Job Title: Family Support Worker (12 months FTC) Salary: £30,944 - £31,004 per annum
Team: Family Support Team
About Shooting Star Children’s Hospices
We have an exciting opportunity for a family support to join our Family Support Team at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.
Shooting Star Children’s Hospices provides specialist care and support to families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, or whose child has died. Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we support families across Surrey, north-west London and south-west London from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.
Family Support Workers (FSW) are the frontline of our psychosocial care. They get to know their families, and check-in regularly with phone calls and home visits and can provide enhanced emotional support where required through more regular contact and interventions. Our FSWs inform families about the different psychosocial care and many services they can access at Shooting Star, assess their needs and make recommendations to our specialist psychosocial MDT. They work hard to support families of different ethnicities and families living in poverty, so that our service is as equitable as possible.
Our FSWs work closely with our Therapists, Counsellors, Social Workers, Transition Team and our Care Events Team. Weekly specialist psychosocial MDT meetings bring the team together to think of ways to help families in crisis. The work is varied and creative, taking place at the hospices, in family homes and hospitals, allowing the support to be where the families need it. Our Family Support Workers are hugely appreciated by the families we support.
The ambition of our strategy is to ensure every family affected by a life-limiting condition, or the sudden death of a child, has access to the specialist care that they need.
Being part of the duty rota over both sites monitoring 3 email inboxes and answering the Family Support Line.
Supporting the events team with admin tasks and attending various events
Providing on the spot emotional support, sometimes in a crisis where a calm and empathic response is required.
Support the in-house team with families staying at Christopher’s for assessed nights and end of life care.
Attend various sites over the course of a week, hospice, hospital, family homes. Planning your own diary effectively.
Building connections with families from different backgrounds, delivering culturally competent care.
Acting as an ambassador for Shooting Star’s Specialist Bereavement Service, supporting other care team members with their learning and delivery of the bereavement pathway, and continually seeking ways to improve quality.
This role requires experience of working with children and families who have experienced hardship, presenting with complex needs. Please see the attached job description for more information about this opportunity at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.
In return you will receive a competitive salary along with a range of benefits, which include:
Pension scheme
~ NHS Pension Scheme (for eligible employees) or our stakeholder pension scheme, with up to 7% employer contributions
Annual leave
27 days plus Bank Holidays rising with length of service
2 weeks paid sabbatical leave after 5, 10 and 15 years’ service
Generous sick pay scheme
Enhanced maternity, adoption, and paternity leave pay
Flexible working arrangements
Death in service benefits
Reimbursed professional membership fees
Eye care
Employee referral scheme
Blue Light discount card
Health and wellbeing
Employee Assistance Programme
Occupational Health
Cycle to work scheme
Mental Health First Aiders
Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all our staff to share this commitment. Also, we are committed to equal opportunities and consider all applicants to be in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Employment is subject to receipt of satisfactory references and an ehanced DBS check.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Shooting Star Children’s Hospice is committed to inclusion and diversity in everything we do. Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence.
Our vision is for Shooting Star Children’s Hospice to be a place where people of all backgrounds, groups and communities feel welcomed to work and volunteer.
To apply, please complete our online application and send a statement outlining how your skills and experience meet the criteria set out in the person specification.