Physician Associate - North and West PCN

Physician Associate - North and West PCN

Reference: HW-1661

Applicants should be qualified PAs who, acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for patients from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and appropriate follow up and evaluation of care.

The role will work collaboratively with other members of the Primary Care Team within the policies and procedures of their practice and the Integrated Care Board.

The PCN role offers a range of opportunities well matched to the skill mix and competencies encompassed in the P.A.

The successful candidate:

Will be passionate about upholding excellent standards of care and responsive to specific needs of the community, patients, families and carers

You will be motivated to contribute to practice and network development of services

You will be a keen team player with excellent organisational skills and the ability to work under pressure at times

You will be open to new ideas and able to implement systems to deliver services differently and better.

Main duties of the job:

PCNs are the future for delivering holistic and person-centred care. We can offer Physician Associates an opportunity to join a team with a huge range of expertise and play a part in this exciting transformation in health.

The Physician Associate will work collaboratively as part of the general practice multidisciplinary team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of the Primary Care Network priorities for improved health and care across our geographical area.

The Physicians Associate will:

Providing direct clinical care to patients; taking medical histories, performing physical examinations, analysis, diagnosis and explaining medical problems during consultations and home visits. This may be as part of the Duty Team or in routine clinics.

Supporting elderly and frail patients living at home or in Care Homes. Providing anticipatory and personalised care planning

Contributing to the clinical development of network practices helping to establish appropriate systems to manage common chronic medical conditions, undertaking audits and contributing to the development of policies.

About us

Taurus Healthcare was established in 2012, as the provider arm of the GP Federation serving 185,000 patients in Herefordshire. Founded and owned by the partners of the entire Herefordshire Primary Care community, Taurus is focused on providing excellent out of hospital services for patients. Our ethos is to provide high quality and cost-effective health outcomes that are delivered as close as possible to the patients home, whilst ensuring that patients who do require in hospital services are seen as quickly and effectively as possible.

The North & West Herefordshire PCN GP practices serve rural and market town communities responding to the wide - ranging health needs of the population. The network includes Kington Medical Practice, Ryeland Surgery Leominster, The Mortimer Medical Practice, Tenbury Wells Surgery and Weobley and Staunton on Wye surgeries. It is a highly organised and forward looking PCN with strong relationships between practices and community providers.

The N&W PCN team is committed to understanding and responding proactively to the needs of their most vulnerable patients, supporting them to enjoy good health and independence and for as long as possible.

Come and work with us and be part of this exciting new development, working in partnership with patients and enabling excellent care.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Participate in all treatment and preventative healthcare services in the Practice as delegated and agreed by the supervising physician(s).

Provide direct clinical care to patients using established local and national clinical guidelines.

Interview patients, take medical histories, perform physical examinations, analyse, diagnose and explain medical problems during consultations and home visits.

Recommend and explain appropriate diagnostic tests and treatment. Administer opportunistic immunisation as appropriate eg influenza vaccine.

Request and interpret results of laboratory investigations when necessary. Review and communicate results where appropriate.

Consult and refer patients to physicians, medical specialists and other health professionals as appropriate; in primary, secondary or community care.

Instruct and educate patients in all matters relating to their physical and mental health. This may include medication, diet, social habits, contraception, lifestyle and preventative healthcare.

Conduct telephone consultations which may involve discussing the results and implications of laboratory investigations with patients as well as dealing appropriately with routine and emergency complaints.

Please see the Job Description for further details.

 

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

If UK Trained:

Degree at 2:2 level or above

PG Dip in Physician Associate Studies from a UK PA programme

Current and valid certification or re-certification by the UK Physician Associate National Examination

Member of the Faculty of Physician Associates at the RCP, which includes registration on the UK Physician Associate Register (the PA Managed Voluntary Register)

If US Trained:

Current and valid certification with the National Commission on Certification for Physician Assistants (NCCPA)

Member of the Faculty of Physician Associates at the RCP, which includes registration on the UK Physician Associate Register (the PA Managed Voluntary Register)

Desirable

If US Trained:

MSc Degree in Physician Associate Studies, Physician Assistant Studies or Medical Sciences

Experience

Essential

Experience of working within a medicine environment

Experience of conducting clinical audit

Desirable

Experience of preventative medicine and chronic disease management

Research, Innovation and Service Improvement

Essential

To assist in the development of the Physician Associate role in the UK

Assist in the educational development of Physician Associate students through student shadowing and/or teaching

Desirable

An awareness of current developments and initiatives in health care

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.

 

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).