GP Assistant Windermere, England
Job description
St Mary’s Surgery has a new and exciting opportunity for 2 full time GP Assistants to join our busy and friendly team working with our administrative and healthcare teams to meet the needs of our patients.
The GP Assistant will assist the practice in service and delivery of patient care by performing administrative and some clinical tasks on behalf of the GP to enable them to make the best use of their consultation time.
The successful candidate will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills along with strong IT skills; be forward thinking and have can-do attitude. Full training will be given but a willingness to learn and develop is essential.
St Mary’s Surgery is based in Windermere and Staveley in the Lake District National Park. We are a training practice with 7 dedicated GPs supported by a team of highly professional clinical and non-clinical staff to provide high quality care to our 6600 patients.
In return we offer a competitive salary, 5 weeks annual leave plus bank holidays, NHS Pension and uniform. All posts are subject to a DBS check.
If you would like an informal chat, please contact the surgery on 015394 88484.
We reserve the right to withdraw this vacancy if sufficient suitable applications are received.
JOB SUMMARY
The post holder will be responsible for undertaking a wide range of administrative and clinical duties. To participate in the smooth running of the practice, provide support to the whole multidisciplinary team ensuring:
- The delivery of an efficient, friendly accessible and confidential service to patients and visitors
- The provision of an efficient and comprehensive support system for clinical sessions
- To engage in effective and efficient workflow of information to clinical and non-clinical staff
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE POST
The special requirements of the post regarding skills, knowledge and experience are:
- Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to deal with members of the public in a courteous and understanding manner
- Ability to cope under pressure
- Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense in response to patients’ enquiries and requests
- Effective time management
- Ability to work as part of a team and on their own
- Be flexible in an environment where the workload is constantly changing and varied
- Effective keyboard skills and good spelling
- An understanding, acceptance and adherence to the need for strict confidentiality
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - ADMINISTRATION
- Processing documents (paper & electronic), and prioritising in terms of actions for the GP via DOCMAN document management system
- Extracting relevant information from clinical letters which require coding
- Ensuring patients are signposted to other organisations if appropriate
- Actioning patient correspondence received via email, PATCHS or website
- Ensuring new patient registrations, patient deductions, GP2GP and temporary patient correspondence is dealt with in a timely manner according to practice guidelines
- Dealing with administrative tasks daily
- Promoting the practice on our Social Media platforms of Twitter and Facebook
- To be an administrator of the surgery website, patient information screens and noticeboards, ensuring these are kept up to date in line with practice guidelines
- Being a super-user for Online Services to help patients with queries with the NHS App
- Summarising of new patient records in line with practice guidelines
- Liaising with the practice secretary regarding completing of forms and subject access requests in line with practice guidelines
- Where appropriate, ensuring all other administrative work is undertaken and completed
- To cover reception as and when required
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - CLINICAL
- Assessing home blood pressure readings to see if the patient requires further investigation before seeing the GP
- Ensuring urines received over the reception desk are dipped and recorded daily
- Arranging for patients to be reviewed before they are referred for surgery
- To arrange appointments for patients who require annual reviews
- To assist the GP to liaise with outside agencies
- Supporting our immunisation programme
- To learn how to take blood pressures with the possibility of holding small clinics for patients to attend
- To learn how to perform an ECG to assist the GP
- To train to become a chaperone to assist clinicians in the surgery
- To undertake phlebotomy in due course
EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITIES
Confidentiality
- While seeking treatment, patients entrust 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 the Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carer, 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 divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data
Health & Safety
The post- holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others’ health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:
- Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines.
- Identify the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
- Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
- Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
- Reporting potential risks identified.
Equality & Diversity
The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
- Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people’s 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
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.
- 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 team’s performance.
- Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patient needs.
- Effectively manage own time, workload, and resources.
Communication
The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members.
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers.
- Recognise people’s needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
Contribution to the Implementation of Services
The post-holder will:
- Adhere to Practice policies, protocols, and procedures.
- Participate in audit where appropriate
- Adhere to the Data Protection Act, Information Governance, IM&T, Computer Misuse Act and Freedom of Information Act and of their importance and relevance to General Practice.
This job description covers the main duties of the post, but the post holder may be asked to undertake other appropriate duties as required.
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION - ESSENTIAL
- Educated to GCSE level or equivalent including Mathematics and English
- Experience working with the general public
- Experience of administrative duties
- Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
- Strong IT skills including Office, Outlook and Team
- Effective Time Management
- Good Interpersonal skills
- Ability to work as part of a team and autonomously
- Problem solving and analytical skills
- Ability to follow policy and procedures
Personal Qualities
- Polite and confident
- Flexible and reliable
- Motivated
- High levels of integrity and loyalty
- Sensitive and empathetic
- Ability to work under pressure
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION - DESIRABLE
- Experience working within a healthcare setting
- EMIS user skills
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: From £11.74 per hour
Benefits:
- Company pension
- On-site parking
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Work Location: One location
