Vacancy: Paramedic Practitioner

Responsible to:

• Partners for clinical matters, Practice Manager / Assistant Manager for all other matters

Accountable to:

• Practice Partnership

Job Summary

The post holder will be an experienced Paramedic Practitioner who, acting within their professional boundaries, will support the GPs through holding clinics, triaging and visiting patients within their own home.   Under the supervision of the GP, provide general medical care, assessments, evaluation, referral and treatment for patients in clinics and in the community. They will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within the general practice. They will work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary general practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, and providing support to GPs and practice team as required.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the Paramedic Practitioner.  There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

• Provide direct and/or indirect patient care oriented toward improving or maintaining health and preventing illness
• Perform physical examinations and/or preventive health measures to assess and evaluate patient's clinical problems and health care needs
• Refer patient to other available services to meet needs where appropriate
• Undertake triage and face to face clinics in partnership with and supervised by a GP
• Communicate with others regarding patient's status and progress to provide education, guidance, case management and follow-up
• Undertake home visits, in accordance with practice protocols
• Undertake daily minor illness / injury clinics and promote primary and secondary prevention with the support of the GPs and other clinicians
• Accurate and timely input of patient data onto the clinical system
• Support and contribute when applicable to the development of practice clinical procedures and protocols
• Carry out clinical audit as appropriate
• Liaise with other health care professionals when required
• Act in a way that protects the confidentiality of patients and maintains the integrity of the patient / practice relationship
• Take an active role and contribute to practice meetings when applicable
• Deal with medical emergencies at the surgery
• Attend all mandatory training sessions or arrange alternatives
• Work safely at all times in accordance with legislative requirements and practice policy and procedures
• Perform any other tasks within the skills of the post holder

Confidentiality

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Health & Safety

The post-holder will implement and lead on a full range of promotion and management of their own and others’ health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety an Infection Control policies. This will include (but will not be limited to):

• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines
• Responsible for the correct and safe management of the specimens process, including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
• Management and maintenance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the practice, including provision, ordering, availability and ongoing correct usage by staff
• Knowledge of hand hygiene
• Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed.
• Safe management of sharps procedures including training, use, storage and disposal
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers
• Undertaking periodic infection control training
• Spillage control procedures, management and training
• Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance
• Maintenance of sterile environments

Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people’s rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner that is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal / Professional Development

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development and revalidation.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team’s performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients’ needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise people’s needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the implementation of services

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate

These duties may be changed from time to time, dependent on the needs of the practice. This will be done in consultation with the employee and, if appropriate, training and instruction will be given.

Paramedic Practitioner - Person Specification

Classification	Attributes	Essential/Desirable
Qualifications and Training	Relevant educational qualification Health and Care Professions Council Registered Paramedic. Excellent clinical skills evidenced through Continuous Professional Development. Current Hepatitis B immunity certificate Evidence of having received a complete course of a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved COVID-19 vaccine	Essential
Qualifications and Training	Experience within medical/surgical/A+E/paediatrics or mental healt Current resuscitation certificate Current child protection training	Desirable
Specialist skills	IT: good computer literacy Good telephone manner, clear speech Good record keeping Communication and listening skills Ability to work in a multi- professional team	Essential
Experience	Primary care setting Primary care home visiting Triage Face to face consultation	Essential
Essential	Management Audit Research	Desirable
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities	Ability to work under pressure, manage demanding workload (when necessary) Aware of needs of patients, relatives and carers Adhere to confidentiality requirements Ability to cope with patients under extreme stress from both social and clinical circumstances Ability to handle change and unexpected urgent requirements Skills in written and spoken English adequate to enable effective communication about medical topics with patients  and colleagues	Essential
Personal Qualities	Flexible, caring and empathetic Self motivated Professional approach Presentable appearance Reliable, punctual and committed to work	Essential