A4C Job Description Template

JOB DESCRIPTION GUIDANCE
JOB TITLE The title of the post should be representative of the role.
However, whilst this may act as a guide, the matching panel will assess the
grade of the post on the body of information supplied in the job description
and the person specification. The title alone will not guarantee a particular
grade.
BAND
REPORTS TO
RESPONSIBLE TO
LOCATION
JOB PURPOSE
The Job purpose should be a summary describing the primary functions and
scope of the job, identifying its key roles and responsibilities. The job purpose
should answer the question “why does the post exist?”
E.g. To work as part of a multidisciplinary team and act as a source of advice
to patients, carers, GPs and other healthcare professionals.
To provide professional, quality planned programmes of ……..care to patients
who have an assessed need.
To develop, implement and monitor a quality framework for commissioning
services.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Communication
• Who will the post holder be required to communicate with and establish
and maintain relationships with.
• Will the post holder be required to motivate, negotiate, persuade, make
presentations, train others, empathise, communicate unpleasant news
sensitively and provide counselling and reassurance – please give
examples
• Take account of the difficulties involved in exercising these tasks
E.g. Exchange information with patients and staff for appointments,
admissions and meetings verbally, in person and in written format
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Analytical Tasks
• Analytical tasks involving the diagnosis of a problem or illness and
understand complex situations or information
• Judgemental skills to formulate solutions and recommend/decide on the
best course of action/treatment
E.g. Exercise judgment when dealing with patient enquiries, analyse and
resolve patient problems
Planning and Organisational Skills
• Activities such as planning or organising clinical or non-clinical services,
departments, rotas, meetings, conferences and for strategic planning.
• The complexity and degree of uncertainty involved in these activities
e.g. Plan and organise own time, fill cancellation slots with other patients,
ensure notes are ready for clinics, arrange on-call rotas
Physical Skills
• The physical skills required to fulfill the job duties
• Hand-eye co-ordination, sensory skills (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell),
dexterity, manipulation, requirements for speed and accuracy, keyboard
and driving skills
E.g. Giving injections
Responsibility for Patient Care
• Responsibilities for patient/client care, treatment and therapy.
• Nature of the responsibility and the level of the jobholder’s involvement in
the provision of care or treatment to patients/clients, and degree to which
the responsibility is shared with others.
• Responsibility to record care/treatment/advice/tests
e.g. Provide information and advice to patients and relatives about
admissions and appointments
Policy and Service Development Implementation
• The responsibilities of the job for development and implementation of
policy and/or services.
• Nature of the responsibility and the extent and level of the jobholder’s
contribution to the relevant decision making process, for instance, making
recommendations to decision makers.
• Whether the relevant policies or services relate to a function, department,
division, directorate, the whole trust or employing organisation, or wider
than this
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• The degree to which the responsibility is shared with others
e.g. Follows policies in own role
Responsibilities for Financial and Physical Resources
• The responsibilities of the job for financial resources (including cash,
vouchers, cheques, debits and credits, invoice payments, budgets,
revenues, income generation), and physical assets (including clinical,
office and other equipment, tools and instruments, vehicles, plant and
machinery, premises, fittings and fixtures, personal possessions of
patients/clients or others, goods, produce, stocks and supplies).
• The responsibility (e.g. careful use, security, maintenance, budgetary and
ordering responsibilities), the frequency with which it is exercised, the
value of the resources
• The degree to which the responsibility is shared with others.
e.g. Holds petty cash, maintains stationery stock.
Responsibilities for Human Resources
• Responsibilities of the job for management, supervision, co-ordination,
teaching, training and development of employees, students/trainees and
others in an equivalent position
• Work planning and allocation, checking and evaluating work, undertaking
clinical supervision, identifying training needs, developing and/or
implementing training programmes, teaching staff/students or trainees,
and continuing professional development (CPD)
• Responsibility for such personnel functions as recruitment, discipline,
appraisal and career development, and the long term development of
human resources
• Emphasis on nature of responsibility rather than the precise numbers of
those supervised, co-ordinated, trained or developed
e.g. Demonstrate duties to new starters
Responsibilities for Information Resources
• Responsibilities of the job for information resources (e.g. computerised,
paper based, microfiche) and information systems (both hardware and
software (e.g. medical records)
• Nature of responsibility (security, processing and generating
information, creation, updating and maintenance of information
databases or systems) and degree to which it is shared with others.
Assumes that all information encountered in the NHS is confidential
e.g. Responsible for taking and transcribing minutes
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Responsibilities for Research and Development
• Responsibilities of the job for informal and formal clinical or non-clinical
research and development activities underpinned by appropriate
methodology and documentation, including formal testing or evaluation
of drugs, or clinical or non-clinical equipment
• Nature of the responsibility (initiation, implementation, oversight of
research and development activities), whether it is an integral part of
the work or research for personal development purposes, and the
degree to which it is shared with others.
e.g. Undertakes surveys or audits as necessary to own work
Freedom to Act
• Extent of accountability for own actions and those of others, to use own
initiative and act independently, and the discretion allowed to the
jobholder to take action
• Takes account of any restriction on the jobholder’s freedom to act
imposed by e.g. supervisory control, instructions, procedures, practices
and policies, professional, technical or occupational codes of practice
or other ethical guidelines, the nature or system in which the job
operates, the position of the job within the organisation and the
existence of any statutory responsibility for service provision
E.g. Consultant sets priority. Few written procedures governing day to day
work
STANDARD PARAGRAPHS
1. It is the responsibility of each member of staff to maintain confidentiality
at all times.
2. Staff must be aware of and adhere to the provisions of the Health and
Safety at Work Act and to ensure their own safety and the safety of
colleagues and patients. Staff must also be aware of the action to be
taken in the event of fire and must attend a fire lecture annually.
3. Manual handling training must also be attended on induction and
thereafter bi-annually. Staff who are required to move patients are
required to attend advanced training annually. Other mandatory training
requirements that are relevant to the post must be decided during
Personal Development Review and a training plan developed.
4. Staff should be aware of their individual responsibilities under the Trust’s
Equal Opportunities Policy and ensure that they adhere to the provisions
of the policy.
5. Staff should ensure that their actions support the aim of the Trust in
ensuring that all children up to the age of 18 years are protected from
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significant harm, abuse and neglect, within the framework of multiagency
Child Protection services established in the Guidelines and
Procedures issued by the Area Child Protection Committee.
6. This job description is not meant to be exhaustive. It describes the main
duties and responsibilities of the post. It may be subject to change in the
light of developing organisational and service needs and wherever
possible change will follow consultation with the post holder.
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Effort and Environment
Effort criteria – the frequency with which the post holder is expected to deal
with the following areas should be indicated e.g. average over a day, a week,
a month or a year
Physical Effort
• The nature, level, frequency and duration of the physical effort
(sustained effort at a similar level or sudden explosive effort) required
for the job.
Any circumstances that may affect the degree of effort required, such as
working in an awkward or confined space.
E.g. Word process and input for a substantial proportion of working time
Mental Effort
• The nature, level, frequency and duration of the mental effort required
for the job (e.g. responding to unpredictable work patterns,
interruptions and the need to meet deadlines)
E.g. Concentration is required when transcribing a tape or typing a
complicated medical document, there are frequent interruptions, but these are
predictable
Working Conditions
• Nature, level frequency and duration of demands arising from inevitably
adverse environmental conditions (such as extreme heat/cold, smells,
noise, and fumes), and hazards which are unavoidable (even with the
strictest health and safety controls) such as road traffic accidents, spills of
harmful chemicals, aggressive behaviour of patients, clients, relatives,
carers.
e.g. exposure to unpleasant working conditions is rare/Requirement to use
VDU more or less continuously
Emotional Effort
• Nature, level, frequency and duration demands of the emotional effort
required to undertake clinical or non-clinical duties that are generally
considered to be distressing and/or emotionally demanding
e.g. Type letters of a distressing nature
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………………………………………………………………………………………….
AGREED AND SIGNED BY
Employee – Print Name……………………………………………….
Signature…………………………………………………
Manager – Print Name……………………………………………………
Signature……………………………………………………
Date………………………………………….
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