Palliative Care Trusted Assessor

Job overview

Working as a Palliative Care  Trusted Assessor the postholder  will need to be  an enthusiastic practitioner who will work both independently and collaboratively with the Senior social worker, discharge coordinators and other members  service,   visiting patients and liaising with other health and social carer professional external to the organisation,  as a valued member of the  Stockport Specialist Palliative Care Service.

The team is based at Willow House on Stepping Hill  Hospital site, Stockport. You will work closely with multi-professional  clinicians   to deliver an assessment service for patients who are being  discharged from the acute care settings.

You will work as part of a dynamic, multidisciplinary and supportive team based in the hospital and community and with agile working processes and technology in place. A full induction programme will be provided with the appropriate training and regular supervision as well as an annual appraisal and in- service training.

Main duties of the job

• You will work in the community as an autonomous practitioner visiting patients in their own home, providing a comprehensive assessment of needs under the guidance of qualified community staff.
• You will assess patients in line with your own competencies and provide recommendations to the MDT as part of your assessment
• You will also contribute to the supervision of junior staff and students
• You will follow all Trust standards, policies and procedures, appropriate to the position.
• You will maintain accurate and up to date electronic data and records using the approved system and following national and local standards

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To work as an autonomous Trusted Assessor supporting and undertaking assessment of care needs, planning and evaluation of care to support discharges from acute setting following no criteria to reside (NCTR) in line with National Discharge policy
• To be able to effectively interview and perform a generic assessment a patient based on the Trusted Assessor Competencies, to establish base line data and identify their problems and needs based on the generic Discharge to Assess assessment.
• To be able to relate findings of the Trusted assessment to refer onwards to the most appropriate professionals if required. To seek support from clinicians within the team if appropriate and to monitor and share the progress of individuals with the support of the MDT.
• To work with patients and carers to identify areas within the generic assessment where the patient’s mobility and/or functional ability may be maximised by identifying potential rehabilitation needs for patients in the community and refer to the appropriate professionals within the service including Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing or Social Care.
• To be able to give appropriate advice within your competency-based training ensuring patient understanding, co-operation, and compliance.  To be able to adjust your approach if the patient has communication or cognitive problems. To engage in partnership working with patients/carers and families to facilitate patient choice
• To facilitate patients’ smooth transition from hospital, residential or domiciliary care and work to avoid preventable admissions.
• To provide non-clinical supervision of Transfer of care trackers, and students.
• To plan and prioritise your own workload under supervision of a senior member of staff.
• Demonstrate proactive and collaborative working within the wider MDT and promote the ‘Home First Ethos’.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and promote safeguarding by implementing the Trust’s policies and procedures, acting promptly on concerns, communicating effectively and sharing information appropriately.

• If successful this vacancy will require an enhanced DBS check at a cost of £54.90. This cost will be deducted from your first Trust salary

In addition to this it will be a condition of your employment that you will join the DBS update service and pay the annual subscription fee of £16.