Post: Counsellor/Social Worker – dual qualified
Department: Psychosocial Services, Mountbatten Isle of Wight
Line Manager: Director of Psychosocial & Spiritual Care
Reports to: Director of Psychosocial & Spiritual Care
Hours: 30 hours per week to be worked flexibility in accordance with the needs of the service
Salary: Up to £29, actual) per annum pro rata (£36,817.35 full time equivalent - £18.83 per hour)
Overview of Role:
· To hold a clinical caseload in palliative care and bereavement; including working with children, young people and adults.
· To maintain expert and up to date knowledge and skills in the field of palliative and bereavement care to inform the service developments in line with professional best practice and research.
· To co-ordinate an efficient and effective bereavement service dedicated to the provisions of high-quality support to bereaved families and carers.
· Develop and oversee the administrative process and procedures enabling timely management of all referrals, assessments and allocations.
· Provide supervision to team members and students
· Participate and contribute to the quality of, and audit programmes for, the Psychosocial team.
KEY TASKS
· Conduct comprehensive holistic assessments of the patient and their families and ensure their needs are met appropriately
· To hold and effectively manage a clinical caseload to demonstrate best practice in line with professional guidelines and research.
· Ensure that patient records on SystmOne of are maintained to a high standard.
· Ensure that a range of emotional and social support strategies are available to meet the needs of individuals and their families including information, 1-1 support and counselling, group work and family work.
· Ensure that up to date, relevant information is provided to facilitate access to appropriate psychosocial support.
· As a member of multi-professional and psychosocial teams, attend MDT's and other meetings to ensure that the needs of family members and carers are considered.
· Act as an advocate for patients and where conflict arises with family members sign post families to external advocacy agencies.
· To be familiar with and work within Mountbatten's Safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure patient safety.
· Provide support and guidance to staff to promote understanding of families/carers/individuals coping with psychological and social impact of living with a palliative diagnosis, as well as, pre-bereavement and bereavement.
· Participate in regular professional supervision for yourself and provide supervision to team members.
· To effectively manage the referrals and assessment processes in a timely manner.
· Conduct assessments of individuals for suitability of other services provided including; befriending/visiting service or groups, or referral on to another appropriate service, e.g. psychiatry or social service.
· Research, develop, implement groups for bereaved people to meet identified need including social support and for therapeutic purposes.
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
· To maintain knowledge of current best practice and research in palliative care psychology and bereavement care and evaluate how this can be effectively implemented at Mountbatten.
· Constructively contribute to current thinking and service evaluation on best practice in bereavement care at Mountbatten.
· Collaborate with external researchers and develop research activities in consultation with the Director of Psychosocial Care and the Head of Education and Research.
· Disseminate knowledge of best practice and research within the psychosocial service and more widely by participating in and providing consultancy, education and training.
· To monitor and gain regular feedback from service users to ensure the service develops to meet patient's needs.
· Ensure high quality psychosocial and bereavement care is offered in line with the national care service standards, benchmarking with other services, identifying gaps in service provision and developing strategies to develop the service.
· Develop and maintain an understanding of Mountbatten and local psychosocial care provision, assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to inform service developments.
· Develop and maintain a critical analysis of the national picture of psychosocial care and the different models of service provision.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES
· Provide education and training in relation to grief, bereavement and psychosocial issues in palliative care.
· To engage with agreed external requests for training.
· To maintain personal knowledge and skills in supervision and psychosocial support and interventions. Identify areas that may need personal development and suggest a training plan to address need.
RESEARCH, AUDIT AND SERVICE EVALUATION RESPONSIBILITIES
Volunteers
· Ensure sufficient volunteers are recruited to sustain the work of the bereavement service alongside the Volunteer Service and participate in the training of volunteers.
Governance
· Participate in governance activities including audits.
· At all times, to respect the confidentiality of all data and information held by Mountbatten including electronically stored information and written data, whether this relates to patients, families or professionals. Ensure that the bereavement service keeps records in accordance with policy and best practice in data protection.
Personal Development:
· Adhere at all times to professional body code of practice.
· Take responsibility for own professional development, including keeping up to date with relevant professional and developments in the care of the bereaved at local and national levels.
· Identify own learning and development needs in order to meet the key requirements of the post.
· Take responsibility for linking own professional development needs to Mountbatten's appraisal and objective setting process.
· Engage in own supervision to support personal and professional development.
GENERAL
All Employees Are:
· Required to abide by Health and Safety policies and requirements
· Required to attend mandatory and refresher training annually or as required
· Required to adhere to Mountbatten's Safeguarding Policies and Procedures
· Required to respect confidentiality applying to all Mountbatten matters
· Required to work within all of Mountbatten policies and procedures
· Required to participate in and contribute to team meetings
· Required to cooperate and liaise with departmental colleagues
· Required to adhere to the Data Protection Legislation and General Data Protection Regulations in all aspects
· Required to provide a new DBS Certificate every three years in line with the Disclosure and Barring Policy and Procedure
· Expected to promote, at all times, Mountbatten's philosophy and uphold the Mountbatten core values
· Expected to demonstrate at all times a commitment towards equality and diversity
· Expected to demonstrate a commitment to their own development, to take advantage of education and training opportunities and develop their own competence
· Expected to support and encourage harmonious internal and external working relationships
· Expected to make a positive contribution to fundraising and raising the profile of Mountbatten
OUR VALUES
We care about what we do. We appreciate that people are different and we are kind and compassionate to our patients and families, to our local community and to each other
We are experts in our field. We are professional at all times, aspiring to be the best that we can be in everything that we do
We are innovative and bold. We respond quickly and creatively to the changing needs of our society within the scope of our human and financial resources
We respect our community. We exist for our local population, now and into the future, and we believe that we can achieve more together by working in partnership with others
Job Types: Part-time, Permanent
Pay: Up to £29,453.00 per year
Expected hours: 30 per week
Benefits:
* Company events
* Company pension
* Cycle to work scheme
* Employee discount
* Free or subsidised travel
* Free parking
* Health & wellbeing programme
* On-site parking
* Sick pay
Work authorisation:
* United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
Reference ID: VC329