Palliative Care Social Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Happy to talk about Flexible Working

Job Title:

Palliative Care Social Worker

Department:

Social Hub

Hospice Band:

Hospice Clinical Band 6

Reports to:

Senior Palliative Care Social Worker

Responsible for:

N/A

DBS Required

Enhanced

Job Purpose

The Palliative Care Social Worker is responsible for ensuring the provision of coordinated family support across both sites of Birmingham Hospice. The Hospice has an outstanding local reputation and is committed to ensuring that our patients, families and carers continue to receive excellent levels of care and support whilst they are experiencing a life limiting condition. The service provides high standards in support, helping to influence and enhance best practice in palliative and end-of-life care involving internal and external professional providers.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Management and Leadership

Contribute to the Development of Team Learning and support implementation of new systems for measuring quality and Audit.

Work collaboratively, contributing to the development of other services provided by the Hospice.

Ensure the services provided are profound, recognising different cultural approaches towards life, death and bereavement needs.

Participate in the Hospice appraisal system setting realistic objectives to maintain a personal professional profile and demonstrate a high level of specialist practice.

Able to take responsibility and use initiative in times when the Senior Palliative Care Social Worker is not on site.

Patient and Family

Triaging and responding to appropriate incoming referrals from the In-patient Unit, Living Well Centres, and the Hospice Clinical Nurse Specialists and other agencies.

Support patients, families, and carers to deal with the impact of what is happening to them, loss, and bereavement and to have a good life and a good death.

To assess and review the psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual needs of our patients, their family and carers. This will contribute towards a holistic assessment within the multi-professional team with a recognition of the diversity, values and human rights that may influence the decisions of people who use the service.

To work in partnership with patients, families and carers requiring specialist palliative or end-of-life care to identify and respond to changing psychosocial needs. To provide practical and emotional support.

Working with patients and their families /carers using one-to-one, group and family techniques and involving other members of the multidisciplinary team as appropriate.

Facilitate discussions that resolve chaos and conflict and negotiate solutions to disputes about how people will live.

To implement appropriate strategies to enable the patient, family, and carers to adjust to new and changing situations. Consider and co-develop alternative ways of meeting peoples needs who choose not to take up existing services.

To provide written assessment reports and negotiate health and social care packages, including nursing home placements.

To advocate services regarding welfare benefits.

To assess the bereavement needs of family members and others close to the patient.

To use effective interpersonal skills to communicate sensitive information where agreement and cooperation is required and where there may be barriers to understanding, such as vulnerable and at-risk individuals.

To advocate for and ensure that the holistic needs of patients, families and carers are identified and met.

To work independently in community settings, and assess, manage, and document clinical risk.

To undertake holistic assessment of patients, families and carers to ensure that needs are met and support complex discharge.

Multidisciplinary Team

To provide consultations to other disciplines on psychosocial aspects of care, particularly issues related to Mental Capacity and Safeguarding.

Work closely with the multi-disciplinary team to plan patient and family care and provide psychosocial intervention.

To maintain knowledge of local community services and to liaise with community agencies on behalf of patients and their families / carers.

To participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings, discharge planning meetings and case review meetings.

To have open and honest conversations with the wider team as well as with patients, families and carers to ensure a person-centred approach.

To be a resource for wider team, patients, families and carers regarding wider social care policy and expertise.

To implement effective communication and referral processes and enable effective multi-professional and multi-agency working to support the smooth transition of patients between services.

To attend meetings between healthcare professionals and patients, families and carers around planning discharge and ongoing support.

To actively contribute to the Patient Services clinical governance framework through participation in education, development, research, and audit initiatives.

Operational

To ensure patient and service records are documented and maintained in accordance with the Birmingham Hospice Operational and Practice Guidelines.

Develop and embed social work as an integral part of the in-patient and community teams to provide expert psychosocial support to patients and their families/ carers referral to appropriate hospice services when needed.

To build relationships with wider social care, health, and voluntary organisations to ensure patients familys needs are met.

To develop and strengthen relations with Local Authority Teams and other organisations through attendance at meetings, training events and joint working, seeking always to promote the interests and rights of patients, families, and carers.

Identify opportunities for teaching and training opportunities at Birmingham Hospice. Supporting the Senior Palliative Care Social Worker to educate and deliver training and support to others which will include psychosocial aspects of care and support, Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS), Safeguarding and Best Interest decisions.

Adhere to Birmingham Hospice policies and social work professional standards.

Service Improvement

To contribute to and participate in development of new initiatives in Palliative Care Social Work in line with team specific and organisational priorities.

To be willing to develop and trial new ways of working to ensure best outcomes for patients, families and carers. Planning and evaluation on practice.

Identify opportunities for audit and research, innovation and quality improvement and take an active role in working with others to deliver improvement programmes and be committed to improving services.

Professional

To reflect on practice and performance formally and informally with the Senior Palliative Care Social Worker.

To know own limitations and where to access support and guidance.

Continue to develop the emotional intelligence essential to undertake the role.

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work and to engage in professional self-development.

To adhere to the Social Work England Code of Conduct and comply with local and national standards of practice.

To effectively utilise clinical supervision.

To develop personal and professional skills and knowledge relevant to palliative care social work.

To update and develop knowledge of statutory and legislative changes which impact on the lives of patients, their carer(s) and family.

To always act as a role model and ambassador for Birmingham Hospice.

The job description is not exhaustive and may be amended following appropriate consultation in the light of business needs

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Understanding and experience of multi-disciplinary team working.
• Good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, and other relevant legislative frameworks.
• Good understanding of Safeguarding and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) .
• Experience gained in working with adults during student training.
• Experience of working with children and families during student training.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills and to be able to use these effectively in a variety of settings, with individuals and groups, children and adults.
• To be able to undertake a needs led assessment, planning and negotiating skills, to ensure high quality assessment and timely outcomes for people.
• Ability to work effectively in an emotionally stressful environment.
• Ability to be creative and supportive in the role of Palliative Care Social Worker and appropriately apply a range of social work methods and interventions.
• Able to plan and manage own workload and activities.
• Provide social work advice and support to the multi professional team.
• Able to travel between Hospice and peoples homes, in the West Midlands Area.
• Intermediate IT skills.

Personal Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Commitment to and ability to demonstrate Birmingham Hospice values and behaviours at all times
• Able to always maintain the highest professional standards, and act as a true ambassador for the Hospice.
• To be authentic, open honest and transparent
• Have a track record of working inclusively and a genuine appreciation of the value of diversity

Qualifications

Essential

• Recognised Social Work Qualification.
• Registration with Social Work England.
• Knowledge of relevant voluntary and statutory agencies and their perspectives relating to palliative care.
• Knowledge of current legislation relevant to role including MCA / DOLS/ Carers legislation, Care Act 2014, etc
• Full driving licence.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Birmingham Hospice

Address

76 Grange Road

Erdington

Birmingham

B24 0DF

Employer's website

https://www.birminghamhospice.org.uk (Opens in a new tab)