Tissue Viability Health Care Assistant

Job Overview

A vacancy has become available for a Secondment role as a Band 3 Healthcare Assistant to work alongside the Tissue Viability Team for a fixed term of 6 months.

You will need to have a particular interest in wounds and wound care, an ambition to deliver excellent care to your patients, having the ability to work closely and learn within a small team and be prepared to work autonomously when required.

The post requires you to be able to communicate well, to maintain clear documentation using the electronic record system (Epic) used within the trust to carry out administrative duties including data sheets. Ensuring that the equipment and office spaces are maintained to a high standard.

Main duties of the job

To help run an effective and safe Tissue Viability Service, assisting with pressure area care and management, and complex wound care, including Topical Negative Pressure (TNP). Deliver direct patient care within the management of wound care for which the post holder has been deemed competent, under the supervision of a registered nurse. Support ward-based HCA’s with pressure area care and management, and basic wound care. Involved in checking mattresses, making sure they are installed and working correctly, and assisting in the step-down process. Participating and supporting in audits and evaluation of new products. Assisting with training days as required with administration and data keeping.

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

Frimley Health Trust benefits on Vimeo

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• Maintain the patient’s privacy and dignity at all times, to ensure patient confidentiality and compliance with Data Protection Act at all times
• To ensure there is full communication within the service, including taking of messages, dealing with them in a courteous and discreet way, gauging priority and responding appropriately with advice and enquiries.
• Taking responsibility for a case load of patients, to include basic wound and pressure injury assessment, initial treatment, delivering a plan of care and monitoring the progress of the patient. All supported with clear documentation in the patient electronic records, in a timely manner. Making decisions based on set parameters and protocols and within a competency-based framework, liaising with the registered nurse.
• Check pressure relieving equipment is installed and working properly, alarms are being dealt with appropriately, and to liaise with the onsite technician when needed.
• Assist staff with mattress step down process to conventional foam mattress when appropriate. Monitor stock levels of all types of mattresses and liaise with porters and company for delivery of more stock, if needed.
• Assist the TVN team with complex wound care and dressing procedures as required, including Topical Negative Wound care Therapy.
• Monitor Topical Negative Wound care Therapy when in use, order consumables, complete data sheets, despatch and retrieve TNP pumps, activate and cancel rental pumps and complete requisitions when required.
• Assist with the maintenance of equipment used within the service, by ensuring they have been serviced within the trust or outside agency if appropriate, and ensuring they are in safe working order.
• To liaise with other departments, hospitals and services, as necessary e.g. District Nurse or community Tissue Viability Teams
• Aim to develop the skills to support ward-based HCA’s, with basic wound care and pressure area care and management and assist with training as required, liaise with Tissue Viability Link Nurses and keep Link nurse list up to date.
• Routine office work to include, ordering of stationary, keeping work environment and stock room tidy, to liaise with housekeeping staff regarding regular cleaning
• To comply with the Trust uniform Policy and maintain a high level of personal hygiene.
• To cross cover both sites Heatherwood and Wexham when, or if, required to do so.
  
  

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Care certificate or equivalent
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• Ability to communicate clearly
• Interest in wound care
• Ability to work independently
• To maintain high level of confidentiality at all times
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience in caring for patients in a clinical environment
• Working knowledge of Epic electronic patient records
• Evidence of previous attendance at wound care conferences / study days
• Knowledge of pressure injury care and or negative pressure wound care
  
  

Skills & Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Interest in Wound care
• Working knowledge of Epic – electronic patient records
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of pressure Injury care and or negative pressure wound care.
  
  

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.

We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities.

We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.

We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.

Apply online now