To be involved in the provision of Foot Health Education advice to patients relatives and carers and to participate in Foot Health Training where appropriate for Community, Primary and Social Care staff

• To be involved in infection prevention and control, health and safety; this would include cleaning the clinical areas, monitoring of appointment availability, identification of adequate stock levels, maintenance of equipment.
• To provide relevant clinical cover for other Podiatry staff members, where clinically safe to do so, within the service according to the department’s sickness cover guidelines and according to service needs.
• To support Health education sessions and deliver Rightstart education for patients diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes and support the Diabetes service for the Diabetes education

JOB PURPOSE

The key focus of the job involves holding a caseload of foot-care patients for nail care in clinics and in home visits. The role will also involve assisting in nail surgery procedures and re-dressings, ordering of procurement, stock taking, supporting in manufacturing of foot insoles /orthotics with the MSK/Biomechanics team, wound dressings, neurovascular testing, supporting health promotion days and contributing to audits/quality improvement/research. Time to time you may also be asked to support the administrative team if required. This post will also require health promotion and working with the diabetes service to deliver their Rightstart education programme to those newly diagnosed patients with diabetes.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1.1 To provide nail care to pre-assessed podiatry patients including home visits
1.2 To assist in wound dressing as directed by podiatrists
1.3 To assist in nail surgery and undertake nail surgery dressings.
1.4 To undertake the manufacture of insoles and orthotics
1.5 To be involved in departmental audits
1.6 To provide administration support to community based podiatry service.
1.7 Behave consistently with the values and beliefs of the organisation and promotes these on day to day basis.
1.8 Act as a role model to colleagues, always seeking to maintain the highest standards of professionalism
1.9 Support clinicians with health promotional/professional/offsite days
2.0 Deliver Rightstart education to newly diagnosed patients with diabetes and support the Diabetes education service.
CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 7,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London’s population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.
The Ealing Podiatry service consists of partnership between CNWL and West London NHS. We work together to provide excellent care to our patients and offer a supportive and flexible environment for team members. Including an induction and scope for growth.
The teams are supported in their professional development with regular training and clinical supervision and opportunities to expand their clinical skills .
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings
Clinical Duties
To provide nail care to patients including high risk patients within the podiatry department and hold a caseload
To be able to plan and organise all allocated caseload or in general work of the Podiatry service. Being responsible for the implementation of individual care packages often involving “High Risk” Patients as prescribed by the HCPC Registered Podiatrist and other suitably registered practitioners; including nail cutting, filing, drilling (e.g. use of abrasive caps), dressing and re-dressing.
To provide support to the Podiatry team in clinics including assisting in wound dressing procedures.
To identify the risk status of feet including patients with diabetes and undertake appropriate action e.g. inform podiatrist
Carry out essential tests, which include ABPIs, Neuro-vascular checks and temperature monitoring of certain conditions and report to a Podiatrist for action
To assist with nail surgery as per the service SOP with pre-op preparation, documentation, supporting the procedure, dressings and post op care.
To undertake/ assist in the manufacture of insoles and orthotics following prescription by MSK/Biomechanics team.
To maintain clear, accurate and full patient records
To provide foot health education, footwear and hygiene advice.
To be responsible for the preparation of the Podiatry Clinic.
To follow departmental guidelines on the safe use, maintenance and cleaning of specified equipment used in the clinical environment.

To maintain privacy and confidentiality in line with Trust Policy.

• To provide assistance to the Podiatry team working with patients with multiple co-morbidities e.g.

High- risk diabetes
Neuropathy
Chronic disease
Wound management/ tissue viability
Terminally ill patients
Care is provided in a range of Primary, Community or Secondary care settings (where applicable) e.g. health centre based community clinics, hospitals and patients homes .
The post-holder will provide appropriate care as directed by the Podiatrist in the patients treatment plan, to include:
Applying dressings
Monitoring of infection
Onward referral
Foot health advice and education
Use of abrasive caps/sanding discs
To have responsibility for identifying when patients require the intervention of the Podiatrist, following agreed departmental pathways.
To assist the Podiatrist in Nail Surgery clinics (Record amount and batch numbers of LA used, prepare patients pre and post-operatively, maintain sterile environment, ensure all paperwork is recorded and given to patient and support the Podiatrist.)
To be responsible for personal workloads and schedule regarding restocking of clinics across multiple sites.

To be involved in the provision of Foot Health Education advice to patients relatives and carers and to participate in Foot Health Training where appropriate for Community, Primary and Social Care staff

• To be involved in infection prevention and control, health and safety; this would include cleaning the clinical areas, monitoring of appointment availability, identification of adequate stock levels, maintenance of equipment.
• To provide relevant clinical cover for other Podiatry staff members, where clinically safe to do so, within the service according to the department’s sickness cover guidelines and according to service needs.
• To support Health education sessions and deliver Rightstart education for patients diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes and support the Diabetes service for the Diabetes education.

3.0 Administrative Duties
To undertake administrative duties where necessary to ensure effective patient care; e.g. appointment scheduling, dealing with post and stock
To arrive patients for their appointments and keep patient updated in unusually situations e.g. clinic delays.
To be involved in patient caseload management.
To order and control stock levels including pharmacy/insoles
To take responsibility for following podiatry department computerised systems in administrative tasks.
To be responsible for the collection and monitoring of all statistical information as specified by the lead podiatris