Healthcare Support Worker /Health care assistant - NHS

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

We are looking for an enthusiastic Band 3 Health Care Support Worker (HCSW) to join our Outpatient Nursing Team at Lewisham Hospital.

The job is full-time (37.5 hours per week), Mondays to Fridays, with no weekends or bank holidays.

The HCSW will work within the outpatient clinics to deliver care to patients coming from home or nursing care homes. The successful candidate will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team supporting a wide range of specialities: rheumatology, cardiology, nephrology, haematology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, neurology teams to name a few.

Please note that you must have a Care Certificate issued by an NHS Trust.

Main duties of the job

Moving and handling: transferring patients on wheelchairs to X-ray, scans, transport, giving care to patients on trolley waiting to be seen by doctors in OPD.

Breath test: analysing and providing information about the digestion of certain sugars or carbohydrates to help diagnose common digestive problems, including SIBO, IBS and lactose intolerance.

FibroScan: FibroScan is a non-invasive test that helps assess the health of your liver. Specifically, it uses ultrasound technology to determine the degree of fibrosis or scarring that may be present in your liver from various liver diseases or conditions.

Undertaking urinalysis

Chaperoning: Chaperone patients during examinations/procedures during intimate examinations.

procedures such as haemorrhoid banding.

Phlebotomy: Perform venepuncture as instructed (following successful completion of training course).

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Temperature
• Pulse
• Blood Pressure – manual and electronic
• Respirations
• Oxygen saturation levels
• Check and use trust blood glucose monitoring equipment to measure and record patient’s blood sugar following appropriate training.
• Weighing patients
• Undertake urinalysis
• Obtain Mid Stream Urine specimens and Catheter Specimens of Urine
• Undertake Pregnancy testing (urine only) and report findings
• Collect specimens via invasive swabs as and when requested by a clinician; i.e., urine, faeces, sputum and wound. Pack and label

same

• Ensuring departmental equipment is cleaned and well maintained and report any repairs required in line with Trust policy.
• Adhering to any patient isolation requirements
• Safely disposing of blood and blood products, and sharps
• Cleaning up spillages,

• Answering telephone and personal enquiries in a clear, polite and professional manner, taking messages and referring call or enquiries

• Participating in meetings as required.
• Supporting the transfer of patients to other wards and departments with the appropriate documentation.
• Communication with patients about the times of tests appointments.
• Preparation of medical notes for outpatient appointment, in line with trust policy, as and when provided.
• Provide clear verbal updates to members of the multi-disciplinary team relating to patient care.

• Putting away stock items when delivered to the area.
• Reporting and recording any potential hazards and equipment repairs.
• Order leaflets/stationery as required, keeping leaflet racks tidy and with up to date leaflets
• Restocking of medicine cupboards in clinical rooms and ensuring stock levels maintained
• Ensure all clinical trollies and clinical areas are well stocked to agreed stock levels
• Responsible for monitoring fridge temperaturesGeneral cleaning of equipment, work area, order resources, stocking and replenishing, transferring patients to transport lounge, managing notes and maintaining patients confidential information, safeguarding our patients and escalating concerns etc..

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

• Vocational qualification at level III qualification or equivalent relevant experience (gained by on-the-job learning) and short courses.
• Care Certificate attainment
• Effective written and verbal communication, literacy, numeracy, and IT skills to a minimum of Level 1 Maths and English

Experience

• Experience of dealing with the general public.
• Experience of working in a health or social care environment.

Knowledge and skills

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively.
• Ability to follow a clear instruction and feed back to senior staff.
• Good observation skills and recognition of the importance of reporting
• Ability to carry out assigned tasks effectively in a busy environment.
• Able to prioritise and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work as part of a team, as well as on own initiative.
• Willingness to continue to develop knowledge and practice through a combination of instruction, on the job learning, attending teaching sessions and study days, where appropriate.

Personal Qualities and Skills

• Able to work within the scope of their practice under direct and indirect supervision by the registered professional (training will be provided)
• Demonstrable knowledge of equipment used in healthcare and ensure that they are compatible and in good working order and escalate any concerns to a registered professional.
• Ability to work with people and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Caring, compassionate and empathetic disposition

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women’s staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.