The Renal Counsellor provides psychosocial support and counselling to patients with kidney disease, including those undergoing dialysis or preparing for renal transplantation.
This role involves helping patients cope with the emotional, psychological, lifestyle, and practical challenges associated with all stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the various treatments.
Additionally, you will be expected to perform psychosocial assessments, identify barriers to treatment, and work with a multidisciplinary team to develop personalized care plans. The renal counsellor also coordinates referrals to external resources and support groups, ensuring that patients have access to the necessary services and tools for managing their condition and maintaining their quality of life.
Responsibilities
* Patient Counselling and Support
* Support patients through all stages of kidney disease, dialysis initiation, transplant preparation, and conservative management and promote informed decision-making and encourage patient involvement in their care plans.
* Help patients cope with depression, anxiety, grief, body image issues, and lifestyle changes related to CKD.
* Conduct comprehensive psychosocial assessments for pre-transplant evaluations.
* Identify barriers to treatment adherence, such as financial issues, transportation, or mental health conditions, and collaborate on solutions.
* Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including nephrologists, nurses, dietitians, social prescriber and other healthcare professionals.
* Maintain accurate and confidential records of counselling sessions, assessments, and care plans.
We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.
We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.
We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.
Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.
We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.
If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.
Find out about living and working here -www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.
This advert closes on Monday 2 Feb 2026
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