Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen on our Inpatient Paediatric Ward. We are looking for motivated, enthusiastic and compassionate health care assistants to join our team.
You must be motivated and committed to the delivery of high quality care, have a mature approach to your work and have the ability to communicate and work effectively with children of all ages and their families. You will be working within a multidisciplinary team to provide support to the children and families, ideally you will have previous experience working with children and /or previous experience in a health care setting.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Main duties of the job
Our Health Care Assistants work as part of the multi-professional team caring for patients aged from 0-18 years and their parents/carers.
Our Health Care Assistants;
- Promote and support registered staff with the physical health, comfort and wellbeing of babies/children/young people, including recording vital signs once competency completed.
- Support parents/carers to provide babies, children and young people with personal care, where and when required ensuring privacy and dignity is maintained all times
- To provide support and supervision for patients admitted with Eating disorders and Mental Health needs, working alongside the registered staff to care for these patients recognising their individual needs which includes patients requiring mealtime support or supervision
- Escort patients from the ward to other departments within the hospital
- Keep the ward clean and tidy and support with keeping the ward well stocked
About us
Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of more than 410,000 people living in North-West Surrey, parts of Hounslow and beyond.
Over 3,700 highly trained doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, healthcare scientists and other support staff make up our workforce, providing a wide range of services across our two hospital sites, Ashford, Surrey and St Peter's, Chertsey, Surrey.
We also run many specialist clinics in the community and local community hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
Our vision is to be one of the best healthcare Trusts in the country. There has never been a better time to join us in the NHS at ASPH. We are committed to providing continuous professional development, staff benefits and flexibility to shape our workforce around our patient care.
This is an exciting time to join our Trust, as we work on the expansion of our theatres at Ashford Hospital and move towards this becoming our dedicated elective centre. We want to create a state-of-the-art centre for excellence for planned surgical procedures; with care delivered by dedicated, specialist teams in a modern and well-equipped environment.
We hope to use this centre to create an environment of learning and to facilitate training of the next generation of our skilled NHS workforce. Our plans are ambitious - why not, come and be a part of our journey.
Adverts may close early, so applicants are encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Patient Care
- To be responsible for maintaining and conducting oneself in a professional manner towards children and their families, carers, colleagues and other agencies, at all times
- To support parents/carers to provide babies, children and young people with personal care, where and when required, demonstrating empathy, dignity, respect and compassion at all times.
- To promote and support registered staff with the physical health, comfort and wellbeing of babies/children/young people, including recording vital signs once competency completed.
- Support registered staff with implementation in all aspects of the patients plan of care
- To provide support and supervision for patients admitted with Eating disorders and Mental Health needs, working alongside the registered staff to care for these patients recognising their individual needs.
- Escort patients from the ward to other departments within the hospital, in accordance with Standards of Practice and Care, maintaining their privacy and dignity at all times.
- To maintain the highest possible standards of compassionate and profession family centred care
- To ensure good working relationships with colleagues by contributing to the effective running of the ward/department.
- Empower children and their families by ensuring that they receive relevant information about their treatment, medication, available services, advocacy services, ward routines and safety procedures under the guidance of a registered nurse.
- To promote a positive experience for children and families through proactive listening, being responsive to issues raised/concerns raised by patient family with colleagues and senior members of the team.
- To observe and report to a registered member of the team, any changes which may indicate an alteration in the general well-being and safety of a patient/family member. This would include observations around the patients presentation, behaviour, mood and verbal content.
- Ensure that the environment is clean and tidy at all times. To liaise with the cleaning team regarding cleanliness
Communication
- Answer the telephone in accordance to the Trusts Standards for Practice and Care and refers calls to the nurse in charge as appropriate.
- Communicate with children and relatives in a courteous, caring, sensitive, appropriate manner and refer to the nurse in charge as required.
- Report any incidents, accidents, concerns, near misses or complaints to the nurse in charge.
- Be sensitive to the patient and their environment, ensuring communication of a personal and or private nature is discreet and patient confidentiality is maintained.
- Ensure that all care is documented, that all entries made by the post holder in the nursing notes are current, relevant and accurate, and the content will then be reported & counter signed by the registered nurse.
Personal Responsibilities
- Attend all relevant mandatory training and remain up to date
- Undertake an annual staff worker appraisal
- Within six months of commencing with the Trust complete the HCA competencies in order to achieve the Care Certificate as standard for all health care assistants
- Ensure that the uniform policy is adhered to at all times including displaying your photo ID badge/card
Person Specification
Qualifications and further training
Essential
- GCSE at grade 4 or above (C or above) in Maths, English and science
Desirable
- NVQ level 2 or equivalent
ATTITUDE, BEHAVIOUR AND VALUES
Essential
- Always puts patients first
- Customer service focus
- Takes pride in their work and their team
- Respects, values and cares for others
- Supports and promotes equality and diversity
Desirable
Experience
Essential
- Relevant experience of caring for others
Desirable
- Previous NHS experience
- Previous experience working with Children and young people
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.
Employer details
Employer name
Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address
St. Peter Hospital
Guildford Road
Chertsey
KT160PZ