Job Description
JOB TITLE: Health Care Assistant In Primary Care (GP Practice)
REPORTS TO: The Nursing Team Manager (Clinically)
The Practice Manager (Administratively)
HOURS: 20 hours per week
LOCATION: Delapre Medical Centre / Whitefields Surgery
Job Summary:
- The post holder will offer general assistance and support to the Practice Nursing Team, liaising closely with the Nursing Team Manager
- The HCA will be involved primarily in phlebotomy, undertaking the new patient health checks, urinalysis, ECG recording, chaperoning patients, IPC, wound management, assisting with minor operations, maintenance of equipment and the recording of refrigerator temperature on a daily basis and ordering of stock.
- The HCA will also be responsible for documenting patient consultations on the SystmOne clinical information system in General Practice
- They will maintain patient confidentiality and will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Practice Nurse and within Practice Guidelines and Protocols at all times
Job Responsibilities:
Clinical Duties
- To act in such a manner as to support the client/patient at all times and be mindful of the need to reduce anxiety for the client/patient
- To provide a phlebotomy service for patients
- To be responsible for the processing and management of laboratory samples requested by the GP/ Practice Nurses with specific responsibility to ensure that the samples are correctly labelled, sent to the laboratory promptly and that data is entered onto the patient’s computer records
- To assist in restocking clinical area with supplies and health promotion materials as agreed with GPs/Nursing Team and to restock all rooms as appropriate
- To assist in general nursing duties, under the supervision of the Practice Nursing Team, i.e. Urine testing, weight/height, blood pressure measurements, ECG recording, NHS HealthChecks, spirometry, peak flow measurements, smoking cessation advice and any other duties that may be assigned as necessary
- To act as a chaperone as required to GPs and Practice Nurses
- To participate in the induction programme of staff and trainees new to the practice
- To receive and document telephone messages as and when necessary and communicate to other members of the clinical team as appropriate
- Administration
- To ensure that drug/vaccine refrigerators are at the correct temperature on a daily basis and maintain the ‘Vaccine Cold Chain’ documented record according to PracticeGuidelines, in the absence of designated Nurse
- To assist colleagues re‐stocking of all clinical areas and maintaining a stock rotation system as necessary
- To maintain health information notice board in line with national/local health promotion campaigns
- Deal with SystmOne Tasks in a prompt and timely manner
- To work in accordance of written protocols
- Any other duties requested, to help with the smooth running of the practice.
Other Tasks
- To function as an integral part of the Primary Health Care Team
- To attend relevant clinical meetings as required
- To report immediately to a member of the clinical staff or the Practice Manager any acts of omission or error to safeguard the interest of the patient
- To undertake appropriate formal training as required by the Practice.
- Ensure building security – have working knowledge of doors/windows/alarm
- Any other tasks allocated by managers
Professional Development
- To participate in an annual individual performance review
- To maintain a professional development plan and submit annually
- To maintain own clinical development through periods of study as agreed within the contract of employment
Confidentiality
- In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
- In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post‐holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their Carers, Practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the
Practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
- Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the Practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
A good attitude and positive action towards Equality Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) creates an environment where all individuals can achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons – it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do and it is required by law.
Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.
Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.
Personal/Professional development
The post‐holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:
- Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
- Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work
Management
- To work to the Code of Professional Conduct
- To belong to the RCN for professional indemnity
- To work in accordance with national, local, and practice policy
- To record all information accurately in conjunction with practice policy and current professional guidelines
- To work in partnership with all other members of the multidisciplinary team
- To work across role boundaries providing health care sensitive to the needs of the local population
- To attend Clinical Supervision when deemed necessary
- To provide Mentorship
Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)
To preserve and improve the quality of this organisation’s outputs, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do but how they achieve it. By continually re‐examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work.
The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the organisation to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice and to discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.
Eleanor Cross Healthcare continually strives to improve work processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where everyone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.
Staff should interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice.
All staff are to contribute to investigations and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigations and multidisciplinary case reviews.
Communication
The post‐holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers
- Recognize people’s needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly
Contribution to the implementation of services
The post‐holder will:
- Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
- Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
- Participate in audit where appropriate
Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)
This organisation is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing and safety.
The post holder is to manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients and monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for themselves, their team and others and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.
All personnel are to comply with the:
- Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
- Environmental Protection Act 1990
- Environment Act 1995
- Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999
- Coronavirus Act 2020
- Other statutory legislation which may be brought to the post holder’s attention.
General
- This job description reflects the current situation. It is subject to review and updating in the light of changing service needs. Details may be changed in consultation with the role holder and/or reviewed at their annual appraisal.
- Job descriptions are not designed to be all‐inclusive although they will, as far as practicable, be a reasonably accurate and understandable specification of duties. Whilst this job description sets out the duties this role normally entails, it should not be regarded as exhaustive. The nature of our practice demands a flexible approach in order to provide efficient and modern services to our patients. This job description may be amended by
Eleanor Cross Healthcare and you may be required to carry out additional or other duties as may be reasonably required.
Job Type: Permanent
Pay: From £12.71 per hour
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Health & wellbeing programme
- On-site parking
- Referral programme
Experience:
- General Practice: 2 years (required)
Licence/Certification:
- Phlebotomy Certificate (required)
Work Location: In person
