General Practice Assistant in Nottingham

Byron PCN includes the 4 GP practices of Oakenhall Medical Practice, The Om Surgery, Torkard Hill Medical Centre and Whyburn Medical Practice, which are located in the Hucknall area of Nottingham. Your role will be to support the smooth running of two of the PCN practices by performing both administration and clinical tasks on behalf of the General Practitioner, freeing up their time to focus on direct patient care. The post would suit individuals who are excited by the prospect of being central to the development of a new way of working within GP practices. We are looking for highly motivated individuals who will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide support across the PCN practices.

This new role is to predominantly support two of the practices with clinical administration, but the post-holder will also need to develop some clinical skills such as phlebotomy, ECG and clinical observations so that they can work in a flexible way to meet the demands on the day. The position is open to qualified General Practice Assistants. The postholder will be supported by the Practice Managers (administrative work) and the Practice Nursing Teams (clinical work) as well as the PICS Lead for PCN Nursing.

Main duties of the job

• Improving patient flow within surgery hours, increasing the time efficiency of appointments, and reduction of waiting times.
• Reduce time spent by GPs on managing correspondence.
• Deliver direct clinical care to patients to give flexibility to the service.
• You will be expected to develop links with local GP practices, colleagues within the service and local communities to ensure delivery of integrated, patient focused care, demonstrating flexibility in the role and a caring attitude towards patients.

Key Responsibilities

• Sorting clinical post and prioritising for the GP in terms of actions.
• Signposting some post to others such as clinical pharmacist etc.
• Extracting all information from clinical letters that needs coding and adding to notes.
• Arranging appointments, referrals, tests and follow up appointments of patients.
• Preparing patients prior to going in to see the GP, taking a brief history and basic readings in readiness for the GP appointment.
• Undertaking urinalysis, taking blood pressure measurement and other vital signs, ECGs & phlebotomy.
• Support the GP practices with immunisation programmes/wound care.
• Completing basic (non-opinion) forms and core elements of some forms for the GP to approve and sign such as insurance forms, mortgage, benefits agency forms etc.
• Explaining treatment procedures to patients.
• Helping the GP liaise with outside agencies e.g. getting a non-call doctor on the phone to ask advice or arrange admission while the GP can continue with their consultation(s).

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.

Professional Development

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. Attend all relevant mandatory training. Inform the manager of any concerns regarding GPA role and any professional development needed. Be aware of own professional boundaries and what to do when you have reached them. Must hold GP Assistant Certification Qualification.

Quality

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

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
• Work to practice protocols.
• Apply infection control measures within local and national guidelines.
• 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 recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members.
• Be familiar in all mediums of communications such as email, tasks, telephone etc.
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers.
• Recognise people's needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
• Communicate effectively to outside agencies.

Person Specification

Please provide details of your CPD, using examples where necessary.

Personal Qualities

Please provide details for why you would be a great fit for this role and why you have decided to apply.

Knowledge and skills

Please provide detailed information of how you feel that your knowledge and skills are suitable for this role; please provide examples to support your application referring to the job description and person specification for guidance.

Experience

Please provide detailed information of how you feel that your experience is suitable for this role; please provide examples to support your application referring to the job description and person specification for guidance.

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.