This health care assistant post is based at Shepherdleas Ward, an Older Adult mental health in-patient unit serving South London as part of the South London Partnership.
The health care assistant post holder will have at least experience in a hospital setting.
The health care assistant post holder will work as part of the ward team under the supervision of registered nurses, and supports them by participating in the delivery of patient care. The post holder will be expected to be self-motivated and use their initiative when necessary.
The post holder will undertake the hospital’s in house training for HCA’s, and willmaintain an agreed level of competence.
It is expected that the post holder will be able to carry out all of the duties listed in the main duty section below, but will not necessarily do so, the duties will vary from ward to ward. They may carry out other similar duties in support of the ward environment which are not listed. No duties are to be undertaken by the post holder unless they have received the appropriate training or instruction.
Main duties of the job
The post involves a mix of opportunities including:
Communication with patients, relatives and carers.
Providing one-on-one support to individuals with a range of mental health conditions,
Assisting with clinical duties.
Supporting in personal care including infection prevention and control, food, personal hygiene and overall reassurance, comfort and safety.
Promoting positive mental/physical/nutritional health with patients.
Undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met – Escalating any concerns to a Registered Nurse. Monitoring andrecording service user clinical observations.
Advocating for service users’ needs and rights within Trust policy.
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
We’re Kind
We’re Fair
We Listen
We Care
Health Care Assistant
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical Skills
Working under the direct supervision and guidance of a Registered Nurse/ Senior Health Care Support Worker/ Assistant Practitioner/Nurse Associate to support the delivery of quality nursing care, contributing to the physical, psychological, social, recreational and spiritual care in a recovery-focused way through therapeutic engagement and activities, and taking steps to address any issues that arise.
Undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met nutrition, hydration, hygiene, comfort, emotional and social support.
Providing hands-on care to service users including:
– Undertaking 1-1 engagement with service users in an honest,open and non- judgmental way.- Recognising and valuing service users as individuals, acknowledging the importance of maintaining the service users respect and dignity at all times and ensure that the care provided respects equality and diversity.- Escalating any concerns to a Registered Nurse.- Monitoring and recording service user clinical observations asdirected by a Senior Clinician/Registered Nurse/ B4, such asphysical observations and vital signs and escalating as appropriateany signs or symptoms of deterioration or that do not fulfil the personal parameters to the relevant professional.- Implementing the principles of recovery: encouraging and supporting service users to engage with healthy lifestyles, participate in community meetings and other activities of their interest.
Escorting service users, as required, in line with Trust policies, under guidance and supervision of Senior Healthcare Support Workers, Nursing Associates, Assistant Practitioners or Registered Nurses.
Advocating for service users needs and rights within Trust policy.Knowledge and Frameworks
Demonstrating the development of an understanding of mental health signs and symptoms and an understanding of how these may present in practice including recognition of impact on patient presentation and behaviour including risk factors.
Recognising and responding appropriately to challenging behaviour in line with Trust policies and training, actively seeking the supervision and guidance of a Senior Health Care Support Worker, Nurse Associate,
Demonstrating the development of knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty and other legislation applicable to the practice area and how they are implemented in practice.
Communication
Contributing to an effective communication process with appropriate and accurate information to patients, carers, family, friends and colleagues.
Engaging and listening carefully and actively, and responding usingappropriate language and accessible communication methods and skills.
Developing communication skills to enable and support difficultconversations, acknowledging cultural differences and professionalboundaries.
Demonstrating development of effective clinical communication and documentation: effective verbal and written handover of relevant and objective information, ability to determine key information, ability to recognise and describe effectively symptoms of mental illness, distress or of a deteriorating patient, and ability to escalate issues of concerns effectively and in a timely manner.
Maintaining timely and accurate service user written/electronic records under supervision and in line with Trust policy.
Reporting, without delay, any safety or security concerns to maintain the safety of service users, carers, staff and others to senior staff.
Reporting safeguarding concerns to a Registered Nurse.
Responding respectfully to concerns / complaints raised by patients,families and carers and escalate in accordance with trust polices.
Maintaining confidential information in accordance with Trust Policies.
Teamworking and Professional Development
Protecting service users, self and others by maintaining a clean and healthy environment in accordance with health and safety and infection control policies.
Working in ways that support shared responsibility within the team:- demonstrating support, respect and courtesy towards colleagues; working in a professional manner and with Trust values always in mind, respecting the boundaries of the relationship with service users/patients, carers and staff.
Attending and participating in team meetings.
Engaging in reflective practice to ensure effective patient care is based on evidence based practice and with Trust values in mind.
Attending staff training and meetings including reflective practice groups and activities including the development of reflective portfolio.
Participating in supervision by nominated senior staff member, including annual review of performance as part of the appraisal (or PADR) system.
Undertaking mandatory training as required by Trust policy plus Care Certificate, Trust Level 2 Apprenticeship if appropriate and other CPD training related to the role or area of work.
Ability to fulfil all the requirements of the role (including physical) and if unable to then reasonable adjustments may need to be made either to your role or place of work to ensure safety of self, staff and patients.
Undertake any other duties that are commensurate with the band and nature of the post.
Person Specification
JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential
Experience and knowledge
Education and Qualification
Skills and Abilities
Desirable
Experience and knowledge
Education and Qualification
Skills and Abilities
Skills and Abilities
Essential
Experience and knowledge
Desirable
JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION -Experience
Education and Qualification
Essential
Education and Qualification
Desirable
Education and Qualification
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship
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).
