Paramedic Practitioner
3 months ago
Job summary
Anopportunity exists for an ambitious Paramedic Practitioner/ACP to join our Surgery to cover a 12 month period of maternity leave. You will be coming into an established team,working with an experienced and highly motivated group of clinicians.
Thepost holder will work as part of the triage service, alongside the duty doctor, undertaking home visits, assessing patients needs through history taking, physical examination andappropriate use of investigations to confirm diagnosis. Part of thisrole will be delivered through home visiting activities, as well as clinicbased work. The successful candidatewill be able to demonstrate an ability to work autonomously in prioritisinghealth problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex,urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergencycare.
Main duties of the job
The primary focus of the role is to work as an autonomous practitioner providing high quality and timely patient centred care in a home visiting environment, as well as within the primary care setting. The post holder will be responsible as follows:
to assess, diagnose, treat and provide advice, care and management and onward referral for a diverse range of patients with minor injuries/acute and minor illness. This will be for patients within their own homes or in a care home. You will also help to manage urgent and primary care patients either via our on-line triage system, telephone or face to face, who may have long term conditions, with diagnosed or undiagnosed undifferentiated illness within the primary care environment.
About us
We area supportive, forward thinking dispensing practice. We have a list size of 18,600 patients and our clinical team consists of 11 General Practitioners, 2 NursePractitioners and 4 Paramedic ACPs. We are ably supported by Practice Nurses and HCAs and also an extended primary care team through Social Prescribers, First Contact Physios, a Clinical Pharmacist and Mental Health Practitioner. We currently use SystmOne Clinical Information System.
We are a teaching Practice, supporting GP Registrars and undergraduate medical students for years 1and 2 and have a strong emphasis on team work and high quality patient care. Weoffer regular opportunities for education and development through our clinicalmeetings and peer supervision arrangements.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The primary focus of the role is to workas an autonomous practitioner providing high quality and timely patient centredcare. The post holder will beresponsible as follows:
· to assess, diagnose, treat andprovide advice, care and management and onward referral for a diverse range ofpatients with minor injuries/acute and minor illness. This will be for patients within their ownhomes or in a care home.
· To assess, diagnose, treat andprovide advice, care and management andonward referral for urgent and primary care patients either via telephone orface to face, with either long term conditions, with diagnosed or undiagnosedundifferentiated illness within the primary care environment.
Where necessary, refer to otherappropriate health care services Patients own GP, Secondary Care andCommunity Services and Social Services. Support the delivery of policy andprocedures, and provide leadership as required. This may require outreach provision or telephone based support.
The post holder will be an experiencedclinician who will act as a positive role model supporting junior staff (whereexperience supports this) whilst working flexibly across urgent and primarycare to provide safe clinical, high quality services within their professionalboundaries. They will have theopportunity to work within the wider healthcare team.
A key role for the post holder will be toundertake home visits assessed as requiring a visit by their own GP, dutydoctor and through referrals reviewed by you directly.
Keyduties and responsibilities
1. ClinicalPractice
a) Work as part of the triage teamwith the Duty GP to assess patients needs through history taking, physicalexamination and appropriate use of investigations to confirm diagnosis, boththrough home visiting and as part of clinic based duties.
b) Work as part of the EmergencyPractitioner Team in the organisation of MDTs for care home patients, bothassisting with diagnosis, treatment and management. You will be required tofoster excellent working relationships with local care home managers and staffin order to ensure the highest level of care is available to this vulnerablegroup of patients, with a focus on patient centred care delivery and admissionavoidance.
c) Clinically examine and assesspatient needs from a physiological, psychological and social perspective, andplan clinical care accordingly.
d) Plan,implement and evaluate an effective management plan for the patient, ensuringsafe discharge/referral and/or transfer to an appropriate health care service.
e) Order,or provide if necessary, investigations and samples, provide treatment,counselling and health education
f) Diagnoseand manage acute conditions supported by appropriate prescribing (where qualified).
g) Performsafe assessment and management of patients via telephone or face to face.
h) ForPrescribing Practitioners you will prescribe medication for therapeuticeffectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance withevidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scopeof practice and antimicrobial stewardship. Alternatively, you will liaise with the duty doctor in order to ensureappropriate and timely prescribing is actioned according to patient need.
i) Provideinformation and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication onmedication regimens, side-effects and interactions.
j) Prioritisehealth problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex,urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergencycare.
k) Support patients to adopt health promotionstrategies that promote healthy lifestyles
andapply principles of self-care where appropriate.
l) Take part in extended hour’s surgeries as part of corecontract arrangements.
2. Communication
a) Utiliseand demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informedand consent to treatment.
b) Communicateeffectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternativemethods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding,cultural background and preferred ways of communicating.
c) Anticipatebarriers to communication and take action to improve communication.
d) Maintaineffective communication within the organisation and with external stakeholders.
f) Ensureawareness of sources of support and guidance and provide information in anacceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referringwhere appropriate.
3. Deliveringa Quality Service
a) Recogniseand work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated bythe HCPC. Understand own role and scope and identify how this may develop overtime.
b) Produceaccurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation,consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.
c) Prioritise,organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotesquality.
d) Ensure professional revalidation requirements are met.
e) Delivercare according to NSF, NICEguidelines and evidence-based care.
f) Assesseffectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking andformal evaluation.
g) Initiateand participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processesacross the organisation and its activities.
h) Inpartnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality ofhealth care responding to local and national policies and initiatives asappropriate.
I) Supportand participate in shared learning across the organisation and widerorganisation.
J) Understand and apply guidance thatsupports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, and be aware of statutorychild/vulnerable patient’s
health procedures andlocal guidance.
4. Leadership– Personal and People Development
a) Takeresponsibility for own learning and performance including participating inclinical supervision and acting as a positive role mode.
b) Supportstaff development in order to maximise potential.
c) Activelypromote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learnfrom each other and from external good practice.
d) Encourageothers to make realistic self-assessment of their application of knowledge andskills, challenging any complacency or actions that are not in the interest ofthe public and/or users of services.
e) Criticallyevaluate and review innovations and developments that are relevant to the areaof work.
f) Takea lead role in planning and implementing changes within the area of care andresponsibility.
g) Workwith senior clinical and management teams to ensure sufficient staff ofappropriate ability, quality and skill-mix is available to meet current andfuture service delivery, that selection and recruitment processes are effectiveand that equality of treatment of the team incorporates quality HR principlesand processes.
h) Contributeto the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards.
i) Maintaineffective communication with those responsible for the overall commissioningand procurement process.
j) Promotethe role of the ECP.
k) Toattend and be proactively involved in professional meetings.
l) Take the lead/ develop a specialinterest within certain areas to allow the sharing of clinical knowledge andexpertise.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
Registered paramedic
Desirable
MSc Advanced Practice or equivalent Non Medical Prescriber Mentor/ Teaching qualification Clinical supervision training and experience
Experience
Essential
Experience of working as senior clinician Accountability of own role and other roles in a practitioner-led service
Desirable
Experience in leading/managing a team working in an unscheduled care service providing care in the patients own home. having worked in Primary Care leading/managing quality improvement
Skills and Attributes
Essential
Advanced clinical practice skills Management and treatment of patients with acute exacerbation of long-term conditions Management of patients with complex needs Clinical examination skills Clinical leadership skills Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal Negotiation and conflict management skills Highly motivated Flexibility Enthusiasm Team Player
Desirable
Change management Teaching and mentorship in a clinical setting Resource Management