Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Health Care Assistant

This role combines the skills and experience of a health care assistant with administration skills, to provide high quality information gathering and data entry to support the Trust SSI programme.

The post holder will liaise with patients and staff to collect relevant information for submission to the UKHSA, ensuring information is collected and inputted accurately and attention to detail is always maintained. An element of patient facing ward-based working will be necessary as there is a key requirement to enter data from the start of the patient journey through to discharge from hospital.

The post holder will work with the MSK and SSI team to improve the patient experience and the efficiency and effectiveness of the SSI service through data validation and analysis.

The post holder will need to be computer literate and be prepared to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.

Main duties of the job

1.Work with patients and staff to ensure robust collection of information regarding surgical site infection. This includes ensuing all relevant operations are captured and full data sets are completed for each patient.

2.Ensure all data in relation to the SSI National Audit Programme is collated and inputted in a timely and comprehensive manner for the SSI service.

3. Ensure patient information is correctly entered, cross-checking with other hospital systems as and when required to ensure accuracy.

4. Tracking of patient notes on the Care flow systems, including contact with Medical Records and Coding departments when patient notes are delayed.

5. Ensure all patient notes and any accompanying results/reports are kept tidy and filed appropriately.

6. Liaise closely with colleagues, both within and outside of the Trust, to facilitate prompt data collection and when appropriate.

7. Work under the guidance from the SSI nurse.

8. Close working with the ward staff, Ward Clerks and Clinics, providing support where work may overlap.

9. To answer telephone enquiries in a professional manner, seeking advice and guidance to ensure appropriate action is taken in accordance with rules on patient confidentiality and data protection.

10. Ability to work as part of a team, as well as independently and unsupervised.

11. Any other routine tasks required by the SSI nurse or MSK Matron to meet the needs of the service.

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We're here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in ourWellbeing Programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.

As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.