Community Support Worker - Older Adults Community
Band 3
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.
We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
We actively support anti-racism, equality, diversity, and inclusion so, if you’re excited about this job opportunity and you meet our Trust values, but feel unsure about applying, then please get in touch and we will be happy to have a conversation with you.
We are also committed to increasing diversity in the workforce, that is why we actively encourage applications from those groups of people who are currently under‑represented, which include amongst others: people with disabilities; men from all socio‑economic backgrounds; people from diverse ethnic backgrounds; and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Good luck and we hope to hear from you.
Job overview
Working within the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) for older adults in High Wycombe, the post holder will provide compassionate, practical support to people with mental health needs, helping them to live safely, independently and with dignity within the community.
You will support qualified staff to deliver high‑quality, person‑centred care in line with Trust policies, assisting with daily living, promoting independence and helping service users access appropriate health, social care and community resources. You will work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team building positive relationships with service users, carers and partner agencies supporting continuity of care.
This role is ideal for someone who is empathetic, reliable and motivated to make a real difference.
Main duties of the job
Working within the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) for Older Adults in High Wycombe covering a wide area of Buckinghamshire, you will provide practical and emotional support to people experiencing mental health difficulties, helping them to work towards recovery and live safely and independently within the community. This role is suited to someone who is compassionate, patient and able to build trusting relationships.
You will support qualified staff by assisting with care planning and the delivery of person‑centred care. You will spend time with service users, listening to their needs, encouraging independence and supporting daily living activities such as self‑care, budgeting, cooking, shopping and home management.
You will help service users access health services, community resources, and partner agencies, promoting inclusion and reducing isolation. You will communicate effectively with service users, carers, colleagues and external professionals and work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team.
You will monitor wellbeing, respond to changes in mental health, share concerns appropriately, maintain accurate records, uphold confidentiality and work in line with Trust policies alongside a commitment to training, supervision and ongoing development.
Working for our organisation
Oxford Health is a great place to work and to be able to showcase the best of yourself when making an application please read the “candidate guide to making an application” and ensure your supporting statement is tailored to the role you are applying for and addresses any essential criteria.
As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Northeast Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible. Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
* Excellent opportunities for career progression
* Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
* 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
* NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
* Competitive pension scheme
* Lease car scheme
* Cycle to work scheme
* Employee Assistance Programme
* Mental Health First Aiders
* Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists apply)
* Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Provide practical and emotional support to our service users to promote recovery and enable them to live safely within the community.
Spend dedicated time with service users to build rapport, develop therapeutic relationships and support engagement with services and care plans.
Work alongside qualified staff within the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) for older adults to assist with the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of individual care plans.
Support service users to develop and maintain independence, dignity and self‑respect encouraging choice and personal responsibility wherever possible.
Provide practical support with daily living activities including personal care, budgeting, cooking, cleaning, shopping and home management.
Support service users to identify their needs and access appropriate health services, physical health support, welfare benefits, housing services and community resources.
Maintain knowledge of local community services and actively support service users to engage with social, recreational and voluntary sector opportunities.
Work collaboratively with colleagues, carers and partner agencies to promote continuity of care and effective communication across services and organisations.
Monitor service users’ mental health and wellbeing recognising changes or deterioration and taking appropriate action in line with care plans and Trust procedures.
Respond calmly and professionally to challenging situations, prioritising the safety of service users, carers, staff and the public.
Maintain accurate, timely and confidential records in line with Trust policies, the Data Protection Act and information governance requirements.
Ensure confidentiality of service user, carer and staff information at all times.
Participate in mandatory training, supervision, appraisal and ongoing professional development to support safe and effective practice.
Carry out duties across community settings including lone working and visiting service users in their own homes travelling independently between sites as required.
Undertake any additional duties appropriate to the role as requested by senior team members to support service delivery.
We hope that the advert has given you a clear understanding of the skills we are seeking and the opportunity at hand. You will need to use the “supporting statement” element of your application form to demonstrate your suitability for this role and you should refer to the job description, person specification and the guidance notes attached to this role to help you tailor your application.
The essential and desirable criteria will be used to shortlist for interview, and you should ensure that you refer to these within your application to increase your chances of being selected for interview.
We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their application. We kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of their experience and must take care to ensure the use of AI tools does not generate an application that does not accurately reflect their knowledge, skills and values.
Person specification
Experience with older adults
* Previous experience working with older adults.
* Prior experience working with older adult with mental health needs
Qualifications
* Able to use Word, Excel and Microsoft teams.
* NVQ level 3 or equivalent
Contractual requirments
* Able to travel independently between trust sites and peoples homes
* Committed to continuous development
* All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
* Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
* We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.
* Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
* We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.
* We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.
* We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
* Oxford is a world‑renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing
Employer certification / accreditation badges
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Name Natalie Lupton Job title Deputy team manager Email address natalie.lupton@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk Telephone number 07500434469
Additional information
Please contact me if you would like to discuss the role further. I am available Monday - Thursday 8 - 5pm.
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