Physician Associate

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

·         To provide clinical assessments of new referrals & reviews of existing service users under the care of the service the PA works for. To use medical & psychiatric history taking, physical examination, mental state examination, problem solving and clinical decision-making skills in carrying out this work. To formulate differential diagnoses and management plans with input as agreed by the supervising Consultant. The final or working diagnosis for a service user will need discussion at an appropriate time interval as agreed with the supervising Consultant.

·         Maintain service user records i.e. record test results, patient contacts.

·         Review and summarise patient notes for the purpose of contributing to discharge summaries and reports.

·         Assist the consultant by writing letters, chasing referrals/treatments and preparing medical notes. 

·         Carry out agreed diagnostic and therapeutic procedures which will include (but not be limited to):

·     Electrocardiogram (ECG)

·     Venepuncture

·     Interpretation of blood results

·     Mental state examination and psychiatric history taking

·     Cognitive assessment

·         Provide health promotion and disease prevention advice for service users, including those relating to smoking, drugs and alcohol.

·         Liaise with external (primary care and relevant secondary health care providers) and internal teams/departments relating to a service user's care or treatment needs.

·         Liaise with pharmacy regarding issues relating to medication.

·         Work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team, building good working relationships.

·         Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings, handovers and other relevant clinical meetings.

·         To receive and communicate very sensitive, complex condition related information with service users, carers & relatives. The post holder will need to use a high degree of empathy and reassurance. To address any barriers to understanding resulting from the person's illness. Examples of this include: explaining to a service user the outcome of an initial assessment, including both physical health & mental health reasons relevant to their presentation (including any interplay between the two, such as in Delirium), any further investigations needed and treatment that will be offered; being able to adapt their approach depending on the service user's presentation (e.g. if the patient is cognitively impaired or acutely distressed); appropriate involvement of the service user's relatives and carers in discussions about their care, including considerations of the service user's consent and capacity to make decisions about this.

·         To manage exposure to occasional highly distressing or highly emotional circumstances.

·         Exposure to hazards, including those of working on acute mental health wards.

·         Support newly qualified PAs and the allocation of student PAs placements

·         Contribute to the development and education of the PA role at Sussex Partnership, including educating other staff groups on the role of a PA.

·         Contribute to the training of doctors in training as part of the regular National rotations.

·         Respond in a timely way to requests to assess or review service users’ physical and/or mental health and provide advice to staff on further management/investigations/ interventions.

·         Undertake assessment and assistance to ward staff in the event of medical emergencies.

·         Provide psycho-educational support to service users and carers/families.

·         Support proactive screening and interventions with regard to the physical health of service users.

·         Take a lead in planning service user care programmes as well as organising and coordinating of case conferences and multidisciplinary teams or activities.

·         To be seen as the clinical practitioner specialising in their specialty (i.e. CAMHS, Liaison, etc) and accountable for their own professional actions within their team.

Service Development:

·         The post holder will be expected to participate in research/audit/QI opportunities.

·         Be responsible for the dissemination of new or updated clinical practices.

·         Support the placements of nursing, medical and PA students on placement.

·         Participate in undergraduate teaching and develop teaching and training sessions for staff and professionals on specialist subject areas relevant to care group.

·         Support resident doctors on placement.

·         Support the development of skills in the wider team and the organisation.

·         To implement local & trust wide policies, procedures, guidance and protocols relevant to their practice in their own area of work.

·         To develop (along with Trust managers and other Trust PAs where required) policies, procedures, guidance and protocols for their specialist area and/or specific to the work of PAs.

·         To contribute where required to Trust policies and procedures beyond their own area of activity.

·         Contribute to the development of physical health competencies in mental health staff in a range of settings.

·         To develop service pathways for clients in care group and contribute to ongoing development of service.

·         The post holder will be expected to support the further development of governance and educational structures for PAs working in the Trust, in keeping with requirements by the relevant regulatory body.

Research and Development:

·         To undertake research, service evaluation and clinical audits.

·         To use research in practice and developing research work from one’s own practice

Governance – including quality, standards, documentation & ethics.

·         To ensure that up to date written and electronic records and activity data are maintained in accordance with Professional and Trust standards and to provide specialist reports relevant to practice setting.

·         To keep accurate and timely electronic records of each contact, using the Trust electronic clinical record system and other software programmes used by the Trust. Complete outcome measures as required.

·         To adhere to the General Medical Council's professional standards and ethics and comply with local and national standards of practice.

·         To respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of clients and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs.

·         To contribute to the Trust and professional clinical and social care governance arrangements and quality agenda, including the setting and monitoring of practice standards.

·         To be aware of and work to the policies and procedures within Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

·         To apply national guidelines/ legislation relating to health and social care in mental health service provision.

·         To participate in clinical and social care governance care group forums as required.

·         To ensure performance targets and standards are met.

·         To complete clinical outcome measures as required

·         To ensure that professional PA standards of practice are maintained within the clinical setting.

·         To ensure that professional standards of practice are maintained amongst junior staff.

·         To seek and attend monthly supervision and participate in annual appraisal.

Other:

·         This job description is not intended to be exhaustive and it is likely that duties may be altered from time to time in the light of changing circumstances