Senior Healthcare Support Worker

Position: Senior Healthcare Support Worker
Location: London SW3 6JJ
Salary: £27,948 to £29,468
Job Type: Full-Time

Job summary
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is one of the leading cancer centres in the world and has an international reputation for the care and treatment it provides. The Royal Marsden serves a local, regional, national and international population from two hospital sites, Chelsea and Sutton. An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and committed individual to join our Medical Day Unit – Chelsea team as a Band 3 Senior Healthcare Assistant. The Medical Day Unit is a fast-paced outpatient department serving a large volume of patients receiving treatment for cancer. The unit is split into 3 areas, the prescribing clinics run by the Healthcare Assistant team, the phlebotomy room and the treatment area made up of 30 chairs. Previous experience in venepuncture is essential and experience of working with cancer patients is desirable. You will need to have excellent communication skills and be able to work well within a team.

Main duties of the job

• To carry out in a responsible and efficient way, the nursing care for patients which has been drawn up in conjunction with the co-ordinator of the shift.
• To demonstrate the ability to develop a greater awareness and understanding of the needs of patients with cancer and the different treatment modalities, and work autonomously under supervision of a registered nurse.
• As an integral member of the nursing team work with team members to ensure the maintenance of an efficient, safe, clean and pleasant environment for all patients.

About us
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.

At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That’s why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.

At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.

Job description

Job responsibilities

• To practice the Care Certificate and support junior staff to achieve the standards.
• Monitoring and recording patients vital signs (including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen saturation) and reporting any abnormal results to registered nursing staff.
• Measuring and recording patients height and weight.
• Performing venepuncture and venous blood sampling. After training and assessment of competency.
• Undertakes clinical tasks relevant to the specific clinical area following competency sign off, for example, ECG, urinalysis, MRSA screening swabs, recording of allergies on EPR and other clinical tasks where training/competency sign off deemed appropriate for HCSW that has been ratified through NRRAC.

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications

Essential

• Care Certificate – or the ability to attain the Care certificate within 12 weeks (if working 30 hrs or more) or 20 weeks (if working up to 30 hrs)
• Demonstrable experience of working in a healthcare setting.
• Understanding of working with patients who are critically and chronically ill.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development

Desirable

• NVQ in Health and Social Care Level 2

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a healthcare setting for a duration long enough to have obtained relevant competencies for a Band 3 position.
• Experience of working with computers (keyboard skills, data entry)

Desirable

• Experience of working with oncology patients

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.