Senior Healthcare Assistant

This is an amazing opportunity to join the Renal Home Therapy Service in South Cumbria. We have recently expanded our service to open a new home dialysis training facility based at Westmorland renal centre (Westmorland General Hospital, Kendal). We have vacancies for Band 3 Health Care Assistants and are seeking individuals who would like to expand their knowledge in renal services or develop new skills. The post involves the on-going education and training of patients and relatives on peritoneal or home haemodialysis to enable them to dialyse independently at home.

The service also provides an acute drop in service for the home dialysis patient. The Home Therapies Kendal team will work closely with the Home therapies team based in Lancashire at Chorley District Hospital.

The community setting covers a large geographical area so being able to commute efficiently is essential.

You will also be highly motivated with excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills and have the ability to work independently as a lone worker and within a multi-disciplinary team setting.

The role requires you to work across all sites of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at Chorley and Preston Hospitals. The main site being Westmorland Dialysis unit

In return we can offer a huge commitment to your ongoing development.

The main role of the band 3 health care assistant will be to provide and Assisted Peritoneal Dialysis service, peritoneal dialysis training and providing support to trained staff members when teaching patients to perform their own dialysis.

You will be required to work across the hospital-based training unit at Westmorland renal centre as well as the community setting covering Lancashire and South Cumbria. Unit opening hours are 08:00-16:00 Monday to Friday. Although this is a new service and shift times may change as the service develops

We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.

Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.

You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done.

You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care and enhancing their experience which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of

Duties will include, but not be limited to: For full details please refer to attached Job description

• Provide good quality personalised care in accordance with agreed local and national standards
• Take samples from patients for testing or dispatching eg: Urine, sputum, faeces, MRSA swabs, blood sugars
• Assist patients to meet nutritional needs in line with their individual care plan
• Undertake clinical duties relevant to clinical area following achievement of competencies
• Assist to maintain patient safety, conforming to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines
• Assist in maintaining standards of care to improve the patient experience and outcome of care
• Promote equality in care and practice by recognising, respecting and meeting the needs and choices of individuals
• Contribute to maintaining safe, clean, and productive care environment, compliant with standards for hygiene and cleanliness.
• Maintain and develop own competence

Actively try to resolve issues and complaints at local level and then report the outcome to line manager