Family and Community Support Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

The role entails but is not limited to:

Clinical Practice

The post holder will work under supervision and in collaboration with other members of the team to:

Work alongside staff and volunteers to provide culturally sensitive psychological, emotional, social and spiritual support for families and patients within the In-patient Unit and within the Community Nursing Team

Co-ordinate and be involved in the provision of an education programme

In collaboration with the Family and Community Support Service Lead, oversee a team of volunteers to coordinate and facilitate a community wellbeing programme

Maintain up-to-date confidential and accurate records using electronic systems and fulfil any administrative requirements including being involved in collection of statistics

Professional

Ensure that personal clinical supervision; mandatory training; professional development and an annual appraisal are all undertaken

Act as an ambassador for St Giles Hospice and supporting the fundraising and community work of the department

Be pro-active in maintaining the standards of support and care as required by the Hospice

Always adhere and work within the policies and procedures of St Giles Hospice

Be aware of personal limitations within their scope of practice and making referrals as appropriate

Establish and maintain excellent communication and working relationships within the Hospice to liaise as appropriate regarding referrals, caseload and groups

Engage and communicate with, as appropriate, external agencies, such as GPs, schools, social workers

Participate in internal and external multi-professional meetings, acting as a client advocate

Participate actively in team meetings, MDT meetings, debrief reflections and to decision making regarding service delivery

Have an awareness of and commitment to upholding safeguarding policy and practice

If holding a professional registration, be pro-active in maintaining the standards of professional accountability in practice as determined by Health and Care Professions Council, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and any other relevant professional body.

Caseload

The post holder will work under supervision to:

Deliver a range of clinical services to patients/clients, couples and family members who have been referred and allocated

Clients will be of all ages and have complex psycho-social needs, and a holistic and flexible systemic approach will be taken

The post-holder will manage the identified support requirements, such as working face to face, on-line and via the telephone to provide assessments, offer information and advice, practical support and support which may be one-to-one, for couples, families or groups

Reflect on and keep alert to personal limitations within their scope of practice, discussing this within clinical meetings and supervision

Education

Work as part of a team delivering educational programmes for hospice staff, volunteers and other professionals

Research and audit

Actively participate in audit and research, identifying areas of improvement and development across the service

This post is subject to a Disclose and Barring Service (DBS) check.

We may review applications before the application review date, however, if you apply after the application review date, your application may not be considered. We will accept applications until we have successfully filled the role, this may be earlier than the closing date.

If you have not heard within 14 days of the application close date, then please consider that your application has been unsuccessful at this time.

As part of your application your data will be managed in line with St Giles Hospice Privacy Policy and kept for 6 months. If you would like to see this in full, please visit https://www.stgileshospice.com/privacy-policy/

Should you require any further information, please email: stg.recruitment@stgileshospice.com

Person Specification

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Empathetic
• Team player
• Able to work under pressure
• Collaborative
• Ambassador for St Giles Hospice
• Willingness to learn and develop individually and as part of the team
• Collaborative style with evidence of ability to motivate and coach
• Resilience and ability to work flexibly

Other requirements

Essential

• Valid driving licence
• Eligibility to work in the UK
• Please note that St Giles Hospice does not hold a sponsorship licence and is therefore unable to accept sponsorship requests

Experience

Essential

• Clear understanding of palliative care, loss and bereavement and how this relates to practice
• Understanding and experience of client assessment
• Understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures
• Understandings of ethical issues related to holding a caseload, such as confidentiality and boundaries

Desirable

• Evidence of working within a multi-disciplinary team approach, including working with volunteers
• Knowledge of/experience of working in health, social care and third sector services
• Experience of working with families
• Experience of working with volunteers
• Experience or understanding of how families facing or experiencing bereavement might respond.

Skills

Essential

• Excellent active-listening interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to build relationships with individuals and in group settings
• Ability to build rapport over the telephone, on-line and in person
• Ability to work independently with understanding of level of own competency and as part of a team and extended teams
• Skills and/or experience of working with children and young people or willingness to learn
• Demonstrable capacity to reflect on self and others and willingness to transfer this to practice
• Ability to give/receive constructive feedback and willingness to bring all aspects of practice, including limitations into supervision
• Evidence of effective organisational skills
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing
• Computer literate

Qualifications

Essential

• Appropriate qualifications or relevant experience of successfully holding a client caseload of family support pre death, at point of death and through bereavement follow up and bereavement clients

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.

Employer details

Employer name

St Giles Hospice

Address

Fisherwick Road

Whittington

Lichfield

Staffordshire

WS14 9LH

Employer's website

https://www.stgileshospice.com/ (Opens in a new tab)