Job summary
Are you someone who enjoys spending time with children and
young people, providing fun filled opportunities and creating special memories?
If so, then working at St Andrews will
give you the chance to do just that. We offer a warm, friendly, and nurturing
environment where our children, young people, families, and workforce are at
the heart of everything we do, in striving to make each day enjoyable for
everyone.
You can make a real difference to the lives of children and young
people who have palliative care needs and life limiting conditions, keeping them
at the centre of everything that we do alongside supporting their families
throughout their journey from referral to end of life and bereavement support.
Main duties of the job
As a Family Support & Bereavement
Practitioner, you will work with parents/guardians, children, young people and
their siblings providing emotional and practical support using therapeutic,
holistic and compassionate approaches. It is often said that working in
childrens palliative care is a real honour and privilege but is frequently
overlooked as a career pathway. Here are St Andrews we strive to make every
second count, and where every moment creates a memory for the family. We aim to
bring joy, happiness and laughter to our Childrens Services, and support tears
and sad times with the utmost care and compassion.
Every baby, child, young person and family
are different, every conversation and everything we put into place for our
families is supported with an individualised plan of care. You will have a wonderful opportunity to work
with children and families having time to make a difference and time to care,
supporting them through difficult conversations and decisions this is what
makes our organisation special.
You will be a Registered Social Worker with experience of
working with children and young people in a health, social or education setting
and have excellent communication skills and strive to make a difference in
creative and demonstrable ways.
About us
We want
people to know that the Hospice is not a sad place, and our Hospice does not
necessarily mean the end, it can mean healing and support and it can mean
laughter, joy, making the most out of the time people have left. Having a role whereby you play a key part in providing
and this, so you and the team can give the best possible care to our patients
and their families, really puts this role at the heart of
the Hospice.
As the
Director of Clinical Services, I very much look forward to working with our new
Children Family Support and Bereavement Practitioner. I am excited to support the great ideas and
innovation that you may bring to the role. Working in Childrens PalliativeCare is
all about care, compassion, dedication, and devotion and here we can care for
our children and families to the fullest inmaking
those everlasting memories which is a real privilege. If you want to be part of our amazing team,
then I would love to hearfrom you.
Karen Higgins Director of Clinical Services, St Andrews Hospice.
Benefits:
- Competitive
salary.
- Paid
Professional Registrations.
- Bridge
Tolls paid.
- Contributory
pension scheme.
- Access
to excellent staff benefits.
- Long
Service Reward Scheme.
- Excellent
annual leave.
- Employee
Assistance Programme.
- Life
Insurance x 3 salary.
- Occupational
Schemes.
- Flexible
working.
- Revalidation
& Excellent CPD
Job description
Job responsibilities
The role of the
Family Support & Bereavement Practitioner (FSBP) is to support families in
the lead up to and following the death of a child / young person using
therapeutic, holistic and compassionate approaches.
The FSBP will
work with parents / guardians and siblings through the latter stages of the
childs / young persons illness or at an earlier identified time through an
MDT discussion, preparing them emotionally and practically, creating memories
and then supporting them to remember the child / young person after death.
The FSBP will also
support the wider childrens bereavement work identified through the
bereavement service.
To support the
future development and growth of the bereavement service.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The role of the
Family Support & Bereavement Practitioner (FSBP) is to support families in
the lead up to and following the death of a child / young person using
therapeutic, holistic and compassionate approaches.
The FSBP will
work with parents / guardians and siblings through the latter stages of the
childs / young persons illness or at an earlier identified time through an
MDT discussion, preparing them emotionally and practically, creating memories
and then supporting them to remember the child / young person after death.
The FSBP will also
support the wider childrens bereavement work identified through the
bereavement service.
To support the
future development and growth of the bereavement service.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with children in a health, social or educational setting.
- Experience of delivering emotional support.
- Experience of working within a multidisciplinary health and social care setting.
- Knowledge and skills in bereavement support or counselling.
Desirable
- Experience of working with bereaved people in a group or family setting.
- Knowledge of and skills in bereavement support.
- Experience of working confidentially.
- Knowledge and understanding of Adults and Children Safeguarding.
- Working with Volunteers.
- Completion of assessments and planning of care.
- Experience in confidentiality and GDPR regulations.
- Experience of providing virtual support.
Qualifications
Essential
- Qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration
- Full UK driving license and have access to own vehicle.
Desirable
- Minimum of Level 3 Counselling qualification
- Experience, training and or qualification in specialist relatable subject; teaching or practise education, bereavement etc.
Knowledge, Skills & Qualities
Essential
- Able to work therapeutically with individuals and families.
- Able to prioritise own workload in context of team caseload and competing demands.
- Understanding of bereavement theories and processes
- Understanding of the impact of bereavement on adults and children
- Understanding the impact of traumatic bereavements
- Understanding of Mental Health diagnoses and approaches to management (e.g., anxiety management)
- Understanding of how mental and physical health interact and impact on bereavement.
- Understanding a holistic approach to care
- Commitment to ensure confidentiality.
- Commitment to ongoing professional development
- Understanding of Mental Capacity Act, and Mental Health Act
- IT literate: able to access and process electronic patient records as well as related MS Office documents.
- Good organisational and administration skills
- Ability to manage the emotional impact of working with the bereaved.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills i.e. must be able to handle sensitive issues
- Flexibility to meet the needs of the clients/service.
- Ability to work sensitively with a vulnerable client group.
- Ability to maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
- Ability to work effectively with other agencies involved when appropriate.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
- To demonstrate a calm and logical approach to problem solving
- To consistently demonstrate a dedicated approach to the quality of bereavement services in a constructive and efficient way
- Understanding the impact of personal losses and bereavements on yourself
- Personal grief/loss resolved sufficiently to perform & cope in an environment that has potential exposure to bereavement concerns.
- Openness and willingness to learn from colleagues and families, and to share knowledge and skills with the team.
- Commitment to ethical practice (i.e. BACP framework)
- Resilience
- Ability to manage own caseload, waiting lists, and allocation of clients taking clients needs, staff/volunteer skills and capacity.
- Ability to work effectively with people from a range of cultural, ethnic, social groups, regardless of age, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
- Understanding of limits of own capability.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with children in a health, social or educational setting.
- Experience of delivering emotional support.
- Experience of working within a multidisciplinary health and social care setting.
- Knowledge and skills in bereavement support or counselling.
Desirable
- Experience of working with bereaved people in a group or family setting.
- Knowledge of and skills in bereavement support.
- Experience of working confidentially.
- Knowledge and understanding of Adults and Children Safeguarding.
- Working with Volunteers.
- Completion of assessments and planning of care.
- Experience in confidentiality and GDPR regulations.
- Experience of providing virtual support.
Qualifications
Essential
- Qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration
- Full UK driving license and have access to own vehicle.
Desirable
- Minimum of Level 3 Counselling qualification
- Experience, training and or qualification in specialist relatable subject; teaching or practise education, bereavement etc.
Knowledge, Skills & Qualities
Essential
- Able to work therapeutically with individuals and families.
- Able to prioritise own workload in context of team caseload and competing demands.
- Understanding of bereavement theories and processes
- Understanding of the impact of bereavement on adults and children
- Understanding the impact of traumatic bereavements
- Understanding of Mental Health diagnoses and approaches to management (e.g., anxiety management)
- Understanding of how mental and physical health interact and impact on bereavement.
- Understanding a holistic approach to care
- Commitment to ensure confidentiality.
- Commitment to ongoing professional development
- Understanding of Mental Capacity Act, and Mental Health Act
- IT literate: able to access and process electronic patient records as well as related MS Office documents.
- Good organisational and administration skills
- Ability to manage the emotional impact of working with the bereaved.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills i.e. must be able to handle sensitive issues
- Flexibility to meet the needs of the clients/service.
- Ability to work sensitively with a vulnerable client group.
- Ability to maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
- Ability to work effectively with other agencies involved when appropriate.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
- To demonstrate a calm and logical approach to problem solving
- To consistently demonstrate a dedicated approach to the quality of bereavement services in a constructive and efficient way
- Understanding the impact of personal losses and bereavements on yourself
- Personal grief/loss resolved sufficiently to perform & cope in an environment that has potential exposure to bereavement concerns.
- Openness and willingness to learn from colleagues and families, and to share knowledge and skills with the team.
- Commitment to ethical practice (i.e. BACP framework)
- Resilience
- Ability to manage own caseload, waiting lists, and allocation of clients taking clients needs, staff/volunteer skills and capacity.
- Ability to work effectively with people from a range of cultural, ethnic, social groups, regardless of age, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
- Understanding of limits of own capability.
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.
