Clinical-Direct Patient Care:
- See patients and their families in inherited disease clinics at Beaumont Hospital incorporating inherited renal disease, Neurological disease and Breast cancer family clinics at Beaumont Hospital.
- Manage an individual caseload, consulting with the Specialist Consultant as appropriate, and in line with the Genetic Counsellor scope of practice appropriate to the grade
- Work within Genetic Counsellor competency frameworks and recognise when to refer to appropriate healthcare specialists
- Contribute to joint consultant and Genetic Counselling clinics, and co-counselling genetic counsellor clinics to ensure their effectiveness and efficiency as well as continuity of care for families referred.
- Participate in multidisciplinary clinics
- Endeavour to achieve for all families seen in clinic, a good understanding of the genetics information and the best possible adjustment to the presence of a genetic condition in their family.
- Ensure the best possible standard of work by applying scientific and clinical understanding and counselling expertise to unique clinical situations
- Maintain confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service users.
- Liaise with laboratory colleagues to communicate clinical information necessary to ensure appropriate genetic testing is carried out and to discuss complex test results that are difficult to interpret.
- Prioritise work, particularly assessing the urgency of clinical work.
- Maintain a full and accurate record of clinical workload undertaken in both manual and computerised records and preserve their confidentiality, which may include a genetic patient management system
- Order genetic tests as clinically appropriate and according to agreed clinical departmental guidelines, with assigned consultant approval
- Arrange relevant referrals, consulting with the assigned consultant as appropriate
- Assess patients to determine where there is need for specialist therapeutic counselling, psychiatric assessment or screening, and make appropriate referrals
- Provide information on the care of other family members, identify at-risk relatives and advise on how they could obtain genetic counselling or screening via agreed protocols
- Discuss cases with colleagues at clinical meetings
- Prepare letters to patients summarising clinic discussions and giving test results
- Undertake any other duties within the context of this job description and appropriate grade of the post, necessary for the changing needs of an effective and efficient patient service.
Communication with patient and families:
- Elicit and accurately document patient’s detailed family history
- Elicit patient’s concerns and expectations
- Interpret medical, family and psychological history
- Confirm medical and diagnostic information
- Communicate genetic information to patients and their relatives
- Communicate highly complex and possibly conflicting information
- Identify and respond to emerging issues for the patient or family
- Identify changes of risk within the family
- Take responsibility for communicating and applying new scientific information for the benefit of the family
- Interpret and communicate normal and abnormal genetic test results to patients and health care professionals in line with agreed protocols
- Provide advice on factors that reduce and influence risk
- Use non-directive and other counselling skills to counsel patients about various testing options and to facilitate decision-making
- Communicate with patients who are bereaved and provide support
- Use counselling skills to communicate sensitively in the presence of language, cultural and/or medical issues
- Facilitate effective support to patients who have great difficulty accepting and/or understanding a clinical diagnosis or a genetic test result
- Communicate highly sensitive and potentially distressing information to patients and relatives about their genetic status with implications for biological and social family relationships.
- Use counselling skills to facilitate decision making and promote adjustments in patient and family members.
Self-Development:
- Work within the ethical and professional frameworks of any professional organisation to which the post holder may belong e.g. the Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellors’ code of ethics, AHCS Good Scientific Practice, GCRB Code of Conduct, GCRB Scope of Practice, GCRB Standards of Proficiency
- Attend regular counselling supervision sessions to discuss difficult cases and enhance counselling skills
- Maintain annual professional registration
- Keep up to date with departmental, hospital and national training requirements
- Take personal responsibility for continuing professional self-development and keep up-to-date with changes in the practice of genetic counselling. It is expected this will include regular attendance at local, regional, national, and occasionally international events.
- Participate in appraisal processes
Communication with colleagues:
Attend departmental clinical meetings and teaching sessions to participate in discussion and feedback on clinical cases.
- Attend regular Genetic Counsellor and service meetings.
- Advise colleagues on issues around informed consent
- Discuss cases with ethical complexity with colleagues at the weekly clinical meeting.
- Share in fulfilling the departmental teaching and educational commitments.
- Assist in the training of less experienced staff and students as appropriate.
- Contribute to departmental research and audit.
- Promote ideas and initiative developments within the team
- Attend to yearly CPD attainment in the related discipline.
Leadership & Direction:
- Develops networks and communications systems to ensure that they are fully informed in a dynamic and challenging environment.
- Is an effective leader and a positive driver for change; transforms the vision into a framework and structures for moving forward.
- Understands the challenges of leading complex systems change.
- Balances change with continuity – continually strives to improve service delivery, to create a work environment that encourages creative thinking and to maintain focus, intensity and persistence even under increasingly complex and demanding conditions.
Working With & Through Others - Influencing to Achieve:
- Has significant experience in engaging with healthcare organisations.
- Demonstrates the ability to work independently as well as work with a wider multidisciplinary / multi-agency team in a complex and changing environment.
- Is persuasive and effectively sells the vision; commands attention and inspires confidence.
- Sets high standards for the team and puts their work and the work of the organisation into meaningful context.
- Has excellent influencing and negotiation skills.
Managing & Delivering Results:
- Places strong emphasis on achieving high standards of excellence.
- Commits a high degree of energy to well directed activities and looks for and seizes opportunities that is beneficial to achieving organisation goals.
- Perseveres and sees tasks through.
- Champions measurement on delivery of results and is willing to take personal responsibility to initiate activities and drive objectives through to a conclusion.
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Quality, Risk & Safety Responsibilities:
- Participate and cooperate with legislative and regulatory requirements with regard to Quality, Risk and Safety.
- Participate and cooperate with Quality and Risk and Safety initiatives as required.
- Participate and cooperate with internal and external evaluations of hospital structures, services and processes as required
- To initiate, support and implement quality improvement initiatives in their area which are in keeping with the hospitals continuous quality improvement programme.
The above is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
Health and Safety:
- Ensure that effective safety procedures are in place to comply not only with the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act but also within the spirit of the Hospital’s mission, vision and values, and they are known and followed by staff. You are also required to familiarise yourself with the requirements of employees under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005
Confidentiality:
- You will be aware of the confidential nature of Hospital work and in particular, the right of patients to confidentiality.
Policies & Procedures:
- You are required to familiarise yourself with and adhere to all policy and procedural documents relevant to your position.
Hygiene Standards:
- It is the responsibility of all staff to have a fundamental understanding of individual responsibility in maintaining departmental and site hygiene standards.
Information Technology:
- Ensure the most effective and efficient use of developments in information technology for administrative support in a manner, which integrates well with systems throughout the organisation.
Business Continuity Management:
Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organisation and provides a framework for building resilience and the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders and reputation” (BS 25999) All Staff employed in the Beaumont Hospital are obliged to:
- make themselves familiar with the Organisational Business Continuity Plan
- attend BCM education sessions provided for them
- make themselves familiar with their individual roles as set out in their departmental business continuity plan if applicable and or the Organisational business continuity plan
NOTE:
The extent and speed of change in the delivery of health care is such that adaptability is essential. The incumbent will be required to maintain, enhance and develop their knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary to respond to a changing situation. The job description must be regarded as an outline of the major areas of accountability at the present time, which will be reviewed and assessed on an ongoing basis.
