GP Healthcare Assistant (HCA)

REPORTS TO: Senior Practice Nurse / Dr U Shah (Clinically) Practice Manager (Administratively)

HOURS: 20 hours per week, with the possibility of increasing to a full-time position of 37.5 hours per week in the future.

Job Summary: Working under the direct supervision of the Senior Practice Nurse and Senior GP, and strictly in accordance with specific Practice guidelines and protocols, the Healthcare Assistant will assist the Practice clinical team in the provision and delivery of prescribed programmes of patient care. The successful applicant must have previous General Practice (GP) experience and be confident working within a primary care environment. Experience using the EMIS clinical system is essential for this role.

Essential Requirements:

• Previous experience working as a Healthcare Assistant within a GP Practice setting.
• Experience using the EMIS clinical system.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary primary care team.
• Good communication skills and the ability to provide high-quality patient care.
• Commitment to maintaining confidentiality, professionalism, and patient dignity.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• New patient health checks, NHS Health checks, Diabetes foot checks, Asthma checks, CRM checks, 1st part of SMI checks, and Blood pressure checks.
• 24-hour BP monitoring.
• ECG recording.
• Phlebotomy.
• Spirometry.
• Chaperoning duties.
• Administration of B12 injections and flu vaccines on a named patient basis.
• Processing and management of laboratory samples requested by GPs/Nurses.
• Sterilising, cleansing, and maintenance of surgical equipment.
• Vaccine/cold chain storage, monitoring, and recording.
• Surgical equipment and vaccine re-stocking and stock rotation.
• Clearing and re-stocking consulting rooms.
• Preparing and maintaining environments and equipment before, during, and after patient care interventions, including assisting GPs during minor operations.
• Assisting in the assessment and surveillance of patients’ health and well-being, including providing simple lifestyle and dietary advice.
• Undertaking specific clinical activities for named patients that have been delegated and taught specifically in relation to that individual.
• Helping to raise awareness of health and well-being and how it can be promoted.
• Assisting with the collection and collation of data relating to health and well-being.

Infection Control:

The post holder will undertake infection control training and update this periodically as required. The post holder will take part in all infection control measures within the practice following current procedures and protocols.

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 recognizes the importance of people’s 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:

In addition to maintaining continued education through attendance at any courses and/or study days necessary to ensure that NMC professional development requirements for PREP are met, 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.

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 team’s performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

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.