Urgent Care Practitioner

Devon Doctors Group are expanding our team of Urgent Care Practitioners and it's an exciting time to be joining us as we continue to grow. If you are a First Contact Practitioner, Nurse or Paramedic who is committed to Putting Patients First, are looking for a role with a better work/life balance or an opportunity to enhance your skills and experience, alongside delivering high quality healthcare advice, then we have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us.

You will have the opportunity to cover a variety of roles within the business, including: telephone triage; treatment centre; home visits; and shifts within our Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) in Exeter, Taunton or Plymouth.

Shifts available in our Newton Abbot treatment centre are 1900- 2300 Monday to Friday, 0800 - 1900 Saturdays and 0800 - 1600 Sundays.

Shifts available in our CAS are 1800 - 0000 on Thursday and Friday and between 0800 - 0000 Saturday and Sunday.

Being an Urgent Care Practitioner with us is a demanding yet highly rewarding career, where you will be able to consistently make a difference to patients every day. We also offer fantastic support for career progression and personal development as an integral member of our team.

You will be a First Contact Practitioner, Nurse or Paramedic with at least 6 months’ experience of working at advanced level within ED, MIU, WIC, UTC, GP Surgery or Community Response Team. You should have a recognised Masters level qualification for Physical Assessment and Clinical Reasoning. You will also be able to work to PGDs if you are a Paramedic (Nurse PGDs are in development) or have/be working towards a registered independent prescriber qualification.

You should have the ability and confidence to see a wide range of patients presenting through the Integrated Urgent Care Service and be able to assess, diagnose, treat, prescribe and refer as necessary independently. You will usually work alongside another senior clinician however there may be rare occasions where you will be required to lone work as the sole clinician in the base with remote support available - it is important that you are comfortable working in this capacity. In addition, you will also have the opportunity to actively support and develop junior clinicians joining the organisation.

Devon Doctors Group are a not-for-profit organisation that has been delivering urgent care to Devon’s million plus residents for more than twenty years as Devon Doctors, and since April 2018 we have also been providing the Integrated Urgent Care Service in Somerset as Meddcare. Additionally, as Mayflower Medical Group and Access Dental we offer a range of dentistry and primary care services across the Peninsula.

JOB PURPOSE

You will be responsible for the telephone assessment of health and clinical needs, utilising professional clinical judgement, supported by clinical decision support software (CDSS) where required. This requires generalist and specialist skills to assess and deliver care to patients across all age groups in a contact centre or out of hours base.

You will provide assessment, medication advice and health information supporting individuals to access the appropriate level of care including advice to manage their symptoms at home.

You will also be responsible for providing face to face consultations for patients presenting with unscheduled primary care conditions and minor injuries and illness needs.

You will take responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of patients under remote supervision from either an Advanced Clinical Practitioner or GP.

You will be responsible for the supervision, teaching, precepting and mentoring of other colleagues who may include students, other clinicians and Health Advisors.

You will be expected to support delivery of the national healthcare agenda, and represent the organisation in a timely and professional manner as and when required.

Clinical care
- Obtain a patient history and establish a diagnosis of an individual’s health condition by undertaking face to face assessment and treatment of patients who are invited to base for consultation or undertake home visits, in accordance with the relevant protocols. This includes providing assessment, treatment and working diagnosis at point of first contact, by attending to patients in a variety of clinical or non-clinical settings according to patients’ needs. This includes patients of all ages and with wide-ranging health conditions.
- Perform standard tests using manual methodologies or commercial kits and obtain supporting information to inform the assessment of an individual. Undertake and interpret basic point of care tests e.g. urinalysis, peak flow, blood glucose.
- Determine a treatment plan for an individual and manage an individual’s medication to achieve optimum outcomes within the scope of Patient Group Directive (PGD), escalating where appropriate.
- Competently carry out a wide variety of procedures and interventions