Echocardiography Support Worker, Band 3
Join us at an exciting time for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust! We have an ambitious plan for our journey to Outstanding and are looking for aspirational, committed individuals to join us, making a real difference to both staff and patients.
As a former winner of England for excellence award: Tourism destination of the year, the beautiful city of Gloucester and the scenic regency spa town of Cheltenham are fantastic places to work and live.
As a hospital Trust we are currently involved in over 100 clinical trials and studies, whilst also providing acute elective and specialist services to a population of over 620,000.
By joining Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust new colleagues can look forward to a warm welcome and a future full of opportunities and support.
Job overview
Here at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we have an exciting opportunity for a motivated individual to join our Cardiology investigations team. This is a newly created post which will support the Echocardiography team in the day to day running of the service.This will be a be a busy role and we are looking for someone who is proactive, motivated and able to organise themselves and the team. They will be an excellent communicator with a caring and compassionate nature.
Echocardiography is an important investigation in the diagnosis and monitoring of various cardiac pathologies. The Echo support worker will assist the Cardiac Physiologists on a daily basis in the delivery of all Echocardiography services to ensure excellent care for patients in both the outpatient and inpatient setting.
Additional working pattern details: Monday - Friday
Main duties of the job
The main role of this position is to assist the Echo Cardiac Physiologists to support the daily provision of Echocardiography services at Gloucestershire NHS trust. Duties include calling patients and preparing them for their procedure, measuring height, weight and blood pressure.Assisting patients before, during and after the procedure. Transporting patients to and from the department using a wheelchair. Organisation of inpatient lists and liaising with other medical staff is an essential part of the role. Clerical and administrative tasks, including monitoring stock.
Training will be provided to perform an ECG (electrocardiogram) and measure blood pressure. This is mainly a patient facing role and the successful candidate must have excellent, compassionate communication skills and be able to deal sensitively with distressed patients.
Working for our organisation
The Cardiology Investigation Department forms part of the wider Cardiology services within Gloucestershire. Cardiology has 15 Consultants with varying sub specialty interests and is supported by a team of Associate Specialists, Specialty Doctors and Registrars.
We are a small, friendly team currently providing routine adult TTE and complex Echocardiograms for inpatients and outpatients across three sites.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Job purpose- Working within the Cardiology Investigation Department the Echo support worker will assist the Echo Physiologists in delivery of a wide range of cardiac diagnostic testing for outpatients and inpatients.
- Support the Echo team to deliver a high-quality service by taking responsibility for patient flow, acting as chaperone as required and organising porters and transport for patients and equipment
- Ensure the ultrasound room is prepared and ready for use. Clean it post procedure ready for the next patient
- To work cross-county on a rotational basis, within a number of sites, throughout the Trust as required.
- To communicate effectively with patients, carers, relatives and all members of the multidisciplinary team
- Maintain high standards of care
- Take responsibility for personal development and support the development of others as required.
- Conduct oneself in a professional manner and be a role model at all times
- Work proactively to ensure that every patient attendance meets the Trusts expectations with timely undertaking of procedure and effective communication with relatives, patients and carers.
- Meet and greet patients and relatives.
- Initial confirmation of patient ID.
- Provide care for patients in the clinical imaging environment.
- Perform height, weight and blood pressure measurements
- Perform ECG (electrocardiogram) as required. Training will be provided.
- Attend patient on CRIS/ISCV system and prepare any necessary paperwork.
- Assist patients with dressing and undressing as appropriate for the examination.
- Act as a chaperone if required.
- Assist with patient flow, moving patients from waiting areas to examination rooms
- Assist patients to the toilet ensuring patients dignity is maintained
- Recognise and respond to emergency situations and take appropriate action, according to trust/department policies
- Assist in emergencies of an unwell patient and provide assistance for those in distress or needing support.
- Perform basic life support where required, assist with toileting/vomiting etc.
- Maintain clear, accurate and concise patient records in line with departmental and professional standards
- Distribute patient results to the referring Health professional.
- Maintain patient dignity and confidentiality at all times
- Provide aftercare for patient as required.
- Escalate or seek advice from colleagues if concerned.
- To maintain a clean and clinical environment, of the clinical area, after each patient.
- To restock all clinical rooms with agreed stock levels on a daily basis.
- To perform daily checks of defibrillation trolleys throughout the department.
- To undertake the safe transportation of patients to and from the department, in line with Trust moving and handling policy. This will include inpatient and outpatient as required.
- To cover the Cardiac Investigations department reception when required.
- Assist with other clerical duties as required.
- Develop and maintain clinical skills and knowledge necessary for the role and to deliver service.
- Be competent in the use of all relevant Trust IT systems including the use of electronic patient record, E-Learning & email.
- Keep up-to-date with information disseminated in the Trust
- Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of Accountability, responsibility and Duty of Care.
- Support the safeguarding of individuals following local protocols and standards.
- Relate to others in ways that support rights, inclusion and the wellbeing of individuals, supporting individuals to keep themselves safe.
- Good personal organisational skills.
- Effective, collaborative team worker.
- Accurately enter clinical information onto the patient reporting systems and ultrasound equipment when required.
- Exposure to unpleasant conditions – body fluids, body odours, blood, vomit
- Contact with infectious patient
- Contact with violent / aggressive patients and relatives
- Frequent requirement to provide manual handling, assist with lifting and movement of patients following trust manual handling training
- Moving bulky/heavy equipment within the department and to the wards in order to perform the Echocardiogram
- Regular patient transfer between the department and the wards using a wheelchair or trolley
- Provide CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) as appropriate
- Comply with Trust and Departmental policies and procedures e.g. Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), Manual Handling, clinical equipment competency, risk management, Data Protection Acts and patient confidentiality at all times. This will include demonstrating compliance with the terms of all safeguarding policies and processes relevant to the safeguarding of adults and children in the care of GHNHSFT and to undergo regular mandatory training concerned with safeguarding matters.
- In conjunction with their manager, identify training needs.
- Report near misses and untoward incidents, complaints, clinical emergencies, injury or medicine administration errors as detailed in the departmental and Trust protocols. Assist lead staff in investigating incidents as required.
- Maintain and contribute to the development of standards of practice, conduct or decision making in conjunction with lead staff.
- Ensure a smart, professional image that enhances the public perception of the Trust and the professionalism of its staff is portrayed.
- Be actively involved in and support departmental education programmes
- Develop the skills to supervise, mentor, support and educate less experienced staff in the clinical practice setting.
- Undertake all mandatory training
- To maintain skills and knowledge within resuscitation, as per Trust guidelines
- Identify own development needs, aligning these to service requirements and personal aspirations. Proactively develop and improve own practice using all available resources
- Demonstrate a commitment to research-based practice and clinical excellence and play and active part in the introduction of research-based change to improve patient centred care.
- Work with senior staff undertaking audit and research projects, to further own and team’s clinical practice within each rotation. To be involved in making recommendations for changes to practice and procedures for the relevant clinical area, and the implementation of these changes.
- Contribute to the Clinical Governance and Quality agenda by active participation in service initiatives, health and safety and risk management.
- Understand and contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies/ protocols/ guidelines relevant to the specialist area.
- Openly question and challenge practice in a constructive way so that standards of patient care are continually evaluated and improved.
- Take part in departmental surveys and Trust staff surveys as required.
Contact Details
If you would like to know more about this new exciting role, or arrange an informal visit, I would be very happy to chat to you, so please do not hesitate to contact me:
Samantha King Principal Physiologist (Lead Physiologist Echocardiography)
0300 422 8281 (GRH)
0300 422 3561 (CGH)
Person specification
Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria- GCSE grade C or level 4/5 or equivalent in English and Maths.
- Good IT skills including word, email and excel
- Good command of written and spoken English
- Experience of working in a NHS/health environment
- Self-motivated and able to prioritise own workload and that of others as appropriate
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Willing to undertake training
- Able to deal with distressed patients and respond accordingly
- Enthusiastic and self-aware
- Resilient under pressure
- Previous experience in a relevant speciality
- Experience of working in a NHS/health environment
The health and wellbeing of our staff and patients remains the priority of the Trust. Vaccination remains the best chance we have of conquering COVID and the Trust encourages everyone to take up this offer.
Please note, this vacancy may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received, so please apply as soon as possible if you are interested. The Recruitment Team are unable to accept any applications after the position has closed on NHS Jobs.
Committed to safeguarding our community
If applicable for the post, all successful candidates will be required to pay for their own Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The cost will be £29 (standard checks) or £46 (enhanced checks), and will be recovered through two instalments from the candidate's salary.Please contact [email protected] for further information.
The Trust is a safeguarding employer committed to the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The Trust is committed to safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults, and any appointment will be subject to satisfactory clearance.As part of the organisation's commitment to Safer Recruitment, candidates may request copies of relevant policies and procedures by contacting the Recruitment Team at [email protected]
Committed to supporting service personnel
As part of our commitment to support Service Personnel, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in collaboration with the Career Transition Partnership, offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for all qualifying Service and Ex-Service Personnel.To qualify for a guaranteed interview, candidates must meet the essential criteria for the post and be either a current member of the Armed Forces, or be within the two year period of resettlement. If this applies to you please email the job reference number and your AR number to the Recruitment Team at [email protected]
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