Health Care Assistant

Clinical

skills health and well-being

To provide high quality patient care and

treatment.

Participate in setting standards for care and

auditing clinical outcomes.

Promote and participate in maintaining a safe

comfortable and therapeutic environment.

Participate in developing strategies and

promoting health promotion programmes for patients and carers and facilitate

screening clinics.

Take responsibility for the safe storage and

administration of drugs and equipment.

Provide

nursing care in a variety of settings by holistic assessment, implementation

and evaluation of programmes of care as appropriate.

Participate in setting and monitoring

• standards to ensure effective care ensuring delivery of evidence based
• practice.
• Where appropriate, support the practice in delivering or participating in primary care research and research studies, in accordance with relevant governance requirements and your training.
• Able to work within own scope of competence, recognising changes in a patient's condition and escalating concerns promptly to the appropriate clinician to ensure patient safety.

Provide information, advice and support to

patients face to face and via the telephone

Involvement in team discussions to ensure best practice

Undertake,

record and follow guidelines for the tasks for which you have received

appropriate training:

Urinalysis

and preparation of specimens for investigation by the pathology laboratory

1.

Perform new patient health checks, NHS health

checks

2.

Assist with the annual LTAR management

3.

Assist with QOF system

4.

Provide injections in line with competencies

5.

Assist with the annual Flu programme

6.

Provide home visit for housebound patients

7.

Measuring and recording following

physiological measurements in routine Presentations:

Blood pressure

Pulse

rate and rhythm

Temperature

• Height and weight - body mass index
• Visual acuity
• Venepuncture
• Smoking cessation
• ECG
• Key
• Responsibilities
• Organisational
• Skills
• To maintain accurate records and data using
• the EMIS computer clinical system

To work as an effective team member and

promote a multi-agency collaborative approach to health care

Maintain the established reporting

documentation and communication system.

To maintain a call and recall system

To supervise healthcare support workers.

To report and record all clinical

incidents.

Communication

Demonstrate sensitive communication styles to

ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment.

Communicate with and support patients

receiving bad news.

Communicate effectively with patients and

carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to

overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred

ways of communicating.

Utilise communication skills to support

patients to adhere to prescribed treatment regimes.

Anticipate barriers to communication and take

action to improve communication.

Maintain effective communication with

individuals and groups within the practice environment and with external

stakeholders.

Personal

and people development

Maintain up-to-date records

Take responsibility for own development,

learning and performance and demonstrate skills to other members of staff when

required.

Attend any external training course thought to

be appropriate to the role.

Work with management on any new training

requirements.

To recognise and understand the roles and

responsibilities of individuals working in the primary health care team.

Be aware of the legal issues pertinent to the

role of a HCA.

Team

Working

Understand own role and scope in the

organisation and identify how this may develop over time.

Work as an effective and responsible team

• member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of
• working.
• Where involved in delegation of tasks,
• delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice
• and assessment of competence of those taking on delegated duties.

Ensure clear understanding and utilisation of

• referral mechanisms within the practice.
• Accept delegation from other nurses,
• prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are
• embedded in own practice.

Work effectively with others to clearly define

values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery.

Participate in team activities that create

opportunities to improve patient care.

Participate in and support local projects as

agreed with the practice management team.

Maintain close and effective liaison with

colleagues.

Provide training opportunities for associated

health care staff, as appropriate.

Understand and adhere to any statutory

regulations that are required of the practice.

Attend

• and participate in practice meetings clinical and nurse meetings, whenever
• possible.
• Health,
• safety and security

Use the

personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.

Identify the risks involved in work activities

and undertake them in a way that manages the risks.

Use appropriate infection control procedures

and maintain work areas in each clinical room so that they are clean, safe and

free from hazards reporting of any potential risks identified, including:

Hand washing

• Universal hygiene procedures
• Collection and handling of laboratory
• specimens
• Segregation and disposal of waste materials
• Decontamination of clinical equipment
• Reporting and treatment of sharps injuries
• Dealing with blood and body fluid spillages
• Assist patients and colleagues in adopting
• sound infection control measures

Understand and apply the principles of the

cold chain

Ensure safe storage, rotation and disposal of

vaccines and drugs within area of

responsibility

Know the general principles of first aid and

resuscitation to be able to

undertake

initial actions as appropriate

Be aware of statutory child health procedures

and statutory local guidance

and

referral criteria

Know the health and safety policies and

procedures within the workplace,

including

• fire procedures, maintaining documentation, monitoring and
• maintaining
• of equipment and furniture within your area of responsibility
• Use the computer monitor safely
• Be able to identify the risks to health of
• microbiological and chemical hazards
• within the
• working environment according to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

Service

improvement

1.

Be aware of and, if appropriate, assist in

current clinical audit

2.

Work with colleagues in the team on the

development of current and new services and other initiatives

3.

Maintain the notice board in the waiting room

and promote good health with educational material

4.

Deal with requests from patients and clinical

staff for health information leaflets

Delivering

a Quality Service

Firsway Health Centre aims to deliver the

highest standards of care to its patients at all times. This post will be integral to the delivery of

that aim and the appointee will be expected to:

Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete

records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and

procedures.

Prioritise, organise and manage own workload

• in a manner that maintains and promotes quality.
• Deliver care according to the NSF and the
• National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and evidence-based
• care.

Assess effectiveness of care delivery through

self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation.

Participate in the maintenance of quality

governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities.

Utilise the audit cycle as a means of

• evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing
• improvements where required.
• In partnership with other clinical teams,
• collaborate on improving the quality of health care, responding to local and
• national policies and initiatives as appropriate.

Evaluate the patient response to health care

provision and the effectiveness of care.

Support and participate in shared learning

across the practice.

Participate in the management and review of

patient complaints, and identify learning from clinical incidents and near-miss

events using a structured framework.

Participate in the performance monitoring

review of the team, providing feedback as appropriate.

Understand and apply legal policy that

supports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, being

aware of statutory child/vulnerable adult health procedure and local guidance.

Work within policies relating to domestic

violence, vulnerable adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour, and refer

as appropriate.

Confidentiality,

Equality and Diversity

In the undertaking of the duties outlined

above the post-holder will have access to confidential and sensitive

information relating to patients, carers and practice staff. This must be kept strictly confidential at all

times.

Patients seeking information from the practice

do so in confidence and as such have the right to expect that staff will

respect their privacy and act appropriately.

Practice policies and procedures relating to

• the protection of personal and sensitive data must be adhered to at all times
• and only divulged to authorised persons.
• The post-holder will support the equality,
• diversity and rights of patients in a manner that is consistent with practice
• policies and legislation.
• The privacy, dignity and beliefs of patients,
• carers and colleagues must be respected.

The post-holder should behave in a manner

which is welcoming, non-judgmental and respectful of the circumstances and

rights of all visitors to the practice.