Job summary
Childrens Health Service
Our Cheam and South Sutton, Carshalton, Wallington and Central Sutton Specialist Public Health ( 0-19) service (health visiting and school nursing) teams improve outcomes for our children, focusing in particular on improving school readiness, mental health and well-being and our SEND provision.
The service delivers the Healthy Child Programme for children aged 0 - 19 year. We work closely with the iHV and offer the exceptional benefit of annual membership for our staff. Our service prides itself in active partnership working with the iHV; staff members are encouraged to submit articles related to innovation and evidence-based practice where opportunities arise.
In addition to the above, we offer staff comprehensive training and encourage everyone to undertake personal development opportunities whether in leadership, specialist training around speech and language, children with extra needs, perinatal mental health, alongside personal preferences. We pride ourselves in hearing staff voices in improving our service provision to the benefit of our resident population here in offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff allowing you to work flexibly from our main bases, whilst on the move, and at home following the introduction of Google Chromebooks, Apps and technology, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative, streamlined and flexible working.
Main duties of the job
Salary £40,614 - £44,814 (unconsolidated maximum £46,857) We will also consider applications for bank hours, with flexibility to support the service as and when required.
Reporting to the Head of Service, your role as a Health Visitor is to support the reduction of health inequalities for children, young people and their families in Sutton through the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme, aimed at autonomously assessing the health needs of our service users and implementing tailored care packages to support. Assessments are typically conducted through an antenatal contact, new birth visits, 6-8 weeks development contact, 1 year development reviews and 2 year development reviews therefore your experience in these environments will be key to delivering the success needed within the role and the service. You will work collaboratively and in partnership with children centre staff, GPs, Social Services, Family Support workers and School Nursing and a range of other partners to support families here in Sutton.
All newly qualified Health Visitors are offered a 6 months preceptorship period where you will have an allocated senior health visitor to support you. Post preceptorship, you will be further supported to develop your knowledge and skills in health visiting practice, and managing enhanced caseload.
About us
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, were committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. Were constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
1. Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
2. Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
3. Comprehensive learning and development programme
4. Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
5. Interest free season ticket loans
6. Local Government Pension Scheme
7. Car parking scheme
8. Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
9. Zip car scheme
10. Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
11. Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
12. Subsidised gym membership
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will be employed by the London Borough of Sutton (LBS) but will work aspart of the Sutton Health and Care Alliance (SHC). SHC is a partnership of key local healthand care providers including the Council, Epsom and St Heliers NHS Trust, South WestLondon and St Georges MH Trust and the GP Federation. The SHC Alliance was formed sothat local health and care providers could work together to deliver high quality health andsocial care for Sutton residents. The SHC Alliance is already starting to deliver innovativeservices in Sutton that are providing joined-up care. The first of these is Sutton Health andCare at Home which went live on April 18.
The post holder will work with the Head of Service to deliver the strategic vision forchildrens services in the Borough, promoting interagency working between Health and LocalAuthority services to achieve the best outcomes for children in Sutton.
The Health Visiting service is committed to the provision of comprehensive family healthcare, in partnership with family members, promoting health within the family andcommunity to enable each individual to develop responsibility for their own health, thusempowering them to make optimum health choices. Health Visiting practice is underpinnedby a systematic needs-related approach, the NMC Code of Professional Conduct, reflectivebased practice and the four principles of health visiting:
- To search for health needs
- To stimulate awareness of health
- To influence policies affecting health
- To facilitate health-enhancing activities
Key Tasks
- To deliver the Healthy Child Programme to the resident population in Sutton.
- To facilitate early identification of health needs and interventions for children tomaximise their potential
- To ensure all vulnerable children are identified and appropriate support andinterventions provided in a timely way.
Representative accountabilities
- Deliver service activities and manage caseloads to ensure intended outcomes forfamilies and the Council are delivered within agreed service standards.
- Identify and implement improvements in your own work area in order to delivercontinuous service improvement and improved outcomes to families.
- Liaise with families to review service requirements and resolve problems.
- Keep up to date with changes in policy/legislation/contractual requirements in orderto ensure service delivery is effective and complies with appropriate regulations.
Budgetary accountabilities
- To deliver the service within the available budget
Specific accountabilities
- To develop a child centred public health role in line with the local and national PublicHealth Agenda and deliver health promotion activities in a range of settings in linewith the recommendations of the Healthy Child Programme.
- To act as an autonomously accountable practitioner and carry continuingresponsibility for the management of a caseload, as part of a corporate team.
- To work closely and communicate effectively with healthcare services and toparticipate in multidisciplinary working with internal and external agencies andpartners supporting the Childrens Centre and Extended Schools agenda.
- To assess, plan, implement, and evaluate individual care packages for children andtheir families by identifying health problems, managing making appropriate referralsto ensure that children receive timely interventions to maximise their potential.
- To work in partnership with the GP and Immunisation Teams to encourage allchildren to achieve the recommended Department of Health immunisationprogramme as scheduled, or opportunistically.
- To identify, refer and support children with special health and educational needs andto contribute where appropriate to the EHCP process as part of the Education Act1996 and Code of Practice.
- To work within national and local policies for Safeguarding to identify vulnerablechildren and children in need of protection, and to contribute to interagencyplanning for children requiring statutory social services involvement.
- To take responsibility for ensuring that the service key performance indicators aremet by maintaining effective data entry and participating in service initiatives toincrease performance.
- Participate in Clinical Governance and Audit activities to ensure the highest quality ofpractice is maintained.
- To participate in the Early Help offer and support the lead professional as appropriate
- To line manage Community Nursery Nurses as required
- To supervise, support and teach other staff and students providing appropriateleadership and mentorship and to assist in induction programmes for new staff.
- To maintain high standards of professional practice and competence in keeping theNMC Code of Professional Conduct, Scope of Professional Practice and Standards forRecords and Record Keeping.
- To participate in regular Safeguarding Supervision
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
13. Registered Nurse/Midwife
14. Registered Specialist Public Health Practitioner - Health Visitor
15. Community Practitioner Nurse Prescriber (desirable)
16. Mentorship Qualification (desirable)
Experience
Essential
17. Delivery of health promotion activities
18. Working with children and families in a range of settings
19. Experience of working in partnership with other agencies to meet complex needs of children and families
Skills/ Knowledge/ Abilities
Essential
20. Excellent communication skills: IT, written and oral
21. Sound knowledge base in Child Development and factors that affect development
22. Understanding of the Healthy Child Programme
23. Willingness to support management of change, development and working practice
24. High levels of clinical skills, with the ability to identify, respond to and evaluate health needs, including the delivery of public health programmes.
25. Knowledge of current legislation and national guidance
26. Understanding of the safeguarding process and child protection procedures and the ability to make decisions in these areas
27. Ability to set personal objectives, and manage time, priorities and stressful situations
28. Ability to work as part of a team and with other agencies
29. Ability to travel around Sutton