Healthcare AssistantNHS

Job summary

Job Summary:

As a Healthcare Assistant, you are a key member of the clinical team, supporting the delivery of General Medical Services to patients attending the practice. Working alongside GPs and nursing staff, you will provide treatment, preventative care, screening, and patient education.

You will see patients referred by a GP or nurse, or attending for procedures and treatments. Provide appropriate advice on ongoing care and refer any needs outside your scope of practice to a suitable clinician.

Main Duties:

Assist with routine patient care as directed by GPs and senior clinical staff.

Clean and maintain clinical equipment in line with Infection Control policies.

Stock and maintain GP and nursing rooms.

Chaperone and support patients during clinical examinations when required.

Record patient observations, including height, weight, blood pressure, and other measurements.

Collect and process specimens (e.g. urine samples) and complete relevant laboratory documentation.

Perform phlebotomy and prepare samples for transport to the laboratory.

Carry out ECGs.

Undertake housekeeping duties, including maintaining cleanliness of treatment and consulting rooms and preparing laundry and linen.

Maintain accurate records and report any issues or concerns to senior staff.

About Us:

This is an excellent opportunity to join a small, friendly, and dedicated team within a busy and supportive general practice environment.

Main duties of the job

Assist in and perform routine tasks related to patient care as directed by senior nursing staff and Gps

Maintain and clean equipment used by the nurses and GPs according to the practice Infection Control Policy

Maintain GP and Nurses rooms, stocking and rotating items as required

Chaperoning and assisting patients where appropriate who are being examined by a clinician

Recording heights, weights, blood pressure and other measurements of patients as required

Obtaining specimens e.g. urine, testing as instructed and completing appropriate laboratory forms

Carry out phlebotomy duties and prepare blood samples and forms for transporting to the appropriate laboratory

Carry out ECGs

Undertake housekeeping duties including, general tidiness and cleanliness of treatment and GP rooms, preparation of laundry and linen for surgeries

Maintain accurate records, ensuring the senior staff are advised of potential problems or errors within the range of assigned tasks

Job description

Assist in and perform routine tasks related to patient care as directed.

Maintain and clean equipment used by the nurses and GPs according to the practice Infection Control Policy

Maintain GP and Nurses rooms, stocking and rotating items as required

Chaperoning and assisting patients where appropriate who are being examined by a clinician

Recording heights, weights, blood pressure and other measurements of patients as required

Obtaining specimens e.g. urine, testing as instructed and completing appropriate laboratory forms

Carry out phlebotomy duties and prepare blood samples and forms for transporting to the appropriate laboratory

Carry out ECGs

Undertake housekeeping duties including, general tidiness and cleanliness of treatment and GP rooms, preparation of laundry and linen for surgeries

Maintain accurate records, ensuring the senior nurse on duty is advised of potential problems or errors within the range of assigned tasks

Professional Accountability: To The Partners and Management

You must :

Continuous Professional Development: via annual appraisal/training plan

Management:

You are to ensure that within the areas of your clinical responsibility:

You, your colleagues, and any visitors comply with the Grove Surgery Health and Safety policy.

All accidents, injuries and dangerous occurrences are reported promptly to line management.

All patient complaints made against you or another member of the Nursing Team are brought to the attention of the Practice Manager.

Any doubt surrounding clinical or administrative matters are to be referred to the Nursing or Practice Manager as appropriate.

Responsibilities:

You are to liaise with the Partners and Management for professional direction.

The tasks within prescribed Patient Specific Directions (PSD) for which the Prescriber will be responsible for signing prior to you seeing the patient.

Treatment Room.

Dressings and wound care (once course and competencies gained)

Injections and Immunisations (once course and competencies gained)

Removal of sutures and clips

Ear syringing

ECG

Venepuncture

Urinalysis

Assisting at minor operations

Routine weekly checks of emergency equipment, including O2 cylinder and twice daily temperature checks on vaccine fridge. Stock checks and ordering, All to be recorded on locally produced proforma and any faults to be reported immediately to Management.

All treatments and relevant information must be recorded in the patients computer records

Daily sample register and processing of samples as required

Infection Control measures must be followed and a routine of cleaning, set up by the Practice Nurse Manager to be shared by the Nursing team must be maintained and recorded.

Chronic Disease Management:

You are to assist and carry out specific clinics to aid the management and treatment of Chronic Diseases

Venepuncture

Base line observations as require

Urinalysis as required

Patient Primary Contact:

In the absence of the Doctor, if a patient presents at the surgery you may need to contact a nurse to make an initial assessment of the patient and either carry out treatment within your competence or summon the Doctor as appropriate.

Medical Records:

You are responsible for entering details of all patient consultations onto SystemOne. Furthermore update and maintain any patient held documents such as INR books.

Health Promotion:

You are to actively promote health education throughout the Practice population encouraging healthy lifestyle with written material if appropriate utilising the local Health Promotion unit.

Promote NHS Health Checks to eligible patients

Promote Health Checks for those patients with Learning Difficulties

Safeguarding

You must be aware and have understanding of the Practice Adult and Child Protection Policies and remain up to date with the recognised training requirements for a Practice Nurse.

Vaccination & Immunisation:

Influenza/Pneumovax With the help of the Practice team, arrange a call and recall for those patients for whom either a flu or pneumovax vaccination is appropriate. Administer these vaccinations. Signed PSD required

Any other Vaccination that is appropriate to the patient presenting under the guidance of the relevant competencies of the HCA and signed PSD

Ensure that the consultation is entered onto the patients computer record.

Provision of Treatment:

In the case of accidents, when patients present who are either registered here or not (Temporary Residents), you should provide requested treatment by the nurse/GP if within your competencies, referral to GP or referral to A&E, whichever is the most appropriate

Chaperoning:

You are to provide chaperoning as and when required.

Audit:

Participate in regular audit of various aspects of the nursing service as requested Management and implement any changes necessary to effect improvement under supervision.

Protocols:

You are to adhere to all surgery and national policies. This is to be done in conjunction with Managemnet and the Partners.

Other:

You are to carry out any other task provided if it is considered to be within your role as a Health Care professional and you have the relevant knowledge and competencies to deal with such request.

Communication:

You should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with patients and carers.

You are to liaise with all members of the Practice team In addition to the reception team there is a need to work closely with clinical and administrative staff to ensure all aspects of the team are effective.

Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly such as those who have difficulty in hearing or difficulties understanding the English language.

Meetings and Practice Information:

It will be necessary to attend and contribute to various Practice meetings as requested.

Report to Management any matters of concern regarding your position, any other individual in the surgery or outside agency.

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.

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines.

Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.

Reporting potential risks identified.

Equality and Diversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues.

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

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:

Training requirements will be monitored by annual appraisal and will be in accordance with Practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the Practice.

If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, full training will be supported and provided either internally or externally.

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.

Basic Life Support update

Child protection update

Complete online staff training as mandated by the Practice Manager.

If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, full training will be supported and provided either internally or externally.

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:

Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk

Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision

Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Contribution to the Implementation of Services

About us

Watton Medical Practice is a well-established, patient-focused GP practice serving the local community in Watton and the surrounding areas. We are proud to provide high-quality, compassionate care within a supportive and forward-thinking primary care environment.

Our multidisciplinary team includes GPs, practice nurses, healthcare assistants, allied health professionals, pharmacists, care navigators and an experienced administrative team, all working collaboratively to deliver safe and effective patient care. We value teamwork, open communication and supporting one another to achieve the best outcomes for our patients.

We aim to create a positive workplace where staff feel respected, listened to and encouraged to develop professionally. The practice supports ongoing learning, service development and innovation and we welcome team members who are enthusiastic about improving patient care and contributing new ideas.

Based in a modern purpose-built surgery in Norfolk, we offer a friendly working atmosphere with a strong sense of community. We understand the importance of work-life balance and strive to maintain a supportive environment where staff wellbeing is valued alongside high clinical standards.