Vacancy: Surgical Practitioner

Responsible to:

• General Practitioners specialising in Minor Surgery (for day-to-day matters)
• Practice or Assistant Manager (for all other matters)

Accountable to:

• Practice Partnership

Job Summary

Upon completion of in-house training and relevant minor surgical courses, the post holder will manage a caseload of appropriate minor surgery patients in a primary care setting, ensuring the highest standards of care. Evidence of competency will be obtained and verified by the lead minor surgery General Practitioner.

The post holder will manage a caseload of appropriate patients referred for minor surgery and perform a range of minor surgery procedures, including Seborrhoeic Keratosis, Sebaceous Cysts, Lipomas, Skin Tags and Skin Lesions.

The focus of the role is to support the General Practitioners specialising in minor surgery in their day-to-day management of minor surgery caseloads. The post holder must work as part of a team, have the ability to organise and prioritise their own workload on a day to day basis. Working strictly in accordance with specific practice or national guidelines, they must also know the limits of their own capabilities and seek direction from when required.

Key Duties

Once the comprehensive in-house and relevant minor surgical courses have been completed and the post holder has demonstrated that they are sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to undertake this practice, in accordance with practice, local and national policies, the post holder will carry out the below duties:

• manage own clinic list and perform a range of minor surgery procedures, including Seborrhoeic Keratosis, Sebaceous Cysts, Lipomas, Skin Tags and Skin Lesions
• assessing patients to ensure they are clinically fit and healthy for the minor surgery
• preparing patients for minor surgery
• performing the safe and effective administration of local anaesthetic 
• formulating plans for patients’ post-operative care
• writing of operation notes onto clinical system
• labelling and handling specimens
• care after the minor surgery procedure eg wound and skin suture assessment/management, treatment and identification of surgical problems and complications
• evaluating a patient's condition, including the discharge process and follow-up care arrangement
• supporting a supervising surgeon as required
• creating a positive experience by welcoming and assisting patients in a prompt, polite and appropriate manner as required
• promoting patient safety by maintaining a clean and hygienic environment
• guiding patients through the various procedures
• answering enquiries from patients regarding minor surgery processes as required
• communicating with doctors and team members accurately and efficiently

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 assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others’ health, safety and security as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures. This will include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way, free from hazards
• Actively reporting health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holder’s role 
• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)
• Reporting potential risks identified
• Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children

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.

Person Specification

Classification	Necessary attributes	Desirable attributes
Qualifications	Registered Nurse/ANP with Nursing and Midwifery Council or Paramedic registered with the Health and Care Professional Council Educated to degree level for qualification post  Meets the standards for registered Nurses / ANPs / Paramedics working at advanced level	Minor surgery qualification
Experience	Experience of working as a surgical practitioner  Experience in performing minor surgery procedures	Experience of working in a primary care environment
Clinical knowledge and skills	Minor Surgery knowledge / skills including: Seborrhoeic Keratosis Sebaceous Cysts Lipomas Skin Tags Skin Lesions Wound Care Suture management Administration of local anaesthetic Understand the importance of evidence-based practice  Broad knowledge of clinical governance  Ability to record accurate clinical notes  Ability to work within own scope of practice and understand when to refer to GPs Knowledge of health promotion strategies  Understand the requirement for PGDs and associated policy  Polite and confident, flexible and cooperative  Motivated, forward thinker  Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required High levels of integrity and loyalty  Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations as well as ability to work under pressure/in stressful situations	Knowledge of public health issues in the local area  Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
Other Requirements	Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check  Occupational health clearance  Meet the requirements and produce evidence for nurse / ANP / Paramedic revalidation Evidence of continuing professional development (CPD)