambulance transport.
7. To escort patients and to be aware of manual handling regulations and to attend both theoretical and practical training provided by the Trust.
8. Maintain clinical equipment ready for use, report faulty equipment and ensure compliance with annual maintenance.
9. Ensure effective and efficient use of clinical stock, stock rotation and reordering.
10. To stock and prepare the diabetic foot ulcer clinics and co-ordinate patient flow.
11. To independently assess patient observations including capillary blood glucose and report and document accordingly.
12. To take baseline observations including blood pressure, weight and temperature and document accordingly.
13. To communicate effectively with patients to obtain information and to motivate patients, many of whom have difficulty understanding barriers such as age, infirmity, hearing loss, pain, fear and language and learning difficulties.
14. To print out referrals and queries for outpatient and inpatients, using email and ICE, on a daily basis, to be triaged according to clinical priority, working with podiatry colleagues.
15. To be responsible for own clinical caseload of diabetic foot assessment for inpatient foot care, working with podiatry colleagues.
16. Ensure documentation is completed accurately and in a timely manner.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. To provide support to highly specialised podiatrists in clinics and on the wards, as required.
2. To liaise with and refer to colleagues and other healthcare professionals (internally and externally) following pathways and protocols.
3. Carry out aseptic wound dressings as directed by the MDFT (for which ongoing training will be provided).
4. Assist with specialist wound dressings such as larvae and negative pressure therapy, as required.
5 To carry out diabetic foot assessments and nail care as directed by the MDFT (training will be provided).
6. To co-ordinate patients attending by ambulance transport.
7. To escort patients and to be aware of manual handling regulations and to attend both theoretical and practical training provided by the Trust.
8. Maintain clinical equipment ready for use, report faulty equipment and ensure compliance with annual maintenance.
9. Ensure effective and efficient use of clinical stock, stock rotation and reordering.
10. To stock and prepare the diabetic foot ulcer clinics and co-ordinate patient flow.
11. To independently assess patient observations including capillary blood glucose and report and document accordingly.
12. To take baseline observations including blood pressure, weight and temperature and document accordingly.
13. To communicate effectively with patients to obtain information and to motivate patients, many of whom have difficulty understanding barriers such as age, infirmity, hearing loss, pain, fear and language and learning difficulties.
14. To print out referrals and queries for outpatient and inpatients, using email and ICE, on a daily basis, to be triaged according to clinical priority, working with podiatry colleagues.
15. To be responsible for own clinical caseload of diabetic foot assessment for inpatient foot care, working with podiatry colleagues.
16. Ensure documentation is completed accurately and in a timely manner.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Evidence of secondary school education
- NVQ level 3 or equivalent
- Or evidence of equivalent experience at that level of work.
Desirable
Experience
Essential
- Minimum of 2 years' experience of working in the NHS.
- Knowledge of long term conditions e.g Diabetes
- Knowledge of podiatry conditions e.g foot ulcers.
- Experience in managing own workload.
- Experience in managing clinical stock and equipment.
- Exposure to and experience in wound care.
- Experience of working under pressure and in emotionally charged situations.
Knowledge
Desirable
- In Depth Knowledge of foot assessment of diabetes patients
- Experience in vascular assessment, including use of doppler and toe pressures
Skills
Essential
- Ability to work successfully within a team.
- Basic IT skills including use of email.
- Ability to communicate in a variety of settings and to varying levels of understanding
- Able to demonstrate empathy with distressed or emotional patients.
- Able to present information and refer to others where appropriate.
- Able to deal with sensitive information with tact and diplomacy
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Evidence of secondary school education
- NVQ level 3 or equivalent
- Or evidence of equivalent experience at that level of work.
Desirable
Experience
Essential
- Minimum of 2 years' experience of working in the NHS.
- Knowledge of long term conditions e.g Diabetes
- Knowledge of podiatry conditions e.g foot ulcers.
- Experience in managing own workload.
- Experience in managing clinical stock and equipment.
- Exposure to and experience in wound care.
- Experience of working under pressure and in emotionally charged situations.
Knowledge
Desirable
- In Depth Knowledge of foot assessment of diabetes patients
- Experience in vascular assessment, including use of doppler and toe pressures
Skills
Essential
- Ability to work successfully within a team.
- Basic IT skills including use of email.
- Ability to communicate in a variety of settings and to varying levels of understanding
- Able to demonstrate empathy with distressed or emotional patients.
- Able to present information and refer to others where appropriate.
- Able to deal with sensitive information with tact and diplomacy
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.
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).
Additional 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.
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).
