Senior Healthcare Support Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose and Summary

The Senior Healthcare Support Worker is the role for those who have experience and training, in clinical practice, in a ward or other clinical setting.

Senior Healthcare Support Workers provide personalised care to service users, undertaking clinical tasks with supportive supervision as required.

Those in this role will spend significant amounts of time engaging with people who use our services.

Senior Healthcare Support Workers may go on to progress to become a Nursing Associate or Assistant Practitioner, once they have completed the necessary training and demonstrated the necessary competences.

Description of Duties

Clinical Skills

1. Working under the guidance of a Registered Nurse/ AP/NA/B4, to implement the delivery of quality nursing care, contributing to the physical, psychological, social, recreational and spiritual care in a recovery-focused way through therapeutic engagement and activities, and taking steps to address any issues that arise.
2. Leading on and undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met - nutrition, hydration, hygiene, comfort, emotional and social support.
3. Supporting junior to staff and leading on providing hands-on care to service users including:
4. Undertaking 1-1 engagement with service users in an honest, open and nonjudgmental way.
5. Recognising and valuing service users as individuals, acknowledging the importance of maintaining the service users respect and dignity at all times and ensure that the care provided respects equality and diversity.
6. Escalating any concerns to a Registered Nurse.
7. Monitoring and recording service user clinical observations, such as Physical observations and vital signs and escalating as appropriate any signs or symptoms of deterioration or that do not fulfill the personal parameters to the relevant professional.(Band 4 or Registered Nurse).
8. Implementing the principles of recovery: encouraging and supporting service users to engage with healthy lifestyles, facilitating psychosocial activities and other activities of their interest.
9. Escorting service users, as required, in line with Trust policies.
10. Facilitating the admission and discharge of service users, ensuring needs of the patient are met including activities such as property checks, orientation to services, and ensuring that community support needs are met under direction of a senior clinician.
11. Advocating for service users needs and rights within Trust policy.

Knowledge and Frameworks

1. Demonstrating an enhanced understanding of Mental Health signs and symptoms and an understanding of how these may present in practice including recognition of impact on patient presentation and behaviour including risk factors.
2. Recognizing and responding appropriately to challenging behaviour in line with Trust policies and training, actively seeking the supervision and guidance of a Senior Health Care Support Worker, Assistant Practitioner, or Registered Nurse.
3. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the MHA, MCA and DOLS and other legislation applicable to the practice area and how they are implemented in practice.

Communication:

1. Contributing to an effective communication process with appropriate and accurate information to patients, carers, family, friends and colleagues. Engaging and listening carefully and actively, and responding using appropriate language and accessible communication methods and skills. Developing communication skills to enable and support difficult conversations, acknowledging cultural differences and professional boundaries.
2. Demonstrating effective clinical communication and documentation: effective verbal and written handover of relevant and objective information, ability to determine key information, ability to recognize and describe effectively symptoms of mental illness, distress or of a deteriorating patient, and ability to escalate issues of concerns effectively and in a timely manner.
3. Maintaining timely and accurate service user written/electronic records in line with Trust policy. Use care plans, pathway documents and Information System progress notes appropriately and in a timely manner.
4. Reporting, without delay, any safety or security concerns to maintain the safety of service users, carers, staff and others to appropriate authorities and organisations.
5. Reporting safeguarding concerns to a Registered Nurse
6. Responding respectfully to concerns / complaints raised by patients, families and carers and escalate in accordance with trust polices.
7. Maintaining confidential information in accordance with Trust Policies.

Teamworking and Professional development:

1. Protecting service users, self and others by maintaining a clean and healthy environment in accordance with health and safety and infection control policies. Supporting senior staff in ensuring audit and compliance activities and reports are kept up to date.
2. Working in ways that support shared responsibility within the team: demonstrating support, respect and courtesy towards colleagues; working in a professional manner and with Trust values always in mind, respecting the boundaries of the relationship with service users/patients, carers and staff.
3. Attending and participating in team meetings.
4. Engaging in reflective practice to ensure effective patient care is based on evidence based practice and with Trust values in mind. Attending staff training and meetings including reflective practice groups and activities including the development of reflective portfolio.
5. Participating in supervision by nominated senior staff member, including annual review of performance as part of the appraisal (or PADR) system. Providing supervision to junior staff members as nominated.
6. Demonstrating own role to others and acting as role model to others at all times in accordance with Trust values.
7. Undertaking mandatory training as required by Trust policy plus Care Certificate, Trust Level 2 Apprenticeship if appropriate and other CPD training related to the role or area of work.
8. Ability to fulfil all the requirements of the role (including physical) and if unable to then reasonable adjustments may need to be made either to your role or place of work to ensure safety of self, staff and patients.
9. Undertake any other duties that are commensurate with the band and nature of the post

Person Specification

Education and Qualification

Essential

• Care Certificate
• English and Maths Qualification (GSCE at grade C or above) or equivalent

Desirable

• Level 2/3 Health and Social care qualification / working towards qualification

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

• Previous experience as Healthcare Support worker or equivalent experience

Desirable

• Experience of working with people with autism

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Empathy for individuals who have experienced mental health problems and ability to cope with behaviour which may be challenging
• Ability to provide quality care that is responsive to service user's needs, without close supervision, and acting on own initiative within protocols, policies and care plans
• Effective communication skills when working with service users and as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Understanding of the importance of self-awareness when working with service users
• Awareness of the importance of good clinical record keeping

Other

Essential

• Flexibility to work on shift basis, including nights shifts
• Ability to fulfil all requirements of the role (including physical requirements)

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).

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

NAU, Bethlem Royal Hospital

Monks Orchard Road

Beckenham

BR3 3BX

Employer's website

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