Hospice at Home Health Care Assistant

Job overview

The Hospice at Home Health care Assistant will complement the Hospice at Home Community Team, providing direct care and support to patients with complex palliative care needs within their own home in the last stages of life. The aim of the role is to provide any necessary support including personal hygiene care, assisting with dressing and all agreed care under the supervision and guidance of the Band 6 Coordinator. Predominately this will be for patients who wish to be cared for at home . The post holder will be expected to work alone with access to professional advice and guidance when required. The post holder will have specialist palliative care skills in order to support the patient, carers and family. The post holder will have a strong working relationship with other community teams. The post holder will work with the coordinator and the multidisciplinary team, they will also liaise with multiple stakeholders in order to ensure that the day to day co-ordination and delivery of service is in a timely and professional manner. The post holder will play a key role in ensuring that the patient remains in their place of choice and where possible any hospital admission is avoided.

Main duties of the job

The main duties for this post will be visiting patients in their own home across the whole of Gateshead. Offering agreed packages of personalised care. This will include support will all activities of daily living washing dressing as well as emotional support to patient and families and some domestic work. A flexible approach to the working day will be required due to the fluctuating needs of the service.

Full details of the job requirements can be found in the attached job description.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Have the ability to prioritise appropriately, based on clinical need as directed by the caseload holder and/or locality lead
• Work collaboratively as a team member with colleagues, recognising and valuing each person’s contribution to the team.
• Assist in maintaining own and others health, safety and security and be responsible for reporting and actively co-operating in the application of the Trust’s health and safety policies and procedures. E.g. To keep areas used by the patient or nursing / therapy staff clean and orderly.
• Plan and organise the working environment to maximise on health, safety and clinical interventions.
• .Flexible and adaptability according to patient and service need Physical Skills (manual dexterity)
• Daily use of a keyboard and VDU requiring frequent periods of concentration
• Accurate record keeping including medical terminology.
• Able to independently drive to a variety of settings within Gateshead to meet patient and service need. Ability to get in and out of a vehicle on a frequent daily basis.
• Be able to assist in the therapeutic interventions according to Trust Moving and Handling policy e.g. supporting transfer techniques.
• Be able to manipulate inert limbs in sometimes restricted space as part of a treatment programme e.g. prescribed exercises/minor wound dressing applications
• Bending and moving and handling will be a frequent daily occurrence

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.