Associate Practitioner (XR04)

Job description

Job responsibilities

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Clinical Duties

Carries out all aspects of clinical and administration work as approved by their line manager, working within established codes of practice and local departmental standard operating procedures.

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspect of own work, including the management of patients in your care and dealing with their specific needs.

Routinely undertakes assessment of both in-patients and out-patients prior to a range of investigations and uses own discretion in order to ensure the patient is suitable for the investigation.

Communicates with all members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for patients, including: negotiating, reassurance, empathy, and persuasiveness.

Communicates sensitive information about routine and complex investigations to patients and relatives/carers including children and those with learning and/or physical disabilities.

Calibrates and manipulates a wide range of complex, expensive, technical equipment which process, create, update and store information. Identifies any automatically generated reports that are false and or inaccurate, escalating any errors to the appropriate member of LTHT staff.

Performs / provides factual reports on a number of investigations on a region-wide range of patients including acutely ill paediatric and elderly patients and those with a range of physical and learning disabilities.

Clinical investigations would be dependent on the applicants skill set and area of clinical focus and may include but are not limited to:

- Ambulatory and remote monitoring analysis and reporting

- Perform, interpret and report 12 lead electrocardiographs (ECG)

- Assist with exercising testing procedures

- Assist with Tilt testing procedures

- Assist with invasive procedures

Demonstrates personal duty of care for safe use of expensive and highly complex equipment. Is responsible for ensuring that others are fully trained in the safe use of such equipment within their specialist area.

Responsible for maintenance of stock levels and consumables and for day to day security of expensive equipment, e.g. portable devices. Reporting equipment faults in accordance with departmental policy.

Professional

Responsible for maintaining own technical proficiencies and competencies in clinical areas.

Maintains and develops current knowledge of evidence based practice in each clinical area.

Responsible for reporting clinical incidents and adverse events to the appropriate Team Manager / Service Manager.

Responsible for formal mentorship and input into coordination of training of designated junior staff and students.

Be an active member of the in-service training programme by attendance at, and participation in, in-service training programmes, tutorials, individual training sessions, external courses and peer review.

Regularly provides training in fundamental cardiac techniques to trainees and junior staff members.

Undertakes Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in accordance with Personal Development Plan (PDP) as developed with Line Manager.

Attends and participates in departmental staff meetings.

Frequently undertakes collection of data for use in audit, research projects and equipment testing.

Works in close liaison with other staff members to ensure efficient and effective delivery of service, contributing to maintaining a friendly and welcoming working atmosphere.

Organisational

Responsible for ensuring the Leeds Way Values and LTHT vision is integrated within the Cardio-Respiratory CSU.

Demonstrates the ability to prioritise and organise the clinical caseload within a designated area of cardiology.

Responsible for obtaining, transmitting and storing information relating to the delivery of a care service.

Keep accurate and timely records, inputting accurate data into the departmental databases allowing for the production of statistical resource information for accurate billing.

Other

Communicates with all members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure the best possible care for the patient. Including giving detailed advice to other specialist professions which will influence patient care/outcomes. Communication skills including:

- Negotiating, e.g. with physicians who demand investigations not achievable within the service limitations.

- Reassurance, e.g. to patients who are anxious about their clinical findings.

- Persuasiveness, e.g. to young children who are scared to undergo clinical procedures.

Immediate Life Support training essential during procedures performed on acutely ill patients and those at very high risk of sudden cardiac death.

Expected to undertake informal training by means of periodic in-house assessments.

To comply with the Trusts manual handling policy at all times.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Theoretical knowledge of a broad range of fundamental cardio-respiratory investigations
• Maintains own continued professional development
• Experience in performing, analysing and reporting ECGs, recognising normal and abnormal rhythms.
• Understanding of the scope of the role of the Associate Practitioner in context of the team and the organisation, and how the role contributes to service development.

Desirable

• Existing skills in Cardio-Respiratory departments.

Skills & behaviours

Essential

• Listens to, communicates with, values, encourages and acknowledges contributions from others.
• Provides leadership, support and guidance to other team members.
• Able to communicate sensitive information in a variety of forms to patients, relative and carers including children and patients with learning or physical disabilities.
• Able to work autonomously, co-ordinate, plan and prioritise workload.

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSEs grade A-C in Maths and English, or equivalent
• Basic Life Support and a willingness to undertake Immediate Life Support
• Certificate in Electrocardiography or equivalent, or experience and competency in performing, interpreting and reporting ECG.

Desirable

• Immediate Life Support Training
• SCST Diploma in ECG

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Leeds Teaching Hospitals

Address

St. James's University Hospital

Beckett Street

Leeds

LS9 7TF

Employer's website

https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)