Senior Healthcare Assistant - Spinal Injuries

There is currently a 12hour rotational shift pattern with the opportunity for shorter shifts to ensure availability of staff throughout the 24hour period. Staff are expected to be flexible as internal rotation between day and night duty is in operation and weekend working is to be expected. The Health Care Assistant role at the North West Regional Spinal Injuries Centre is a key part of the multi-professional team & vital in supporting the rehabilitation process for patients with spinal cord injury. The role involves providing direct care on a daily basis to ensure patients are able to achieve their goals for personal hygiene, eating & drinking, skin care & mobilising in a wheelchair, with expanded skills undertaken by the Band 3 Health Care Assistant. The Centre comprises of 43 Inpatient beds, including up to 9 Acute & Respiratory Care beds. In addition we have developed an Outreach Service that currently offers 8 beds in a community setting. We provide acute care and rehabilitation services for individuals who have experienced a spinal cord lesion due to trauma or other mechanism. There is an extensive rehabilitation service provided by a comprehensive Multi-Professional team with dedicated rehabilitation & therapy facilities within the department, including a fully equipped Gym, Hydrotherapy pool, Gait Orthosis equipment and Occupational Therapy assessment / treatment area., + Work as part of a team and duties will be delegated by the registered healthcare professional. + Act within the scope of your training and competence, knowing who to ask for help and support if you are not sure. + Work within agreed ways of working, following relevant Trust standards, policies, and protocols. + Communicate compassionately and effectively with individuals and their families, carers and health care practitioners using a range of techniques, maintaining confidentiality, and using tact, empathy, persuasion and reassurance. + Observe, assess, and respond to patients needs appropriately, escalating concerns to Nursing staff as required including instigating emergency procedures as per policy. + Organises self and supervises other junior staff or learners in general work tasks or when delivering patient care with supervision from nursing staff. + Prioritises a range of delegated clinical care duties. + Acting on own initiative, undertake personal care duties and support activities of daily living, e.g. mouth care, personal hygiene, and toileting needs, demonstrating person centred care. + Assist the registered healthcare practitioners with clinical tasks, follow care plans, notice and report changes, assist with risk assessments, obtain samples and some specimens. + Safely deliver care duties including manoeuvring of patient equipment such as hoists and wheelchairs. + Gather evidence to assist registered healthcare practitioner in obtaining a patient/client history. + Undertake delegated procedures as required within the limits of required training and measured competence e.g. venepuncture / ECG recording / blood glucose monitoring, clinical observations, taking specimens, escalating any abnormalities to the registered nurse. + Support of patients feeding, diet and nutritional needs and accurately record patient's nutritional intake and fluid intake and output, noticing and reporting changes to the nursing staff. + Ensure patient property is managed as per Trust policy. + Monitor levels of supplies and order supplies for the department as appropriate + Demonstrates own duties to new starters, contributing to the learning environment. Where requested, supports/supervises work of students and other junior staff. + Occasionally participates in audits, surveys, development activities. + To work in line with Trust policies and procedures + Contributes to maintaining a safe, healthy working environment. + Follow the principles for implementing a duty of care, always acting in the best interest of individuals to ensure they do not come to harm. + Work in partnership with the individual, their carers/ families, and the wider healthcare team. + Maintain and further develop your own skills and knowledge through development and learning activities; maintain evidence of your personal development and actively prepare for and participate in appraisal. + Participate in team handovers. Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. You are part of an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England. Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience. The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups. As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form. If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected] We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form. The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process. The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unbale to provide sponsorship. Disclosure and Barring Service Check If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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. Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies. Flexible Working We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that: · All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment. · There is no limit on the number of requests they can make. · Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason. At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage. Working for Team MWL Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services. The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated. Additional Information Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here. An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents. Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

An opportunity has arisen for dynamic, skilled individuals to join our friendly, caring team at the North West Regional Spinal Injuries Centre at Southport District General Hospital. We are looking for caring and committed individuals who would like to expand their knowledge and skills within this challenging and rewarding environment. The ability to deal supportively with people of all ages and backgrounds, along with their families, in a period of unprecedented change is essential. Communication skills and the ability to work as part of a multi-professional team are critical to the success of the role. Previous experience of working within an acute hospital setting would be advantageous as this role involves expanded skills in caring for patients with spinal cord injury. You should have completed NVQ Level 3 in Healthcare / Care Certificate or equivalent or be undertaking the course with completion expected within 6 months of taking up post.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care. Our Services: Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales. Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme