Are you looking for a workplace where you're welcomed eachday by supportive & friendly colleagues?
Where you're part of a dedicated team?
Where your work contributes to delivering the highestquality care, and every day ends with the knowledge that you've made ameaningful difference to a child or young person?
If your answer is yes, then Bluebell Wood Children's Hospicemight just be the perfect place for you.
Join our Family Support Team as a Play Specialist and bringmore than just your skills, bring your purpose.
Were looking for someone who's driven by a genuine desireto make a difference. You take ownership of your work, act with integrity, andshow up as your authentic self. You value individuality, your own and othersand thrive in a team that celebrates diversity, creativity, and compassion.
The role
To work as part of our Family Support Team to plan, develop and lead a wide range of therapeutic play opportunities for babies, children and young people with complex, life shortening illnesses to support developmental, therapeutic and palliative care needs in a range of environments.
Main duties of the job
The requirements:
To fulfil the role effectively you will be a creativeindividual who fosters an inclusive approach in all that you do to meet theneeds of babies, children and young people. You will have experience of workingwith children and young people who have complex needs, offering bespoke supportas an integral part of the service offer.
About you:
Tosucceed in this role, we are looking for someone who will embody our values,work confidently with key attention to detail, engage with everyone in ourhospice, and has an absolute willingness to learn.
Inreturn, we can offer you a fantastic working environment and the followingbenefits:
25days annual leave plus bank holidays with the option to buy and sell
Employeeassistance programme - including mental health care and out of hours GPaccess
Acommitment to your professional development
Matchedpension scheme of 5% of salary
BluebellWood enhanced maternity and paternity pay (unrelated to NHS conditions)
Enhancednight shift pay.
Subsidisedlunch
Freetea and coffee
Eligiblefor NHS Blue Light Card
Ifyou are passionate about making a difference, we cannot wait to hear fromyou.
About us
About us:
Ourvision at Bluebell Wood is for every baby, child and young person with a lifelimiting condition to access specialist palliative care, where and when theyneed it. You will join our fantasticteam where we all play our part in achieving our vision and creating anincredible culture for everyone.
Our services
Our uncompromisable support services are wide-ranging andbespoke to each family. We providesymptom management, end-of-life care, post-death care, short breaks,counselling, sibling support groups, music therapy, home visits and more.
We supportfamilies across a large geographical area, including South Yorkshire, NorthNottinghamshire, North Derbyshire and parts of North Lincolnshire. The hospiceis easily accessible from Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster, Sheffield and NorthNotts. We have free secure on-site parking for families, staff and volunteersto use.
Every yearwe need to raise £6.7m to keep our doors open and only around 17% of our incomecomes from government sources, the rest must be raised through fundraisingactivity.
Job responsibilities
TITLE OF POST: Play Specialist
ACCOUNTABLETO: Head of Family Support
About us
Our Vision
For every baby,child and young person with a life limiting condition to access specialist
palliative care,where and when they need it.
Our Mission
Whether in thehospice, at home or in partnership with another provider in a differentsetting, babies, children and young people will experience the samehigh-quality palliative and end of life care, and beyond, alongside specialistfamily support.
Our Values
We have worked together to create a new set ofvalues which represent our aims as an organisationand these align perfectly with our overallstrategy, ensuring that every decision we make and every action we takeis guided by these principles.
JOB PURPOSE
To plan, developand lead a wide range of therapeutic play opportunities for babies, childrenand young people with complex, life shortening illnesses to supportdevelopmental, therapeutic and palliative care needs in a range ofenvironments.
MAIN DUTIES &RESPONSIBILITIES
Work independently and alongside colleagues tovisit children and young people in their home, school or hospital to providebespoke age-appropriate therapeutic play services.
Manage a caseload of children and young people identifiedas needing temporary targeted intervention.
Ensure the hospice is well resourced with a widerange of stimulating and therapeutic activities pertaining to play.
Plan, develop and facilitate group workopportunities, designed to promote the benefits of therapeutic play forchildren and families.
Evaluate the effectiveness of service provision byproviding regular opportunities for feedback.
Support in identifying gaps in the service and makerecommendations regarding service delivery and development.
Keep clear and accurate records to document visits,bookings and all communication with individuals and family members.
Support and educate colleagues in the delivery of therapeutic play as part of a holistic approachto pain management, distraction techniques and general wellbeing.
Maintain links with other agencies,hospices, and non-statutory services to share good practise on serviceprovision and support where necessary.
KEY TASKS:
Work with babies, children and young people,during in house stays, providing bespoke opportunities for play suitable totheir needs and preferences.
Develop one-page profiles for children and youngpeople to capture key information about their needs and preferences.
Create and maintain dedicated space within thehospice to promote play, stimulation and fun.
Complete robust riskassessments for all therapeutic play provision; both group and individual, toensure full health and safety compliance.
SKILLS REQUIRED:
Demonstrable knowledge and experience ofsafeguarding children and vulnerable young adults.
Theoretical knowledge of child development, witha clear understanding and ability to apply play preparation, distractiontherapy and post procedural play skills.
Sensitiveand empathetic of the complex needs of others.
Inclusive and adaptable in approaches to workingwith individuals and groups with varying needs and abilities.
Creative, fun and engaging.
COMMUNICATION:
Utiliseskills to effectively communicate with children and young people with a rangeof communication preferences to promote and maintain inclusivity.
Establishand maintain effective communication with families, including using verbal,email and telephone communication.
Establishand maintain effective communication with relevant individuals and groups tosupport children, young people and family members; including key members of thehospice; volunteers; service users; statutory and voluntary organisations.
Understandthe importance of, and maintain, the need for confidentiality in all individualand hospice matters.
GENERAL:
All Bluebell Wood employees are required to:
Abide by the Health & Safety at Work Act
Adhere to policy and procedures around safeguardingchildren and young adults
Respect confidentiality applying to all Hospiceareas
Work within Hospice policies and procedures
Demonstratable understanding and application of theprovisions of GDPR
Comply with the Hospice no smoking policy
Participate in and contribute to team meetings
Co-operate and liaise with colleagues
Behave in a professional manner at all times
Act as an ambassador for BluebellWood Childrens Hospice, reflecting the objectives and values, and to alwayswork in the best interests of the charity.
All Bluebell Wood employees are expected to:
Demonstratea commitment to their own development, to take advantage of education andtraining opportunities and develop their own competence
Supportand encourage harmonious internal and external working relationships
Make apositive contribution to fundraising and raising the profile of the Hospice
This job description is not exhaustive.It will be subject to periodic review and may be amended followingdiscussion between the post-holder and employer.
Person Specification
Experience
* Significant and relevant experience of working with children, young people (aged 0-25 years old) and families receiving palliative care and/or with complex health needs and/or disabilities
* Demonstrable knowledge and experience of therapeutic play and child development
* Experience of working with wider multi-disciplinary teams/others
* Demonstrable experience of designing and facilitating group work.
* Demonstrable experience of working with children and young people with various communication needs and preferences.
* Demonstrable experience of planning and delivering services to children and young people across a wide age and capability range.
* Experience of supporting in the recruitment, training and supervision of volunteers.
Skills / Knowledge
* Demonstrable knowledge and experience of safeguarding children and vulnerable young adults.
* Demonstrable knowledge of current best practice in play for children with complex needs, including an understanding of the rights of children to have choice and equity of access to therapeutic play opportunities.
* Theoretical knowledge of child development, with a clear understanding and ability to apply play preparation, distraction therapy and post procedural play skills.
* The ability to assess individuals emotional and behavioural needs and provide appropriate support.
* Excellent communication skills and a strong ability to manage the expectations of others
* Demonstrable ability to manage priorities and time effectively.
* Demonstrable knowledge of and ability to use Microsoft Office suite including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (to basic level) and database systems
Other
* Legally entitled to work in this country
* Able to work across different settings as required.
* Ability to work flexibly over a 7-day week including regular weekends, occasional evenings and bank holidays, at the hospice and in the community.
* Full driving licence with access to a reliable vehicle and business insurance cover
Qualifications
* BTEC in specialised play for sick child or the previous
* HPSC/HPSEB or international equivalent
* Level 2 or above in BSL or Makaton
* Confident and approachable in nature
* Sensitive and empathetic of the complex needs of others
* Inclusive and adaptable in approaches to working with individuals and groups with varying needs and abilities
* Trustworthy, reliable and able to maintain confidentiality
* Creative, fun and engaging
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.
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