Job summary
Spring Lodge Centre is the Adult Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) for Lincolnshire, based in Lincoln, not far from the County Hospital. It is funded jointly by NHS England(NHSE) and the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Lincolnshire and hosted by the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
It offers choice and confidential support in a welcoming environment for any adult from Lincolnshire following rape or sexual assault. There is a separate child and young persons SARC for the area to see all under 18's so the service will only see under 18's in exceptional circumstances.
You may be required to provide telephone support and advice such as sign posting. You will also be required attend the centre to support Victims when they attend the centre for Forensic Medical Examination, This will involve multi-agency working. Specific training for this role will be provided. If called to attend the centre for appointment, you should be able to attend within 45 mins of being advised of the appointment.
Main duties of the job
- To give support over the telephone on a mobile phone and face to face at Spring Lodge (or other venue) to rape and sexual assault victims (including support through a forensic medical examination) out of hours from an on call basis. This may be a police referral or a self-referral with no police involvement.
- To receive highly sensitive information where they are likely to be barriers to understanding and acceptance. The post holder will require highly developed interpersonal and communication skills in order to communicate appropriately in what is likely to be a highly emotive situation/atmosphere.
- Due to the on call nature of this role the post holder will need to work autonomously within appropriate guidelines/procedures and protocols deciding where necessary to seek advice.
- To be on call for approximately 5-6 OOH shifts per 4 week rota.
About us
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services and a number of learning disability, autism and social care services in the county of Lincolnshire. Employing around 2,800 staff, and serving a population of over 766,000, our people lie at the heart of everything we do.
You could be part of a Trust rated by staff as one of the best mental health and learning disability trusts in England, in an area heralded as a fantastic place to live and work. We firmly believe the key to high quality care is a contented workforce. This is reflected in our Care Quality Commission rating of 'outstanding' for well-led and 'good' overall. In the most recent National NHS Staff Survey, our staff rated us as the number one trust nationally for staff morale and one of the top scoring NHS Trusts in the Midlands for being compassionate and inclusive. We're really proud of this!
We are also leading the way in transforming care, with multi-million-pound transformation of patient environments and radical redesign of community services.
This is the time to join and help redesign our services of the future. We offer options for flexible working and provide a wide range of training and promotion opportunities in all professions. We support and celebrate diversity, have active staff networks groups and are always looking at what more we can do to support our staff.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- All Staff will be required to attend SARC for booked appointments for FME for Victims of Rape and Sexual assault. These appointments may be Police or self referrals. They will be required to be able to get to the centre for these appointments within 45 mins unless the appointment has been made for a later time.
- To provide support information to clients accessing the service.
- On occasion to exert moderate physical effort for short periods during a shift whilst assisting clients with mobility problems with transfers from examination bed to chair or vice versa.
- To provide advocacy services and support for clients and their supporters.
- To advise clients of the context of services within the criminal justice process.
- To work as part of a small team of forensic physicians, police officers and crisis worker in the delivery of high standards of service.
- The post holder will be responsible for thorough cleaning following a forensic medical examination to an agreed standard in order to assist in maintaining the forensic integrity of the centre.
- In cases of self-referrals the post holder will contribute to the appropriate handling of forensic samples, which may include the taking of urine, saliva and mouth swab samples, this will only be if a Crisis worker is carrying out the role of the SOTO during the self referral.
- To participate in regular supervision. The post holder will frequently be exposed to highly distressing or highly emotional circumstances, e.g. victims of sexual assault, rape or child abuse.
- To participate in and promote the development of Spring Lodge according to operational policies and procedures.
- To participate in team meetings and contribute to the development of services.
- To adhere to all Trust and Spring Lodge policies and operational procedures.
- To consider Child Protection issues and liaise with the Manager in accordance with Child Protection Policies.
- To contribute to the clinical governance processes within the service.
- To encourage all staff to lead by example in their individual roles.
- Continuously uphold the core values and beliefs set by the SARC team.
- To develop and maintain knowledge and skills relevant to this area of work which meets the needs of the organisation, client group and sexual offences legislation.
- To attend induction and ongoing training and assist in the orientation of new staff.
- To demonstrate knowledge of quality issues and commitment to continual quality improvement.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- All Staff will be required to attend SARC for booked appointments for FME for Victims of Rape and Sexual assault. These appointments may be Police or self referrals. They will be required to be able to get to the centre for these appointments within 45 mins unless the appointment has been made for a later time.
- To provide support information to clients accessing the service.
- On occasion to exert moderate physical effort for short periods during a shift whilst assisting clients with mobility problems with transfers from examination bed to chair or vice versa.
- To provide advocacy services and support for clients and their supporters.
- To advise clients of the context of services within the criminal justice process.
- To work as part of a small team of forensic physicians, police officers and crisis worker in the delivery of high standards of service.
- The post holder will be responsible for thorough cleaning following a forensic medical examination to an agreed standard in order to assist in maintaining the forensic integrity of the centre.
- In cases of self-referrals the post holder will contribute to the appropriate handling of forensic samples, which may include the taking of urine, saliva and mouth swab samples, this will only be if a Crisis worker is carrying out the role of the SOTO during the self referral.
- To participate in regular supervision. The post holder will frequently be exposed to highly distressing or highly emotional circumstances, e.g. victims of sexual assault, rape or child abuse.
- To participate in and promote the development of Spring Lodge according to operational policies and procedures.
- To participate in team meetings and contribute to the development of services.
- To adhere to all Trust and Spring Lodge policies and operational procedures.
- To consider Child Protection issues and liaise with the Manager in accordance with Child Protection Policies.
- To contribute to the clinical governance processes within the service.
- To encourage all staff to lead by example in their individual roles.
- Continuously uphold the core values and beliefs set by the SARC team.
- To develop and maintain knowledge and skills relevant to this area of work which meets the needs of the organisation, client group and sexual offences legislation.
- To attend induction and ongoing training and assist in the orientation of new staff.
- To demonstrate knowledge of quality issues and commitment to continual quality improvement.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- NVQ Level 3 education or equivalent professional qualification/ experience
Experience
Essential
- Proven relevant experience of providing support to people in a professional work environment
- Experience of patient/client face to face and telephone support work
- Working using counselling/listening skills with patients/clients
- Experience of working in a confidential setting and dealing with sensitive matters confidentiality
- Experience of Safeguarding and working with Clinical Risk
- Previous experience of working in a multi-agency setting
- Previous experience of referring patients and signposting other support networks to them
- Experience of working autonomously
- Effectively utilising Supervision
- Previous NHS experience
Desirable
- Proven relevant experience working with victims of rape and sexual abuse in a professional work environment
- An understanding of working within the criminal justice system or willingness to learn
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- NVQ Level 3 education or equivalent professional qualification/ experience
Experience
Essential
- Proven relevant experience of providing support to people in a professional work environment
- Experience of patient/client face to face and telephone support work
- Working using counselling/listening skills with patients/clients
- Experience of working in a confidential setting and dealing with sensitive matters confidentiality
- Experience of Safeguarding and working with Clinical Risk
- Previous experience of working in a multi-agency setting
- Previous experience of referring patients and signposting other support networks to them
- Experience of working autonomously
- Effectively utilising Supervision
- Previous NHS experience
Desirable
- Proven relevant experience working with victims of rape and sexual abuse in a professional work environment
- An understanding of working within the criminal justice system or willingness to learn
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.
