Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical responsibilities

• In accordance with the practice timetable and individual job-plan, as agreed, the post-holder will make themselves available to undertake a variety of duties including surgery consultations, telephone consultations and queries, visiting patients at home, checking and signing prescriptions and dealing with workflow, queries, paperwork and correspondence in a timely fashion
• Making professional, autonomous decisions in relation to presenting problems, whether patient referred or referred from other health care workers within the organisation
• Assessing the health care needs of patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed problems
• Screening patients for disease risk factors and early signs of illness
• In consultation with patients and in line with current practice disease management protocols, developing care plans for health
• Providing counselling and health education
• Admitting or discharging patients to and from the caseload and referring to other care providers
• Recording clear and contemporaneous IT based consultation notes to agreed standards
• Collecting and collating data for audit purposes
• Compiling and issuing computer-generated acute and repeat prescriptions.
• Prescribing in accordance with the practice prescribing formulary (or generically) whenever this is clinically appropriate
• Being aware of the Practices Safeguarding Policy and willingness to refer to the Safeguarding lead where appropriate
• In general the post-holder will be expected to undertake all the normal duties and responsibilities associated with a GP working within primary care.

Other responsibilities within the organisation:

• Awareness of and compliance with, all relevant practice policies/guidelines, e.g. prescribing, safeguarding, confidentiality, data protection, health and safety;
• Willingness to share the duties arising from the Practices extended hours commitments;
• A commitment to life-long learning and audit to ensure evidence-based best practice
• Contributing to evaluation/audit and clinical standard setting within the organisation
• Contributing to the development of computer-based patient records
• Contributing to the summarising of patient records and read-coding patient data
• Attending meetings, training and other events organised by the practice or other agencies, where appropriate.

Confidentiality and Data Security:

• 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 transmitted or divulged to authorised persons and organisations in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
• Willingness to inform the Practices Caldicott Guardian and Practice Manager of any suspected data breach.

Health & safety:

The post-holder may be asked to implement and lead on a range of clinical and managerial issues including their own and others health and safety. Issues may include infection control as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures such as:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines.
• Providing advice on the correct and safe management of the specimens process including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
• Correct personal use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ensuring correct use of PPE by others, advising on appropriate circumstances for use by clinicians, staff and patients.
• Management of the full range of infection control procedures in both routine and extraordinary circumstances (e.g. pandemic or individual infectious circumstances)
• Hand hygiene standards for self and others
• Managing directly all incidents of accidental exposure
• Management and advice relating to infection control and clinically based patient care protocols, and implementation of those protocols across the practice.
• Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate to the responsible person.
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process.
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes.
• Monitoring practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that proper use is made of hand cleansing facilities, wipes etc, and that these are sufficient to ensure a good clinical working environment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate to the responsible manager.
• Safe management of sharps use, storage and disposal.
• Maintenance of own clean working environment.
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management.
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised.
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with responsible managers,
• Undertaking periodic infection control training .
• Correct waste and instrument management including handling, segregation, and container use.
• Maintenance of sterile environments.

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 recognizes the importance of peoples 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 which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal/professional development:

In addition to maintaining necessary continued education through attendance at any courses and/or study days necessary to ensure that professional development requirements are met, 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
• 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, raising issues both clinical and administrative as well as significant events.
• 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 teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Communication:

The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively and respectfully with other team members
• Communicate effectively and respectfully with patients and carers
• Recognize peoples 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.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Fully trained GP with JCTGP Vocational Training Certificate.
• Current and full driving licence
• Any outstanding or pending penalties or prosecutions must be disclosed and stated on application or as they occur after start of employment
• Higher post graduate membership, for example, MRCGP / nMRCGP, MRCP, DRCOG, DCH
• Current registration with the GMC and appropriate representation with a recognised medical defence organisation;
• Current DBS check

Experience

Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team;
• Understanding of the pressures faced by GPs and healthcare teams;
• Willingness to contribute to and participate in a peer support group;
• Strong levels of IT proficiency and familiarity with primary care clinical systems (the Practice currently uses EMIS). Experience in using the Microsoft suite of programmes
• Proven ability to offer support within a clinical team and share learning points in Practice meetings
• Ability to draft cogent, error-free letters and reports in a timely manner
• A good understanding of PMS contracting requirements and the operation of the Quality Outcomes Framework process

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website .

Employer details

Employer name

Balmore Park GP Surgery

Address

59a Hemdean Road

Caversham

Reading

Berkshire

RG4 7SS