Community Health Care Assistant

We provide healthcare services to people living in Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough areas, serving a population of around 450,000. We are ideally situated between Wales’s capital city, Porthcawl to the west, and the stunning scenery in the Brecon Beacons.

Our vision is to care for our communities and patients by preventing ill-health, promoting better health, providing excellent services and reducing the need for inpatient care wherever possible through the provision of strengthened home, primary and community care.

We value the diversity of our staff and welcome applications from people from protected groups under the Equality Act 2010, this specifically includes age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/reassignment, race/nationality, religion/belief, disability, pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg is a Living Wage Employer.

Please check your email account regularly. Successful applicants will receive all recruitment related correspondence via the email account registered on the application form.

All applicants are invited to apply in Welsh or English, and no preference will be given to applications submitted in either language.

Job overview

Community Health Care Assistant

Are you looking for a role where you can work caring for other people in their own home?

This is an opportunity for someone who wishes to continue to progress their career in nursing.

This role will support patients to recover or rehabilitate after a period of illness or crisis by implementing planned Intermediate Care for individuals in their own home, maintaining a high standard of evidence-based practice to meet identified needs whilst being supported by a multi-disciplinary team of Doctors, Nurses, Therapists and Allied Health professionals.

Main duties of the job

Provide support for avoiding admission to hospital when clinically safe to do so, through appropriate community based care and support, which includes providing personal care to patients, performing vital observations, and venepuncture and maintaining accurate records.

Follow intervention plans formulated by a Health Care Professional within agreed parameters in order to allow patients to maximise their functional independence.

Utilise knowledge and understanding of common physical, mental and behavioural health conditions to recognise deterioration in service users.

Working for our organisation

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board is part of the NHS Wales family. Our Health Board provides primary, secondary and community health and wellbeing services to around 450,000 people living in three County Boroughs: Bridgend Merthyr Tydfil, and Rhondda Cynon Taf.

We live by our core values:

• We listen, learn and improve
• We treat everyone with respect
• We all work together as one team

We are a proud local employer; around 80% of our 15000 workforce live within our region, making our staff not only our lifeblood of our organisation but of the diverse communities that we serve.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work alone within scope of role and have delegated caseload of patients that have been previously seen/triaged and assessed by a registered member of staff.
• Work unsupervised, following a care plan that has been implemented by a Health Care Professional.
• Undertake enabling care as directed by a registered practitioner; this will include assistance with toileting, washing, dressing and continence care, mobility, transfers and use of potential walking aids.
• Be vigilant for cues indicating safeguarding issues.
• Escalate safeguarding concerns and reports to the multi-disciplinary team in a robust, timely manner, complying with legal requirements.
• Respond by promptly escalating concerns to a registered practitioner.
• Recognise an emergency, summon assistance and act as a member of the multi-disciplinary team within parameters of competence and role.
• Use delegated therapeutic handling techniques as required by the individual and their environment in order to safely, efficiently and effectively treat the patients according to their agreed treatment plans, goals and outcomes.
• Safely encourage a prescribed recovery programme as per competency framework.
• Feedback to registered staff member signs of progress, regression etc.
• Ensure the safety of patients when delivering enabling care.
• Follow UHB policies and procedures.
• Keep up to date with all mandatory training.
• Effective communication for all patients with an empathetic and understanding approach, where barriers may have to be overcome.
• Exchange information with service user and families using active listening, compassion, empathy, and coproduction techniques with the service user.
• Communicate and liaise effectively with peers, colleagues and other staff members of all levels, and disciplines, providing accurate accounts of patients’ abilities and progress. Requiring discretion, confidentiality, and sensitivity.
• Provide written records of activities undertaken as part of delegated care plan and patient progress.
• Recognise and understand how to effectively deal with situations that may include stressful patients or relatives.
• Provide feedback on service-user progress and condition, recognise the impact of support and interventions, and suggest ideas for improvement when developing, reviewing and evaluating ongoing care needs based on objective evidence and experience.
• Communicate through a variety of methods, including the use of interpersonal, written, verbal and non-verbal skills.
• Ability to use and maintain written and electronic records following UHB policies.
• Have knowledge and understanding of chronic conditions and frailty related issues.
• Have an understanding of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Use prescribed manual handling equipment, implementing single handed care safely within the patient’s home.
• Basic IT skills.

Person specification

Qualifications and Knowledge

• Level 3 NVQ in a health or social care or relevant experience
• Evidence of continuing personal development relevant to the role in health care
• Patient related experience in a health, third sector or social care services

• Understanding of chronic conditions and frailty
• Previous caring role

Experience

• Patient related experience in a health, third sector or social care services.

Other

• Post is community based so it is essential that post holder can travel flexibly in a defined area in a timely manner

If you are eligible for the Health and Care visa, application costs are lower and you do not need to pay the annual Immigration Health Surcharge.