Senior Healthcare Assistant - Ophthalmology

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

About
Welcome to University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.
We are rated Outstanding for Caring and that includes caring for our staff.
When you join our #1BigTeam of more than 10,000 staff and volunteers we are committed to helping you develop your career and enjoy a great life.
At University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) we are the region's Major Trauma Centre and we are responsible for providing care across the widest of spectrums: from within people's homes and working with our voluntary sector partners in local communities, to offering the most specialist hospital care available in our regional centre: for example immunology, cardiothoracic surgery and kidney and bone marrow transplants. We care for 475,000 in our secondary care catchment population, with a wider peninsula population of almost 2,000,000 people who can access our specialist services.

Delivering our services through a number of key sites across Plymouth and the surrounding area:

• Mount Gould Hospital - We have 30 beds for general rehabilitation plus 15 beds for stroke rehabilitation patients and a discharge assessment unit with 10 beds available and a further 30 to follow.
• South Hams Community Hospital - We have 15 beds here and began managing the site in 2021.
• Tavistock Hospital - We have 13 beds here and began managing the site in 2021. Urgent Treatment Centre and Minor Injuries Units run an Urgent Treatment Centre at the Cumberland Centre in Devonport, central Plymouth and minor injury units in Tavistock and Kingsbridge.
• Child Development Centre - Developmental services for young children are provided at the Child Development Centre, Scott Business Park.
• The Plymouth Dialysis Unit - Patients needing treatment for renal failure are cared for in state-of-the-art, purpose-built facilities in Estover.
• Radiology Academy - The Plymouth Radiology Academy is the only purpose-built Radiology Academy in the world and provides an inspirational environment in which to learn radiology.

We are a teaching hospital in partnership with the University of Plymouth and working with Plymouth Marjon University. As host to the Joint Hospital Group South West (JHG(SW)) in a city with a strong military tradition, we have a tri-service staff of nearly 200 military doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who are fully integrated within our facilities.

We know the importance of civility and saying thank you and actively encourage patients, their families and our colleagues, to send thank you messages through a number of channels. By capturing episodes of excellence we can learn from these events, improve practice and safety and spread good practice throughout the Trust. Last year over 1,800 nominations were received.

UHP were chosen as one of seven Trusts to take part in the national NHS Improvement Programme, to create a culture of continuous improvement by empowering staff to develop their own ideas for improvement and lead their own projects.

Key details

Location: REI outpatients, Alpha Way, Plymouth, PL6 8DH
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Salary: £24,071 - £25,674 Per Annum
Grade: Band 3
Specialty: Main area Healthcare Assistant

Job Overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen to work within the REI outpatient department. This role is to support patients requiring ophthalmology tests and treatment and to carry out ophthalmic related investigations.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as Priority and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

The REI outpatient department is within a purpose-built hospital off site, bringing the ophthalmic service back together within the same unit. It is an exciting time for new recruits to become part of our productive and efficient team, where excellence in care for our patients is paramount.

Working for our organisation
We are a people business where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment.

We recognise that work-life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full-time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case.

We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• Obtain consent prior to giving care in accordance with Trust policies.
• Competently undertake delegated duties in line with patient care plans.
• Ability to use your knowledge and experience to undertake non-routine duties and an understanding to take decisions within your area of responsibility.
• To carry out a range of (limited) clinical duties with minimal/no supervision, including for example, blood pressure monitoring, oxygen saturation levels, body temperature, pulse rate and respiration rate, glucose monitoring, collection and testing of urine samples/faecal samples/sputum samples and wound swabs ensuring delivery of high-quality patient care at all times.
• Participate in patient assessment providing high quality holistic patient care and escalating concerns about patients to other clinical staff.
• Practice safe standards of care to patients following Trust guidelines and policies.
• Provide clinical care in accordance with the infection prevention and health and safety policies and procedures.
• Maintain the work environment in line with Trust infection control and patient safety policies.
• Utilising skills to actively facilitate self-care and independence with patients.
• Promote health education specific to the clinical area and in line with national and local policies.

For further details please see the attached JD & PS.

Please note that if you are successful in your application & accept the position you agree that the Staff Health and Wellbeing Department can access your health records from your current/previous employer in order to check the status of your inoculations & screening tests.