Health Care Assistant - Hospice at Home Personal Care Service
| Job Information | |
| Job Title | Health Care Assistant - Hospice at Home Personal Care Service |
| Hospice Pay Band | Band 3 |
Job Summary
The post holder will:
Provide Hospice at Home Personal Care Services – delivered in coordination with the hospice multi-professional team, supported by Hospice at home visiting service and Marie Curie night service.
Support and implement delivery of a seven-day service providing expert care for endof-life patients within a community setting as part of a wider team and under the direction of a registered nurse.
Key Responsibilities
Patient Care and Support
Carry out agreed face-to-face support and personal care visits for patients in their own homes, as required.
Provide a broad range of nursing support activities for patients with end-of-life care needs, under the direction of a registered nurse. This may include personal care, skin integrity checks, nutritional support, meal preparation, light domestic tasks and other agreed aspects of care.
• Support the safe administration of medication in line with hospice policy, guidance, training and assessed competencies.
Assist registered health practitioners to maintain a safe, caring and supportive environment for patients, relatives, carers and staff.
Monitoring, Escalation and Safety
• Recognise changes in a patient’s condition and act appropriately, following
• Follow Hospice at Home processes, systems and guidelines, working as directed with minimal direct supervision.
• Uphold all infection prevention and control requirements.
Communication and Documentation
Establish and maintain appropriate communication with patients, relatives, carers and professionals on routine care matters.
• Share written information with patients, families and carers as required.
• Participate in team meetings, safety huddles and handovers.
| Family, Carer and Bereavement Support | |
| Provide emotional and practical support to patients' carers and family members. | |
| Offer appropriate basic support or contact to family members and carers following a patient's death, where required. | |
| Carry out last offices for patients as required. | |
| Service Delivery and Flexibility Understand and uphold the philosophy and ethos of holistic care provided by ● Wirral Hospice St John's. | |
| Support the inpatient unit or Hospice at Home sitting service as required. Work flexibly across a seven-day service, including long days and short shifts | |
| as required. | Training and Professional Development |
| Complete required training and competency assessments, including those relating to medication support and administration. | |
| appraisal process. | Achieve training and development requirements identified through the annual Complete hospice mandatory training within required timeframes, whether |
| delivered face to face, electronically or through another required format. Engage in team reflective practice opportunities. | |
| Provide support and mentorship to new Healthcare Assistants and volunteers, as appropriate. | |
| General | |
| Attend and participate in such meetings as may be reasonably be required. To observe the provisions of and adhere to all Hospice policies and procedures. | |
| required and any other training courses relevant to the post. | To attend or undertake online Hospice Statutory and Mandatory training sessions as |
| To be aware of the confidential aspects of the post. To keep up to date with the | |
| requirements of information governance, undertake mandatory training and follow | |
| Hospice policies and procedures to ensure that hospice information is dealt with legally, securely, efficiently and effectively. Breaches of confidentiality wil result in | |
| disciplinary action, which may involve dismissal. You must maintain the | |
| confidentiality of information about service users, staff, and organizational business | |
| in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Caldicott principles. | |
| This job description is not intended to be an exhausting list of duties, but it aims to | |
| highlight the typical main responsibilities for the post. It may be reviewed from time | |
| to time to ensure that it relates to the job being performed, or to incorporate whatever | |
| changes are being proposed. This procedure will be conducted in consultation with | |
| the post holder. You wil, therefore, be expected to participate fully in such | |
| discussions. It is the organisations' aim to reach agreement to reasonable changes, but if agreement is not possible the Hospice reserves the right to insist on changes to your job description, but only after the above-described process of consultation with you. Organisational Philosophy of Care, Purpose and Values |
| Wirral Hospice St John's aims to offer care and support for patients and their families living with a life limiting illness based around what is important to them. It endeavours to meet the holistic needs of our patients – physical, psychological, |
| social and spiritual needs and support their loved ones and carers without discrimination. Wirral Hospice St John's CARES |
| So that we can deliver on our Philosophy of Care and Purpose the Hospice has developed the following Values which we uphold in all that we do. |
| Compassionate: To care for and support patients, families, colleagues and the wider community with compassion and understanding |
| Accountable: To be accountable for our own actions and decisions, and to hold each other to account |
| Respectful: To treat others with respect throughout all interactions, acknowledging and considering differing opinions. |
| Equitable: To act in an equitable manner for all, ensuring that individual needs are considered and supported |
| Sustainable: To manage our resources efficiently, optimising use and value, whilst minimising waste |
| Safeguarding Wirral Hospice St John's has a responsibility to ensure that all children/young people |
| and adults are adequately safeguarded and protected and that "Safeguarding is Everyone's Business". As a consequence, all staff are required to adhere to national and local safeguarding policies/procedures and to act upon any concerns in accordance with them. Equality and Diversity |
It is the duty of every employee to work in such a way that accidents to themselves and to others are avoided, and to co-operate in maintaining their place of work in a tidy and safe condition, thereby minimising risk. Employees will, therefore, refer any matters of concern through their line manager. Similarly, it is each person’s responsibility to ensure a secure environment and bring any breaches of security to the attention of their manager.
Confidentiality
In the course of your duties, you will have access to confidential material about patients, members of staff or other hospice business. On no account must information relating to identifiable patients be divulged to anyone other than those authorised persons, for example, medical, nursing or other professional staff, as appropriate, who are concerned directly with the care, diagnosis and or/treatment of the patient. If you are in any doubt whatsoever as to the authority of a person or body asking for information of this nature, you must seek advice from your manager. Similarly, no information of a personal or confidential nature concerning individual members of staff should be divulged to anyone without the proper authority having first been given.
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
Wirral Hospice St John’s is required to process personal data relating to its employees, including ‘special categories of personal data’, as defined in the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (the ‘Act’)
All such data will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the relevant hospice’s policies. For the purposes of the Act, the term ‘processing’ includes the initial collection of personal data, the holding and use of such data, as well as access and disclosure, through to final destruction.
IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Driving Licence/Use of Own Vehicle:
As driving forms part of your duties, it is an express condition of your employment with the Hospice that; you always hold a valid full driving licence of the relevant class.
You must produce your licence for inspection upon request and ensure that you take all necessary steps to continue to hold the licence.
If you lose your licence for any reason, you must notify your manager immediately. If you lose your driving licence and are unable to make alternative arrangements to fulfil your duties which are satisfactory to the Hospice your continued employment may be at risk.
If you own your own vehicle, you may on occasion, be asked to use it to undertake your duties; in this situation, it is your responsibility to ensure that your own vehicle has a valid MOT, road tax and insurance to cover business miles. You will be required to provide a copy of the insurance certificate to the Facilities Department.
If you are requested to use your vehicle the Hospice will reimburse you in respect of fuel costs for business miles at the Hospice’s business mileage rate. This is paid in line with Wirral Hospice St John’s Employee Benefits Policy.