Bank Healthcare Assistant

To work as an effective member of the multi-disciplinary team, providing high quality care for patients under the supervision of a registered health care professional. To promote good communication that supports the dignity, care and safety of the patients. To assist in maintaining a safe working environment and the provision of compassionate care.

Our service users come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and the Health Care Support Worker (HCSW) must be able to communicate effectively.

Northampton General Hospital Trust operates a Nursing Bank, which plays a vital role in providing temporary Nursing Support across the hospital. We currently have vacancies for Health Care Assistants to work on an as and when basis. There are no guaranteed hours of work however shifts are available for days, nights and weekends.

You will need to have had experience of working in a nursing environment and be able to carry out patient observations e.g. blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate and respiration rate and demonstrate this at interview. You will be assisting in the delivery of effective and competent levels of care to patients and you need to be flexible, adaptable, reliable and have good organisational skills. A caring and professional attitude is essential along with being able to work in a busy environment. You will need to be able to be a team player and also be able to work unsupervised.

Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.

Our Excellence Values

Compassion

Accountability

Respect

Integrity

Courage

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.

The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals.

We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.

We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Assist in the provision of nursing care under the supervision of a registered healthcare practitioner in relation to:

Assisting patients to meet their personal hygiene requirements, i.e.: bed bath, shower and hair washing etc.

Meeting the patient’s nutritional needs including supporting patients at mealtimes, completion of fluid balance charts and food charts and reporting any concerns to the registered nurse.

Safe manual handling of patients after establishing best method, following completion of the manual handling assessment form by a registered nurse.

Be proactive in the prevention of pressure ulcer development.

Maintain safety of patients, personal clothing, and property in accordance with agreed policies related to security and confidentiality.

The collection of specimens, i.e., stool, urine, mid-stream urine, catheter specimen of urine, sputum and wound swabs.

Documenting admission details which include next of kin, social situation, and details of patient property.

Assist patients in meeting their continence needs, i.e.: taking them to the toilet, providing a commode, monitoring urine and bowel movements. Report any abnormalities/concerns to a registered nurse.

Recognising the Equality and Diversity of patients, clients, relatives and multi- disciplinary groups by supporting non-discriminatory practice & acknowledging the patient’s personal beliefs and identity.

Maintaining a clean and tidy environment, including bed areas, store cupboards, sluice, treatment room and equipment used for procedures.

Undertaking the cleaning of ward equipment, according to policy and procedure. Make effective use of the infection control policy

Take and record vital signs as requested, i.e., temperature, pulse, respiration and blood pressure, oxygen saturation and Early Warning Score (EWS) on observation charts and Vitalpac reporting any abnormalities/concerns to the registered healthcare practitioner.