Community Paramedic

We are looking for community paramedics who can work autonomously within the community at an advanced level of practice, using their enhanced clinical assessment and treatment skills, to provide first point of contact for patients presenting with undifferentiated, undiagnosed problems relating to minor illness or injury, abdominal pains, chest pains and headaches.

Main duties of the job

Key duties and responsibilities

1. Assess and triage patients, including same day triage, and as appropriate provide definitive treatment or make necessary referrals to other members of the PCN team.
2. Advise patients on general healthcare and promote self-management where appropriate, including signposting patients to other community or voluntary services.
3. Be able to:
1. Perform specialist health checks and reviews.
2. Perform and interpret ECGs; alongside other results as appropriate.
3. Perform investigatory procedures as required.
4. Undertake the collection of pathological specimens including intravenous blood samples, swabs, etc.
5. Perform investigatory procedures needed by patients and those requested by GPs and the wider PCN.
4. Support the delivery of anticipatory care plans and lead certain community services (e.g. monitoring blood pressure and diabetes risk of elderly patients living in sheltered housing).
5. Provide an alternative model to urgent and same day home visits for the PCN and undertake clinical audits.
6. Communicate at all levels across PCNs and other organizations, ensuring effective, patient-centred service.
7. Communicate proactively and effectively with all colleagues across the multi-disciplinary team, attending and contributing to meetings as required.
8. Collaborate with other members of the PCN including doctors, nurses and other AHPs, accepting referrals and referring to them for specialist care.
9. Maintain accurate and contemporaneous health records appropriate to the consultation, ensuring accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice.
10. Prescribe, issue and review medications as appropriate following policy, patient group directives, NICE (national) and local clinical guidelines and local care pathways. This will be done in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice.
11. Work with patients in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments.
12. Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions.
13. Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions and care for patients presenting with an undifferentiated diagnosis, and patients with complex needs.
14. Clinically examine and assess patient needs from a physiological and psychological perspective, and plan clinical care accordingly.
15. Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care.
16. Diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan.
17. Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care.

Quality Requirements

1. Enhance own performance through continuous professional development, keep up to date with current evidence-based practice, and impart own knowledge and skills to PCN colleagues to meet the needs of the service.
2. Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the HCPC and College of Paramedics.
3. Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation.
4. Participate in research and utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required.
5. In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Qualified Paramedic
• Worked as a Paramedic

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.