Roles and Responsibilities: Health and Social Care Provider

Introduction                                                                                                                            In this assignment, I am going to explain how one health or social care provider has contributed in national provision and describe three roles within the NHS and explain their responsibilities and possible career pathways.

West Cumberland Hospital is one of two acute hospitals in Cumbria, serving around 140,000 residents of West Cumbria. The hospital is located on the outskirts of Whitehaven, in Hensingham, and also provides Diagnosis/screening, care for long-term conditions, Rehabilitation for illness/injury, 24 hour Accident and Emergency, CHOC, a consultant-led maternity unit, special care baby unit, an outpatient’s service and a range of specialist clinical services. In 2015, a £90 million new building was added to West Cumberland Hospital, the building contains advanced surgical theatres and the new buildings’ interior and services are all modernised. The new modern build makes the hospital look more pleasing and attractive. However, issues and complaints have occurred regarding centralising consultant-led maternity services in Carlisle and women in labour may have to travel to Cumberland Infirmary, this is due to a shortage of children’s doctors, states the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, and some kind of change is essential. The Hospital offers free National Health Service Treatment. Local GPs refer patients to outpatient clinics for specialist treatment and advice.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) are independent regulators who make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage them to improve. Their inspection in 2015 on Whitehaven hospital concluded that the hospital required improvement and so was placed in special measures (CQC 2016).

West Cumberland Hospital is manged by North Cumbria University Hospital Trust which is an acute hospital trust committed to providing a high standard of care to a population of around 320,000 from Carlisle, Allerdale, Eden, Copeland and parts of the Dumfries and Galloway and Northumberland. Services, such as paediatrics and A&E, are provided from West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven and the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle. The trust also supports a wide range of diagnostic and clinical services which are located in nine community hospitals across North Cumbria. The trust became a university Hospital in September 2008.

Within the NHS, there are large variety of positions which all require different specialist skills and training. Each job in health and social care settings is important in contributing to providing the best quality care for service users.

Roles, responsibilities and career pathways of a Doctor.                                      Medical doctors examine, diagnose and treat patients who have been referred to the hospital by GPs or other healthcare professionals. Doctors apply their specialist medical knowledge and skills to the contribution of prevention and management of disease.

After five years of medical school, a junior doctor will do a minimum of four years further training to qualify as a general practitioner (GP), or a further eight years to qualify as a hospital consultant. Once a registrar, after one year they can become a GP, or a specialist consultant in five to six years.

There are numerous responsibilities of a doctor. Doctors must undertake patient’s physical examinations and consultations, perform surgical operations, monitor and regulate medication of patients, plan and assess required treatments of service users, communicate daily with nurses, doctors, GP’s and other healthcare professionals and they also maintain records of patients. These responsibilities require a doctor to have an ability to solve problems, work effectively under pressure and have leadership and management skills.

Roles, responsibilities and career pathways of a Radiographer.

The role of a Radiographer is to undertake clinical imagining diagnostic examinations using different kinds of radiation to treat injured or ill patients. They must ensure that every service user is fully aware of the procedure and remain as comfortable and relaxed as possible. You can study to become either diagnostic radiographer or therapeutic radiography at university. A diagnostic radiographer uses radiation to diagnose an injury or illness of a patient and a therapeutic radiographer uses different kinds of radiation to treat illnesses or injuries. It is important for a radiographer to have good communication skills and strong analytical skills.

There are several responsibilities of a radiographer. They need to be able to assess patients and their clinical requirements to ensure they know which radiographic techniques to use. Radiographers also need to provide support and reassurance to patients, taking into account their psychological and physical needs. Taking responsibility for radiation safety is also important. A radiographer will also work alongside radiologists and surgeons by taking part in more complex radiological examinations.

A diagnostic radiographer can become an advanced practitioner where they can undertake a high level of clinical responsibilities. Diagnostic radiographers also can go on to work at consultant level, where you will be able to contribute to strategic development of services.

Role, responsibilities and career pathways of a paramedic.

The role of a paramedic is to provide immediate response to emergency 999 and 111 calls. Paramedics are usually the first senior healthcare professionals on the scene and the level of care they provide can range from dealing with minor illnesses and injuries to life threatening conditions.

There are many responsibilities of a paramedic. They must be capable of monitoring the patient’s condition and be able to use technical equipment, including ventilators and defibrillators to help stabilise and resuscitate patients, they must also perform surgical procedures if necessary, such as intubation (inserting a breathing tube). Paramedics will also communicate with other emergency services to ensure a suitable level of response is provided.

EMT’s and Paramedics are both well trained healthcare professionals. EMT’s are trained to provide a basic level life support to patients such as CPR, spinal immobilization, basic airway management and bandages and splinting, an EMT is considered the entry level for emergency medical services. An EMT can become a paramedic by undertaking a foundation degree in Paramedic Science which will take around two or three years to complete. A paramedic can undertake extra training to become a specialist paramedic or take a further qualification depending on which qualifications they already hold, a specialist paramedic are advanced practitioners in dealing with emergency situations and they need to be able to understand situations quickly and stay calm in stressful situations. A specialist paramedic can take further training of three to five years to become an advanced paramedic and once an advanced practitioner, a further six years to become a consultant paramedic.