Job summary
Our Dermatology Outpatient Department are seeking to recruit a Senior Healthcare Assistant.

The successful candidates will be enthusiastic and dedicated and will work well in a busy team.

They will participate in delivering safe, excellent patient care, displaying a caring and compassionate nature and will be motivated to learn and develop within this speciality.

Excellent communication and organisational skills are essential as they will be required to work with our multi-disciplinary team to support the in the smooth running of clinics and minor procedures on a day-to-day basis

In return we will invest in their development, offering the opportunity to learn about this highly specialised area of care, assisting in our Minor Operations theatre and in daily clinics. Development is encouraged and this is a friendly and welcoming team, who will help to make the transition to this new post a smooth one.

Training will be offered for all aspects of the post.

Main duties of the job

• Assisting the Clinicians and Specialist Nurses in the running of Dermatology clinics
• Assisting in the safe delivery of care in the Minor Operations Theatre within the department. Full training will be given for this aspect of the role.
• To actively promote quality improvement within the department.
• To assist in ensuring adequate stock levels in the department.
• Ensuring high levels of patient care and safety in the Dermatology Department
• Assisting in the completion and safe handling of documentation and patient identifiable information.
• To ensure privacy and dignity of patients is maintained by acting as a chaperone for Clinical and Nursing staff when examining patients.

About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Job responsibilities
Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work as part of a team and duties will be delegated by the registered healthcare professional.
• Act within the scope of your training and competence, knowing who to ask for help and support if you are not sure.
• Work within agreed ways of working, following relevant Trust standards, policies and protocols.
• Communicate compassionately and effectively with individuals and their families, carers and health care practitioners using a range of techniques, maintaining confidentiality and using tact, empathy, persuasion and reassurance.
• Observe, assess and respond to patients needs appropriately, escalating concerns to Nursing staff as required including instigating emergency procedures as per policy.
• Organises self and supervises other junior staff or learners in general work tasks or when delivering patient care with supervision from nursing staff.
• Prioritises a range of delegated clinical care duties.
• Acting on own initiative, undertake personal care duties and support activities of daily living, e.g. mouth care, personal hygiene and toileting needs, demonstrating person centred care.
• Assist the registered healthcare practitioners with clinical tasks, follow care plans, notice and report changes, assist with risk assessments, obtain samples and some specimens.
• Safely deliver care duties including manoeuvring of patient equipment such as hoists and wheelchairs.
• Gather evidence to assist registered healthcare practitioner in obtaining a patient/client history.
• Undertake delegated procedures as required within the limits of required training and measured competence e.g venepuncture / ECG recording / blood glucose monitoring, clinical observations, taking specimens, escalating any abnormalities to the registered nurse.
• Support of patients feeding, diet and nutritional needs and accurately record patients nutritional intake and fluid intake and output, noticing and reporting changes to the nursing staff.
• Ensure patient property is managed as per Trust policy.
• Monitor levels of supplies and order supplies for the department as appropriate
• Demonstrates own duties to new starters, contributing to the learning environment. Where requested, supports/supervises work of students and other junior staff.
• Occasionally participates in audits, surveys, development activities.
• To work in line with Trust policies and procedures
• Contributes to maintaining a safe, healthy working environment.
• Follow the principles for implementing a duty of care, always acting in the best interest of individuals to ensure they do not come to harm.
• Work in partnership with the individual, their carers/ families and the wider healthcare team.
• Maintain and further develop your own skills and knowledge through development and learning activities; maintain evidence of your personal development and actively prepare for and participate in appraisal.
• Participate in team handovers

Person Specification
Our Values
Essential

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications
Essential

• NVQ level 3 Health and Social Care or equivalent
• Care Certificate (equivalent to level 1)
• Literacy and numeracy functional skills level 2 or equivalent

Knowledge and Experience
Essential

• Knowledge of personal care and related procedures
• Demonstrable experience of working in a patient care/health related role
• Knowledge of relevant legislation related to healthcare
• Experience of working in a team

Skills
Essential

• Ability to communicate effectively in both verbal and written formats
• Good interpersonal skills
• Able to work within a team
• Experience of supporting junior staff and learners
• Able to accept direction and guidance
• Aware of own limitations
• Flexible in working hours
• Able to prioritise own workload and manage time effectively
• Flexible, adaptable and responsive to change
• Reliable and professional
• Ability to cope in stressful and challenging situations
• Inclusive and non-judgmental
• Punctual, motivated and committed
• Effective role model demonstrating Trust values
• Basic IT skills

Other
Essential

• Frequent moderate effort for several long periods during the shift such as manual handling patients to supporting patient's personal care
• Concentration, focus and frequent record keeping requirements. Carrying out time critical tasks
• Aware that developing resilience to distressing situations is necessary without losing the ability to care compassionately
• Aware of the process for accessing staff health and wellbeing support
• Daily exposure to distressing situations which may include challenging behaviour, care of chronic health conditions, patient end of life care/care after death
• Able to carry out direct clinical care as required on ward or department

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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).