Job Description

PCN Paramedic - Arno Primary Care Alliance & North Coast Alliance Job description and person specification

For further enquires please contact PCN Manager, Georgina McNicholas, g.mcnicholas@nhs.net

Job title

PCN Paramedic

Line manager

PCN Manager

Accountable to

Clinical Directors / PCN Manager

Hours per week

37

Closing Date

12th September 2025

Job summary

Arno Primary Care Alliance & North Coast Alliance is made up of 16 practices covering a population of 90,000 patients. All practices use the EMIS clinical system.

The PCN Paramedic at this organisation is a registered paramedic educated to degree level

or

HCPC-registered Paramedic with a strong enthusiasm for learning and a commitment to ongoing professional development and who acts within their professional boundaries.

Paramedics work independently within their scope of practice in the community, they will assess and manage patients in both clinic settings and during home visits.

Responsibilities include developing and implementing care plans, making appropriate referrals, initiating further investigations, and prescribing or advising on medication as needed. Presenting conditions may include abdominal pain, chest pain, headaches, infections, minor injuries, and similar complaints

Paramedics utilise their urgent care skills in primary care to deliver acute care, perform home visits, and support emergency situations, thereby enhancing the responsiveness and flexibility of healthcare services.

The post holder will be an integral part of the general practice team, working as and when required in each organisation and across the PCN.

They will be employed under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) meeting the paramedic role AfC Band 7.

Generic responsibilities

All staff at this PCN have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I)

A good attitude and positive action towards Equality Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) creates an environment where all individuals can achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons - it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do and it is required by law.

Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)

This PCN is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing and safety.

The post holder is to manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients and monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.

All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for themselves, their team and others and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.

All personnel are to comply with the:

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Environment Act 1995

Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999

Other statutory legislation which may be brought to the post holder's attention

Confidentiality

The PCN and associated practices are committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality.

It is essential that, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all staff must protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of PCN outputs, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work.

The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the PCN and practices to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice and to discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.

This PCN continually strives to improve work processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where everyone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Staff should interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice.

All staff are to contribute to investigations and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigations and multidisciplinary case reviews.

Induction

In addition to the induction process at this PCN, where you will be provided with a full induction programme, when attending any practice within the network you will also be required to complete their practice induction programme.

Whilst across the PCN we aim to standardise this process, inevitably there will be nuances particular to each practice. In any such instance, the practice management team will support you with this.

Learning and development

The effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake in and complete mandatory training as directed. It is an expectation for this post holder to assess their own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate

The post holder will undertake mentorship for team members and disseminate learning and information gained to other team members to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g., courses and conferences).

The post holder will provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning.

Collaborative working

All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working and understand their own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time. Staff are to prioritise their own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team.

Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments and the post holder is to work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working and work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery.

Effective communication is essential and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.

All staff should delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence.

Plans and outcomes by which to measure success should be agreed.

Managing information

All staff should use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in the planning, implementation and monitoring of care and presenting and communicating information.

Data should be reviewed and processed using accurate SNOMED codes to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.

Service delivery

Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.

The post holder must adhere to the information contained within PCN and local practice policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are always adhered to.

Primary key responsibilities

A PCN Paramedic (AfC7) has the following key responsibilities in relation to delivering health services as outlined in Annex B (section B13) of the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service 2024-25 specification

a. Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) within the PCN

b. Assess and triage patients, including same day triage, and as

appropriate provide definitive treatment (including prescribing

medications following policy, patient group directives, NICE (national)

and local clinical guidelines and local care pathways) or make necessary rreferrals to secondary care services as needed, as well as to other members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) within the Primary Care Network (PCN)."

c. Advise patients on general healthcare and promote self-management where appropriate, including signposting patients to the PCN's social prescribing service and, where appropriate, other community or voluntary services

d. Be able to:

Perform specialist health checks and reviews within their scope of

practice and in line with local and national guidance

Perform and interpret ECGs

Perform investigatory procedures as required and undertake the collection of pathological specimens including intravenous blood samples, swabs and other samples within their scope of practice and within line of local and national guidance

Support the delivery of 'anticipatory care plans' and lead certain services (e.g., monitoring blood pressure and diabetes risk of elderly patients)

Provide an alternative model to urgent and same day GP home visit for the network

Communicate at all levels across organisations ensuring that an effective, person-centered service is delivered

Communicate proactively and effectively with all colleagues across the multi-disciplinary team, attending and contributing to meetings as required

Maintain accurate and contemporaneous health records appropriate to the consultation, ensuring accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient healthcare and registration with the organisation

Communicate effectively with patients and, where appropriate, family members and their carers, where applicable, complex and sensitive information regarding their physical health needs, results, findings and treatment choices

Person specification - PCN Paramedic (AfC7)

Qualifications

When the PCN engages a Paramedic in primary care under the ARRS it must ensure that the Paramedic is:

Educated to degree level in paramedicine or equivalent experience-

desirable

Registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council as a Paramedic -

essential

Working towards developing Level 7 capability in paramedic areas of practice and, within six months of the commencement of reimbursement for that individual (or a longer time period as agreed with the commissioner), has completed and been signed off formally within the clinical pillar competencies of the Advanced Clinical Practice Framework -

essential

Experience

Essential

Completed their two-year 'Consolidation of Learning' period when a newly qualified paramedic

Completed a further three years' experience as a band 6 (or equivalent) paramedic

Attained Level 7 capability in paramedic areas of practice

It should be noted that when a PCN employs or engages a Paramedic to work in primary care under the ARRS scheme:

Should the Paramedic not be able to demonstrate working at Masters level or equivalent capability in paramedic

areas of practice or equivalent (such as advanced assessment diagnosis and treatment), the PCN must ensure that each Paramedic is working as part of a

rotational model in which they have access to regular supervision and support from clinicians signed off at clinical practice Masters level or equivalent.

Desirable

Completed and been signed off formally within the clinical pillar competencies of the Advanced Clinical Practice Framework.

Personal Qualities

Essential

Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person centered support in a non-judgmental way

Courteous, respectful and helpful at all times

Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity

Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities

Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential

Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity

Ability to work on own initiative

Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face

Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals

High levels of integrity and loyalty

Ability to deal with non-routine and unpredictable nature of the workload and individual patient contact

Ability to take part in reflective practice and clinical supervision activities

Knowledge of when to seek advice and refer to a registered care professional

Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues

Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure

Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines

High level of written and oral communication skills

Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety

Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check

Good clinical IT system knowledge

Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own home

Clear polite telephone manner

Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports

Has previously worked in a primary care setting or a PCN

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent

Work Location: In person