Paramedic (First Contact Practitioner) inHolloway inHolloway PUBLISHED FRI 20 DEC 2024

We are excited to be recruiting a First Contact Paramedic (FCP) to join our growing PCN workforce and paramedic team in South Islington PCN (SIPCN). SIPCN consists of 7 practices and covers a population of around 70,000 patients in the South of the borough. The practices provide high quality patient care and are committed to working collaboratively to successfully integrate new teams and services.

We are looking for highly motivated and enthusiastic Paramedic to work alongside our clinical teams and will provide complementary skills to our existing clinical and non-clinical PCN team. The Paramedic will have a key role in delivering proactive care to our most vulnerable patients on home visits or face-to-face in clinics, as well as supporting the delivery of the Network Contract DES service specifications and other local population health initiatives. The paramedic will also support their practices duty clinics via the assessment and management of acutely unwell patients.

Key relationships will include the PCN Clinical Directors, other PCN Workforce and Education Leads, the IGPF network team and Training Hub leads to consider training and support needs, supervision and wider strategic work on development of the PCN paramedic workforce.

Paramedics will be expected to work autonomously within primary care at an advanced level of practice, using their enhanced clinical assessment and treatment skills, to provide ongoing and coordinated care to the most vulnerable patients with complex needs within the PCN.

The paramedic will have the capability to make sound judgements in the absence of full information and to manage varying degrees of risk when there is complex, competing or ambiguous information or uncertainty. They will work closely with the wider MDT to deliver joined up care, referring to other specialist providers and services when necessary.

About us

JOB TITLE: Paramedic (First Contact Practitioner)

REPORTS TO: Primary Care Network Clinical Director

RESPONSIBLE TO: South Islington PCN member practices

HOURS: 22.5

SALARY: Between £46,000 - £53,000 based on experience

EXPECTED START: As soon as possible

Key duties and responsibilities:

Clinical

1. assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions and care for patients that have been identified as high risk, those presenting with an undifferentiated diagnosis, and patients with complex needs
2. clinically examine and assess patient needs from a physiological and psychological perspective, and plan clinical care accordingly
3. prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan
4. diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan
5. perform specialist health checks and reviews
6. perform investigatory procedures as required
7. undertake the collection of pathological specimens including intravenous blood samples, swabs, etc.
8. perform investigatory procedures needed by patients and those requested by GPs and the wider PCN
9. be responsible for a list of vulnerable patients at your practice
10. once accustomed to primary care, assess and triage patients, including same day triage, and as appropriate provide definitive treatment or make necessary referrals to other members of the PCN team
11. maintain accurate and contemporaneous health records appropriate to the consultation, ensuring accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice
12. support the delivery of anticipatory care plans and lead certain community services (e.g. monitoring blood pressure and diabetes risk of elderly patients living in sheltered housing)
13. provide an alternative model to urgent and same day home visits for the PCN and undertake clinical audits
14. communicate at all levels across PCNs and other organisations, ensuring effective, patient-centred service
15. communicate proactively and effectively with all colleagues across the multi-disciplinary team, attending and contributing to meetings as required
16. collaborate with other members of the PCN including doctors, nurses and other AHPs, accepting referrals and referring to them for specialist care
17. advise patients on general healthcare and promote self-management where appropriate, including signposting patients to other community or voluntary services.
18. recommend or prescribe, issue and review medications as appropriate following policy, patient group directives, NICE (national) and local clinical guidelines and local care pathways. This will be done in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice
19. work with patients in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments
20. provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions
21. support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care

Quality Requirements

1. enhance own performance through continuous professional development, keep up to date with current evidence-based practice, and impart own knowledge and skills to PCN colleagues to meet the needs of the service
2. have completed stage one of the Paramedic Roadmap and be willing to complete stage two to qualify as an FCP
3. recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the HCPC and College of Paramedics
4. assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation
5. participate in research and utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required
6. in partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate

Administrative requirements

1. produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
2. be aware of data protection (GDPR) and confidentiality issues particularly within a PCN
3. use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring of care, presenting and communicating information
4. review and process data using accurate read codes in order to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.

Supervision

The post holder will have access to appropriate clinical supervision and an appropriate named individual in the PCN to provide general advice and support on a day to day basis.

This work will be supported by:

Paramedic Lead, GP practice clinical teams, Care Coordinators, PCN staff, Network team, Training Hub, PCN clinical directors and ambassadors

Working with and through the Training Hub to support PCNs to get the approriate training and development support from including attending the TH quarterly Faculty of Educators meeting

Confidentiality:

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, staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the Federation 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 Federation may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Federation policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.