Download John Taylor Hospice

John Taylor Hospice
Job Description – Palliative Care Assistant
JOB TITLE
Palliative Care Assistant
REPORTS TO
Registered Professional Clinician
Salary
Band 3
ACCOUNTABLE TO
CEO and the membership
RESPONSIBLE TO
Clinical Service Manager
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
The people who come to us for help and their families, all
colleagues in the immediate CIC team, front of house staff
at the CIC, staff from other organisations delivering care to
the patient and family, staff and members in the CIC, the
League of Friends, the public, external agencies
JOB PURPOSE
John Taylor Hospice was founded in 1910. We offer practical help; alleviate pain and rekindle
possibility for people with life limiting illness and their families. We provide care that is
“taylormade” 24 hours a day; 365 days a year. We are a public service free at the point of
delivery. We have been alongside people in Birmingham for four generations. Our legitimacy to
continue to do this depends upon the quality of the experience that people have when they
choose John Taylor Hospice and the relationship of trust that we build.
Our Multi-skilled Assistants are at the hub of this work, their core responsibilities are

To embody the guiding principle of the company “don’t say no say how” finding creative safe and
practical solutions so that the people who come to us for help they receive the right care at the
right time in the right place for them

Be part of a team providing care and support to patients with palliative needs, their families and
loved ones.

Assist in enabling patients to remain at home if that is their wish, even when care becomes too
difficult for carers to cope with or if the patient lives alone.

Help to avoid unnecessary and unwanted admission to hospital or other setting particularly in the
last few days of life.

To empower the patient and their carers to be actively involved with their programme of care or
rehabilitation

Co-operate and liaise at all times with other services or individuals involved in the patients care.

Demonstrate flexibility to work alone and as a member of a team, plus a flexible approach to the
variety of jobs you will undertake and support volunteers as part of the company workforce plan

Undertake training and ensure all direct care is delivered safely taking advice and supervision
from registered professional colleagues as required

To be an ambassador for the company

To have a clear and accurate understanding of the work of the company as a whole and
communicate this effectively to patients families, the public, volunteers and apprentices
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Delivering positive community benefit

To provide a professional, kind and caring service

To achieve rapport effectively with people in order to build and maintain trust

Be able to respect, understand and value difference to ensure that John Taylor Hospice is
accessible to all our communities

Contribute to the work of the CIC as a whole in linking with people to encourage them to
invest is us as a company and contribute ideas and support to generate funds.

To help identify volunteering opportunities and support volunteers recruited to
undertake roles within the team

To be an ambassador maintaining the positive reputation of the hospice
Patient and family care

To provide high quality care to patients in their own home or their care home and at The
Grange in heart of the hospice, inpatient unit and well-being centre, making every
moment matter

To work in partnership with patients and carers, providing essential care to an agreed
care plan

To work in partnership with other agencies to an agreed care plan enhancing care
provided by community nursing and social services

To ensure the patients comfort, privacy, dignity and choice at all times.

To be flexible and understanding to the needs of the patient and their family/carers,
respecting cultural and other differences.

To be empathetic and supportive to patients and their family/carers who are distressed.

To recognise when a patient has died and be aware of what action to take.

To participate in daily multi disciplinary morning meeting and case reviews as necessary

To transport identified equipment from storage base (i.e. John Taylor Hospice or
equipment loans service) to patient’s home as necessary, these will be small, clean pieces
of equipment.

To use the company vehicles to transport patients and to carry out other driving tasks as
required such as the collection of medications and to drop off samples.

To support daily living tasks with the patient and carers, such as eating, washing,
dressing, toileting, etc.

To participate in equipment fitting following the appropriate training both at the grange
and within the patients home.

To participate in recreation and planned activities including outdoor mobility.

To be competent in basic complementary therapies and use these skills with
appropriately assessed and consenting patients.
Company systems

To maintain confidentiality with regard to patients, family/carers and other staff

To maintain accurate documentation of care given and to report any changes in condition
or circumstances of the patient to the relevant key worker.

To take emergency action as necessary to safeguard the patients and carers and report to
manager as soon as possible.

Ensure good communication at all times.

To be aware of the falls prevention programme and pathways and refer patients as
appropriate.

To maintain the highest infection control standards at all times

To attend all mandatory training as identified by John Taylor Hospice, training to achieve
set competencies commensurate with the role, participate in regular supervision and
continuous professional development and attend external training as and when required.

To participate in appraisal and one to ones with the line manager as per policy
Corporate Role:

To work as part of a team and a membership to deliver the company plan.

To comply at all times with John Taylor Hospice policies and procedures.

To cross cover for colleagues and in other clinical areas of the company as required.

To be flexible to ensure that the company succeeds.

To attend and contribute constructively in meetings.

To assist in the supervision of apprentices and volunteers as part of the company
workforce plan

To use the company computerised clinical information systems;

Comply with organisation’s data quality standards.

Know, adhere to and promote the organisation’s equal opportunities policies and
implement in relation to job responsibilities.
INVESTING IN YOU
JTH is committed to supporting the development of all staff. All employees have a
responsibility to maintain their professional registration participating in regular appraisal
with their manager. They are expected to identify innovation, performance and development
objectives for their post. The CIC has a training and development fund that is generously
supported through the League of Friends and the income generation projects undertaken by
staff. Everyone has equal access to this fund to support external training and development.
It also helps to fund statutory and mandatory training which is run internally. Where staff
are accredited or trained in their own right to deliver in-house training this is an opportunity
afforded to them. Learning is one of our company strategic objectives and is supported
through our experts by experience programme, volunteer training and staff development.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Attention is drawn to the responsibility of all employees to take reasonable care for the
health and safety of themselves and other people who may be affected by their actions at
work. We have dedicated leads to review and audit health and safety: keeping safe is
everyone’s business.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
John Taylor Hospice was founded in 1910 for the community from within the community
and on whom we rely for support. In end of life care everyone in our community needs to
feel welcome, and so we look for new and innovative ways to celebrate diversity as well as,
respecting individual choices. This means we are highly committed to Equal Opportunities
in employment and work actively to eliminate unlawful racial, sexual or disability
discrimination in all its forms. We celebrate equality of opportunity and good relations
between people of different backgrounds.
CRIMINAL RECORDS AND SAFEGUARDING
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 Criminal Records
Bureau to check for any previous criminal convictions. All staff have a responsibility to
disclose any conviction past or current. Everyone in our company has an equal responsibility
to ensure the safeguarding of children and adults and to report concerns immediately.
INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Infection prevention and control is one of our strategic objectives. Everyone has a personal
responsibility to minimise the risk of spreading infection.
This includes “herd
immunity”standards for immunisation and excellent standards of personal hygiene.
Everyone will receive regular training to understand best practice and expectations at work.
Everyone must abide by Infection Prevention and Control policies relevant to their area of
work, and undertake the necessary level of training. This will be part of your annual
innovation performance and development plan.
SMOKING
Public health legislation outlaws smoking in public places in England. As a community
interest company our premises are governed by the legislation. Our buildings are smoke free
and we actively encourage people to consider the health benefits for themselves and others of
adopting a smoke free lifestyle.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Everyone has a duty to respect the confidentiality of personal information and health
records. Our company upholds and is governed by the Data Protection Act. Confidentiality is
integral to our care of the people who come to us for help and our staff and volunteers. The
unauthorised use or disclosure of patient or other personal information is regarded as gross
misconduct and is subject to the JTH Disciplinary Procedure possibly resulting in
prosecution action for civil damages under the Data Protection Act 1998.
JOB DESCRIPTION
This job description will be subject to discussion and review on an annual basis.
Post holders signature: ……………………………………………….
Date:
……………………………………………….
PERSON SPECIFICATION
ESSENTIAL
QUALIFICATIONS
KNOWLEDGE/
SKILLS
EXPERIENCE
 NVQ Level 3 in direct care or
health and social care working
towards
 Good standard of general
education English language and
Mathematics
 Experience equivalent to NVQ level
2 in health or social care
 Or evidence of caring for people
with long term conditions, or at the
end of their life
 Solution focussed and knowing
what to do in unexpected
circumstances
 An understanding of holistic care
 Demonstrating an ability to deal
with distressing and emotionally
challenging circumstances e.g.
caring for terminally ill people and
preparing the deceased
 Ability to communicate with all
members of staff, patients,
relatives and carers
 Ability to complete written
documentation in line with trust
guidelines
 Ability and commitment to team
working
 Ability to learn and apply
knowledge well
 Ability to abide by Trust policies
and procedures
 Ability to ensure confidentiality is
adhered
 Ability to prioritise care and
attention to patients/families
 Ability to report and communicate
concerns and changes in a patient’s
condition in a timely manner
 Ability to safely carry out manual
handling of patients, using
equipment/ stores on a daily basis
as per trust policy
Business acumen
 Active listening skills
 Ability to work on own initiative
and as part of a multidisciplinary
DESIRABLE










ECDL
Able to speak more than one
language relevant to the
population served
Experience of working in a hospice
Good local knowledge
Good knowledge of healthcare in
community setting
Evidence of previous experience in
caring for people in their own
home
Experience of working in a
Hospice or specialist palliative
care setting
Experience of working in a
rehabilitation setting
Clinical experience in the fitting of
daily living and mobility
equipment
Level 1 British sign language skills
 Experience of working the public in
a professional or voluntary capacity
 Proven experience of working
effectively in a team
team
 Good interpersonal skills
 Ability to interpret and follow basic
written instructions e.g care plans
Relationship Building
 Experience in building rapport
quickly and at times when people
are at their most vulnerable
 Able to be flexible often at short
notice to do “the right thing at the
right time in the right way” to meet
the needs of the people that come
to us for help
 Proven experience working with
the public
 Experience of handling cash and
following procedures strictly
 Experience in a similar role or in a
role with similar responsibilities
ESSENTIAL
PERSONAL
SKILLS
PERSONAL
CIRCUMSTANCES
Personal Effectiveness
 Able to communicate across
diverse groups and communities
and
evidence
equality
of
opportunity in approach
 Highly motivated and customer
focussed
 Resilient,
enthusiastic
and
motivated
 Excellent team working skills
 Committed to providing accurate
and timely information to a high
standard
 Ability to inspire trust and
confidence and command loyalty
 Ability to transfer skills to carers
within and agreed care plan and
empower
others
including,
patients,
carers,
colleagues,
volunteers
 Able to act with integrity and
observe the seven standards of
public life
 Passed fit by Occupational Health
Service
 Able to work flexibly on a 24/7 rota
365 days a year as required
 Confident to travel and navigate
across the area served by the
Hospice
 Commitment to attend additional
training
 Able to travel and attend
conferences
according
to
operational needs of the post
DESIRABLE






Able to speak more than one
language
relevant
to
the
population served
Level one British Sign Language
Must know own strengths and
areas for development; must
demonstrate time management
and personal organisation skills
and a commitment to learning
Able to demonstrate oral and
written and IT communication
excellence
Ability to coach and develop
others.
Experience of working in a
community interest company as
an active member
 Able to provide own transport for
work with full current UK driving
licence