Salary:£31,815 £37,816per annum, depending on experience and inclusive of5%High-CostArea Allowance
Hours:Full time, 37.5 hours per week. To ensure we can support as many patients and families as possible this role requires at least one day a week working from 11am to 7pm or 12pm to 8pm.
Overview of role
St Clare Hospice is a charity that provides specialist palliative care to patients and families in West Essex and the East Hertfordshire borders.
We are looking for a Family Support Worker to work within the multi-disciplinary patient and family support service. The PFSS is expanding its offer of services in response to community needs and this is a very exciting time to be joining the Team.
The main duties of this role will be to provide emotional and bereavement support to patients, their families, including children and young people and carers within the hospice and within the community. The post holder will liaise with IPU & Community staff to provide timely support to patients and families known to the Hospice.
We are happy to consider applications from healthcare professionals who may not have worked in a Family support worker role but do have transferrable skills from working within a care or healthcare setting.
Main duties of the job
To work closely with members of the Patient and Family Support Service, including socialworkers, counsellors and chaplain to:
provide psychosocial and practical support as necessary to patients, family members,including children and young people and carers under hospice care
provide bereavement support to the families, children, young people and carers whodied under hospice care as well as those in the wider community of the hospicecatchment
work as part of the multidisciplinary teams in the in-patient unit, therapies andcommunity team
About us
St Clare Hospice is a charity providing specialist palliative care to improve the lives ofpeople affected by a life-limiting illness in West Essex and the borders of EastHertfordshire. Our care helps patients, their families, and carers, to make the most ofevery moment together, no matter how long they have left to live. We support them both athome and in the Hospice.We are looking for a Family Support Worker who has experience of working with bothAdults and their families, including children and young people to provide support in our InPatient Unit and the wider community. The postholder will have experience of working withbereaved children and families.
Job responsibilities
To work directly with palliative patients and their families and carers in both the inpatient unit and in the community
Work closely with the PFS team and other members of the multi-professional teams inthe hospice to maximise patient/client care
To offer possible solutions for patients and carers who have social, financial oremotional problems
To advocate for patients and support or signpost them with issues related to theircare and support, benefits, housing or other matters depending on theircircumstances
Provide emotional support to patients and carers facing end of life andbereavement
Support patients and carers with housing issues including assisting withcompletion of forms, chasing up housing applications and writing supportingletters
Assist patients and carers to access appropriate sources of charitable help andapply for grants on their behalf
With the advice of the team, provide support and advice to patients with children
Support bereaved families by advising on practical arrangements such asarranging a funeral and other tasks following death
Support bereaved children by ensuring we meet the criteria of the Children in Needfunding. To support and help to develop childrens cafes and youth groups andfamily days.
To recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns, with the support of thesafeguard supporters. Follow hospice policies and procedures, referring tostatutory services where necessary
Contribute, as appropriate to the delivery of safeguard and other training, with thesupport of the team when confident to do so
To assist in the daily triage and screening of all patients referred into the PFSSensuring the safety and appropriate response time of all referrals
Attend the morning First Contact Triage meeting and MDTs as part of a rota andattend the daily IPU handovers
To make and sustain links with external agencies and sources of social supportrelevant to the provision of specialist palliative care at St Clare Hospice
To work closely with community engagement team members and volunteers toprovide social supportive interventions, establish community links and develop theservice
To manage own boundaries and raise any concerns around this
To participate in meetings, working groups and committees as necessary withinthe serviceTo maintain concisely and accurately client / patient records on both IT systemsand paper files
To be aware of national guidance and standards relating to palliative care, socialwork support and bereavement
To be aware of national, regional and local healthcare issues and targets andplans that are relevant to palliative care social work support and bereavementcareOrganisation
Produce and maintain appropriate information resources for patients, carers andtheir families and for staff and volunteers of the hospice
Participate in team meetings and supervision as appropriate and as requested bySocial Work Lead and Team Manager
Manage own workload, prioritising wok and dealing with conflicting demands in aflexible and professional mannerCommunication
To communicate frequently and accurately within the service and to other serviceproviders, verbally, by telephone, by letter and by email
To refer on to other healthcare providers and agencies, such as GPs
To liaise with other healthcare professionals and agencies
To be skilled in advanced communication with patients in emotionally chargedsituations using tact and empathy to communicate difficult and challenginginformation
To be responsible for and proactively initiate effective communication with othermembers of the team and staff in the wider hospiceProfessional
Identify own learning and development needs in order to meet the keyrequirements of the post
Take responsibility for linking own development needs with the hospice appraisaland objective setting process
Take responsibility for own continuing development by undertaking specific areasof work/projects to develop new skills
Person Specification
Experience
* To have previous experience of working in a hospice or other
* health and social care setting (paid or voluntary)
* To have experience of working in multi-disciplinary team
* working or the ability to adapt to multidisciplinary team working
* To have experience of working with carers and/or families of
* patients individually or collectively
* To have experience of working with people in practical and
* emotional difficulty
Qualifications
* Good level of education with minimum GCSE, A levels or
* equivalent
* To have a Health and Social Care qualification
Personal Qualities and Attributes
* Commitment to equality and valuing diversity and
* understanding of how this applies to own area of work
* Commitment to the aims and charitable objectives of St Clare
* Hospice
* Committed to own continuing professional learning and
* development
* Empathy and being a good team player
* Organisational skills
* Ability to work within a team and foster good working
* relationships
* Ability to use supervision and personal development positively
* and effectively
* Ability to work under pressure
* Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy
* and confidentiality
* Ability to be self reflective, flexible, autonomous and fostering
* integrity and self care in practice, professional development
* and in supervision.
* Experience of working within diverse communities in a
* multicultural society.
* Ability and willingness to travel to locations required by the
* organisation.
* Ability to assess ones own personal strengths and
* weaknesses.
* Showing appropriate esteem for people, and oneself and their
* own understanding of themselves.
* Ability to be mindful and practice good self-care techniques
* working around bereavement and death.
Other requirements
* Current Full UK driving licence and access to vehicle to use for
* work purposes.
Knowledge
* To have awareness of relevant legislation underpinning health
* and social care provision
* To have an understanding of the need to safeguard vulnerable
* individuals
* To have an understanding of hospice and palliative care
* philosophy
* To have an understanding of the needs of people experiencing
* life limiting illnesses, loss, grief and bereavement
Skills and Abilities
* To demonstrate an excellent standard of communication and
* listening skills, in respect of both clients and colleagues
* To be able to work on own initiate, without supervision and as
* part of a team
* To have a good standard of literacy and numeracy skills
* To have the ability to recognise own limitation and when to
* access advice and supervision
* To be able to pay attention to details
* To have an understanding of confidentiality and accurate
* To have excellent time management skills with the ability to
* prioritise workload within a busy working environment
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.
Manager, Patient & Family Support Services
Depending on experience£31,815 – £37,816 pa, inclusive of 5% HCA Allowance
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