Family SupportWorkers (FSW) are the frontline of our care. Each FSW holds a caseload ofend-of-life and bereaved families. They get to know their families, andcheck-in regularly with phone calls and home visits and can provide enhancedemotional support where required through more regular contact andinterventions. Our FSWs tell families about the many services they can accessat Shooting Star, assess their needs and make recommendations to our multi-disciplinaryteam. They support families of differentethnicities and families living in poverty, helping our service be asaccessible as possible.
Our FSWs work closely with our Therapists,Counsellors, Social Workers, Transition Team and our Care Events Team. WeeklyMDT meetings bring the team together to think of ways to help families incrisis. The work is varied and creative, taking place at the hospices, infamily homes and hospitals, allowing the support to be where the families needit. Our Family Support Workers are hugely appreciated by the families wesupport.
Main duties of the job
Theambition of our strategy is to ensureevery family affected by a life-limiting condition, or the sudden death of achild, has access to the specialist care that they need. Day to day duties are:
Being theon-site duty FSW, welcoming families on site, monitoring email inboxes andanswering the Family Support Line.
Helpingwith support groups and family events
Providingon the spot emotional support, sometimes in a crisis where a calm and supportiveresponse is required.
Visiting newly bereaved families in theirhomes.
Supportingfamilies staying at our Christophers hospice (booked stays and end of life).
Attendingvarious locations over the course of a week: hospice, hospital, family homes.
Buildingconnections with families from different backgrounds, delivering culturally sensitivecare.
Helpingsafeguard families at risk of harm.
Actingas an ambassador for Shooting Stars Specialist Bereavement Service, supportingother care team members with their learning and delivery of the bereavementpathway, and continually seeking ways to improve what we offer families.
The post holder will need to havea UK driving license.
The hours are predominantlyworked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Twice a month, the FSW will worka weekend day (with advance notice). This is in place of a Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that week.
About us
Shooting Star Childrens Hospices provides specialist care and supportto families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limitingcondition, or who have been bereaved. Rated Outstanding by the Care QualityCommission, we support families across Surrey, north-west London and south-westLondon from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range ofnursing, practical, emotional and medical care.
Our specialist care and support is free of charge to families andavailable 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It includes specialist nursing inthe community, symptom management and pain relief, overnight respite stays,end-of-life care, specialist bereavement care and a comprehensive range oftherapies, groups and clinics for the whole family.
At the heart of what we do are our dedicated staff; their exceptionalcommitment and professionalism means every family has the opportunity to makeevery moment count.
It costs £13 million a year to run Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.Just 30% of our funding comes from the government, so we rely on oursupporters generosity to keep the service running. We employ 175 members ofstaff, including 98 nursing and medical staff, and support around 700 families.
Job responsibilities
Job Title:Family Support Worker
Team/Directorate:Family Support Team
Reportsto:Lead for Counsellingand Family Support
Directreports:N/A
Hours:37.5 hours per week
Location:Base: Christophers(Guildford)Working across sitesand in the community
Jobholder:Vacant
Introduction to Shooting StarChildrens Hospices
Shooting Star Childrens Hospices
Shooting Star Childrens Hospices provides specialist care and supportto families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limitingcondition, or who have been bereaved. Rated Outstanding by the Care QualityCommission, we support families across Surrey, north-west London and south-westLondon from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range ofnursing, practical, emotional and medical care.
Our specialist care and support is free of charge to families andavailable 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It includes specialist nursing inthe community, symptom management and pain relief, overnight respite stays,end-of-life care, specialist bereavement care and a comprehensive range oftherapies, groups and clinics for the whole family.
At the heart of what we do are our dedicated staff; their exceptionalcommitment and professionalism means every family has the opportunity to makeevery moment count.
It costs £13 million a year to run Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.Just 30% of our funding comes from the government, so we rely on oursupporters generosity to keep the service running. We employ 175 members ofstaff, including 98 nursing and medical staff, and support around 700 families.
Shooting Star Childrens Hospices (SSCH) area leading childrens hospice charity caring for babies, children and youngpeople with life-limiting conditions, and their families.We supportfamilies across Surrey, Northwest and Southwest London from diagnosis toend of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical,emotional and medical care.
At the heart of the hospice are our dedicatedclinical staff. Their exceptional commitment and professionalism is commentedon by so many of the supported children and their families. Wehave a reputation for delivering high quality care.
SSCH provide care to children andyoung people with life-limiting conditions, and family members known to thehospice. Depending on their need, hospice families access respite care,community nursing interventions and specialist palliative care. All familiescan access SSCHs core psychosocial care from point of referral/diagnosis, atend of life and bereavement care provided to the family for 3 years and 3months after the death of their child. This encompasses a holistic and flexibleoffer of family support, a pathway of care through bereavement and asubstantial program of therapeutic support groups and events provided at bothhospices, in order that families can benefit from building a network of supportwith others who have lived experience.
Family SupportWorkers (FSW) are the frontline of our psychosocial care. Each FSW holds acaseload of end-of-life and bereaved families. They get to know their families,and check-in regularly with phone calls and home visits and can provideenhanced emotional support where required through more regular contact andinterventions. Our FSWs inform families about the different psychosocial careand many services they can access at Shooting Star, assess their needs and makerecommendations to our specialist psychosocial MDT. They work hard to supportfamilies of different ethnicities and families living in poverty, so that ourservice is as inclusive as possible.
Our dedicated team ofFSWs work closely with our Therapists, Counsellors, Social Workers, TransitionTeam, our Support Groups & Events Team and our nursing teams. Weeklyspecialist psychosocial MDT meetings bring the team together to think of waysto help families in crisis. The work is varied and creative, taking place atthe hospices, in family homes and hospitals, allowing the support to be wherethe families need it. Our Family Support Workers are hugely appreciated by thefamilies we support.
Main duties and key responsibilities
Family Support Worker duties and keyresponsibilities:
To help children,young people and families receive holistic care that considers all aspects ofhealth and wellbeing, from the point of referral through the three years andthree months after a child dies.
To buildconnections with families from different backgrounds, delivering culturallycompetent care.
To be a firstresponder at the time of a childs death, providing emotional and practicalsupport.
To be theallocated worker for end-of-life and bereaved families
To conductpre-bereavement risk assessments that identify risk and important pre-emptivework and action appropriate care plans in bereavement.
To carry outmemory-making with skill and respect, with use of correct materials andpersonalisation within the design where possible.
To visit familyhomes to carry out initial assessments for those referred to the specialistbereavement service (and those for whom an enhanced pathway is required). Togather relevant details about a family, and support the completion ofassessment tools screening for psychological distress and safeguardingconcerns.
To present casesat the Specialist Psychosocial Multi-Disciplinary Team (SPMDT) welcoming andresponding to issues identified by the wider team.
To deliver corecare outlined in the bereavement pathway, ensuring touchpoints enable are-assessment of needs and communication of the service offer.
To design,propose and deliver bespoke bereavement plans for families requiring a higherlevel of care, suggesting frequency of contact and support measures. To seeklonger-term solutions to benefit the family. To personalize care thoughtfully,in order that families of all backgrounds are able to engage with support thatis helpful to them. To take time to transition families from our bereavementservice to appropriate support in their locality, personalized to their needs.
To assess, propose and deliver FSWinterventions such as Emotional Support Plans and Targeted Interventions,
To discuss allwork with children, young people and families openly in SPMDT, clinicalsupervision and with appropriate professionals, enabling reflective practiceand development of knowledge, understanding and skills.
To bring work to the SPMDTon completion for review.
To act as anadvocate for families, making sure their views and needs are heard.
Teamwork
Toparticipate in the duty roster as either first or second duty. Responsibilitiesinclude answering queries from families seeking support in person or via theFamily Support Line and email, acting as referral response for post-deathreferrals and daily check-ins of families resident at Christophers or thoseutilising facilities.
To be partof the events teams for a variety of groups and events for supported andbereaved children and their families.
To supportcommunication with families concerning event attendance, to strive to increaseengagement and access. To ensure all services are inclusive and accessible tofamilies.
To striveto engage with statutory partners through proactive communication, jointcaseload reviews, attending and participate in internal and external meetings,and contributing to external professional multi-disciplinary discussions.
To formeffective inter-agency collaboration with schools, social care, GPs, hospitaltrusts and other agencies.
To ensurethat the wider team is informed of any relevant changes in the family, child oryoung persons needs or circumstances.
To act asan ambassador for Shooting Stars Specialist Bereavement Service, supportingother Named Team Members with their learning and delivery of the bereavementpathway, and continually seeking ways to improve quality.
Toattend inter-agency meetings such as Child Death Review meetings and Child inNeed meetings.
Learning and safeguarding compliance
To complete competencyskills development as required for the role.
To engagein learning and development of knowledge and understanding to enhance SSCHdelivery of psychosocial care.
To be aresponsible and independent learner, taking responsibility for identifyinglearning opportunities.
To shareskills, knowledge and learning with members of the direct and wider team.
Tosafeguard children, young people and adults, adhering to Safeguarding policiesand the mental health escalation pathway.
To ensureaccurate and contemporaneous notes and records of all contacts are recordedwithin the electronic notes system.
a) Other duties
The hours are predominantly worked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Twice a month, the FSW will worka weekend day (with advance notice). This is in place of a Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that week.
The post holder must hold a driving license and be able andwilling to work from Shooting Star House (Hampton) and Christophers(Guildford), and to be able to travel when required throughout the ShootingStar catchment.
The post holder will be required to apply fora Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.
Thepost holder will be working in a developing environment, and he/she willtherefore be expected to undertake other appropriate duties as required for theeffective operation of Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.
Person Specification
* Emotionally intelligent and resilient
* Relatability and likeability that would enable children, young people, and parents to welcome support from Shooting Stars Specialist Bereavement Service.
* A caring and reassuring approach that would help a family feel safe in the face of trauma/death.
* A passion for ongoing learning and development.
* Ability to organise self, methodical and able to multi-task
* Good literacy skills. Proficient in the use Microsoft 365 suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams).
* Car owner/driver with full UK drivers licence
Qualifications
* Driving license (and car owner)
* NVQ Level 2 in Health and Social Care
Experience
* 2 years of experience working with individuals experiencing hardship, trauma, mental health difficulties or social vulnerabilities.
* Experience of managing a caseload and working alongside other professionals to find best outcomes.
* Confidence to be a hospice first-responder, for example to be sent to a family in hospital of a child who is imminently dying or has just died.
* Awareness of issues of equality and diversity, with an ability to personalise care and enhance accessibility, removing barriers that may prevent engagement.
* Understanding of boundaries around the role in relation to children, young people and families.
* Ability to anticipate risk and think creatively about support measures that will enable the best outcomes for families.
* Knowledge of Safeguarding procedures and experience in raising concern appropriately.
* Ability to speak a language additional to English, for example Punjabi or Gujarati.
* Professional experience working with bereaved families in a statutory or voluntary setting.
* Previous paid or voluntary work supporting families who experience the expected or unexpected death of a baby, child or young person.
* Experience of designing and facilitating support groups and events.
* Experience of volunteering or working within hospice care.
* Experience of working with individuals who experience suicidality.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Depending on experience31,691per annum including GA
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