Senior Healthcare Assistant

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Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, with services covering the local authority areas of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. The Trust is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) supporting a population of around 1.6 million people.

We have three main hospitals providing acute services to around 330,000 local residents. The organisation also provides specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services, delivers community health services to over 445,000 residents including those in North Lancashire and hosts the National Artificial Eye Service across England. Plus, we provide urgent and emergency care services to an estimated 18 million people who visit the seaside resort each year. We employ over 7000 people from 68 different countries.

We welcome and encourage application from anyone with protected characteristics, as well as supporting reservists and Veterans who are looking for a rewarding and challenging career within the NHS.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals encourages flexible working in all our roles to support staff in maintaining healthy home-life balance. Working patterns such as: part time working, self-rostering, compressed hours, annualised hours, term time, reverse term time and flexitime working can be explored.

Job overview

The post holder will be required to assist doctors and nurses in order to provide a high standard of care to patients attending all areas of Sexual Health Services ensuring they promote the patient dignity and comfort. The post holder will work as a team member, ensuring the smooth running and efficiency of the service is maintained.

The post holder will assist in the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections using microscopy skills to support trained staff clinical findings. The post holder will provide basic advice and information to patient's diagnosed with no obvious signs of infections around sexual health and safer sex practices.

Main duties of the job

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• To assist the Doctor or Nurse throughout the clinical examination or clinical procedure of patients in sexual health clinics
• To offer emotional support to patients during the examination procedure
• To act as a chaperone to both medical and nursing staff as required according to trust policy
• Following training perform basic observations (such as BP, pulse, weight, height and BMI) and other screening tests for patients within the sexual health care setting, for example, urinalysis, pregnancy testing, urine Chlamydia tests reporting the results to trained nurses
• To undertake venepuncture on a daily basis

Working for our organisation

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is ideally situated just a forty five minute drive from Manchester. The Trust provides services to the 440,000 residents of Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre and North Lancashire, as well as specialist tertiary care for Cardiac and Haematology patients.

As one of the United Kingdom's largest coastal resort, Blackpool has plenty to offer its residents - it's not just a good place to work; it's a great place to live. In addition to its bustling centre and historic seafront, the town is world famous for its many attractions, including the famous Blackpool Tower. Blackpool also offers a number of scenic cycling routes round our local parks and across the surrounding countryside, as well as boasting panoramic views of the coast on its picturesque Promenade. Further afield, Blackpool also benefits from less than three-hour connections via rail to Edinburgh in the north and London in the south.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• To explain procedures and test to patients according to clinic protocol and advise on how patients obtain results
• To assist in the accurate filing or inputting onto the Lilie database patient test results under the direction of a senior member of the team which includes advising patients of negative test results as per clinical protocols and contacting patients to advise them they need to return to clinic for follow up treatment or tests
• To undertake pregnancy testing with patients as required advising them of the results of the test and discussing the patients' options following the results which may include referral to a Termination provider (such as Marie Stoppes) or the Teenage Midwife/other health care professional in line with clinic protocols
• Under the direction of the Doctor or Trained Nurse provide initial screening of diagnostic tests i.e., fix and stain smears on microscope slides from patients with sexually transmitted infections. To examine smears by microscopy and confirm infections such as gonorrhoea, trichomonas vaginalis, non-specific urethritis, bacterial vaginosis and thrush in support of medical and nursing staff's clinical finding and to fully document these results in patients records

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to NVQ Level 3 in Health Care

Desirable criteria

• ECDL Qualification

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Previous experience of working in a hospital or community health care setting

Desirable criteria

• Previous work experience in a sexual health setting
• Currently performs venepuncture

Skills

Essential criteria

• Evidence of good communication abilities both written and verbal
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Basic computer/word processing skills
• Attention to detail
• Organizational skills
• Understanding of effective record keeping
• Non-judgmental attitude
• Flexible i.e., shift system in operation which includes evening and weekend sessions
• Enthusiastic
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to travel between sites
• Awareness of own limitations and boundaries
• Ability to understand and carry out instructions
• Effective communication with other health professionals

Desirable criteria

• Understanding of confidentiality policies in sexual health

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Any invitation to interview will be sent to the email account stated on your application form.

If the role you have applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this as part of your pre-employment checks. Please note, you will be required to repay the cost on appointment. This will be collected via a salary deduction. You can choose whether to pay this over 1-3 months from your salary or as a one-off payment on commencement in post. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £22.00, Standard DBS check £22.00 and Enhanced DBS check £42.00.

You are encouraged where possible, to register for the DBS update service. This is an annual registration fee of £13. By registering for the update service you will not have the additional cost of repeated disclosures.

Should you withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check.

DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions.

By submitting an application for this vacancy you are confirming your agreement to the above in the event you are successfully appointed.

The DBS Code of Practice can be accessed here.

Please ensure that you read the Person Specification attached below as your application will be judged against this.

Please note that every effort will be made to keep the vacancy live until published closing date, though there may be instances where such interest is generated, that for administrative reasons the post may close earlier.

Please note that in line with national NHS guidelines this Trust operates a strict non-smoking policy. Members of staff are not permitted to smoke on Trust premises or grounds at any time nor take breaks during working hours for the purposes of smoking.

The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 520.6KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 640.3KB)
• Guidance on Pre-Employment Checks (PDF, 64.2KB)
• Statement on Recruitment of Ex-Offenders (PDF, 43.2KB)
• Application Guide Booklet (PDF, 511.1KB)