Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Children's Health Care Support Worker

This job is now closed

Job summary

Previous applicants need not apply

*Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship on 30 hours per week*

"A rewarding role where each day could be different, being able to build a working relationship with children and young people within our packages of care, helping to make a difference to their lives and see the impact your support can make to the family unit"

We have an exciting opportunity for Health Care support workers to join our team in the Children's Packages of Care Team (CPOC). We are looking for highly motivated and enthusiastic people to join our team due to expansion within the service.

HCSWs within this team are lone workers, taking full responsibility for the care of children with complex needs after receiving comprehensive training. This could be caring for a child overnight in their own home, while parents are sleeping, accompanying a child to school and meeting their needs during the school day or working with another HCSW/nurse to give parents a complete break.

Following training and competency assessment, HCSWs will be able to independently care for children with tracheostomies, gastrostomies, require medications, oxygen therapy amongst other medical needs.

Shift times vary dependant on the child's needs and HCSWs are expected to work a mixture of days, nights, and weekend shifts, these can be anytime over the 24 hour period. We would also consider someone who only wanted to work night shifts as a shift pattern.

Main duties of the job

The children's packages of care team sits within the Children's Complex Needs Nursing Service and delivers packages of care to children within the Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation trust.

The ideal candidates will need to be organised, able to work alone and part of a team, adaptable, calm in pressured situations and flexible to meet the needs of the service. Ideally you will have experience in a health care, social care or education setting working with children. An NVQ3 in care or equivalent care experience is desired, however full training will be given.

This is an extremely rewarding role as you will be caring for children in their homes/school providing support ensuring that their needs are met. You will be attending to personal cares, moving and handling needs and engaging through play. Some of our children have additional health care needs such as gastrostomies, tracheostomies and use of medical equipment in which full training will be provided.

You will be well supported by an experienced and dedicated management team as well as peer support amongst colleagues, opportunities to work alongside specialists, a personal and professional development plan.

For further information about the post please contact us using the details provided. Our senior team will be more than happy to answer any questions and give you further insight into a typical day in the role of a staff nurse within the CPOC team.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well

Date posted

03 September 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£25,760 to £27,476 a year per annum pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

351-CEN2639-EB-A

Job locations

Ashton Health Centre

Preston

PR2 1HR

United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

Career pathway from HCSW to nursing associate is available to members of CPOC in addition, you will have an annual personal development review and plan to support your career aspirations along with regular team days for training, supportive discussions and well-being sessions.

You will require a valid UK driving licence or have access to a vehicle for work purposes or be able to travel between community settings in a timely manner. This is essential in order to travel across the geographical footprint required within the service. Bases are both at Burnley and Preston with packages of care across Lancashire. (Travel expenses reimbursed in accordance with trust policy)

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NVQ Level 3 in care or equivalent experience.
A willingness to undertake further study
Develop new skills in accordance with evidence based practice

Knowledge

Essential

Good knowledge of child development
Ability to care for a child / young person in partnership with the family
Basic understanding of how complex needs/chronic illness affects children and families
Sound working knowledge of professional issues e/.g. confidentiality

Experience

Essential

Experience of managing children on an individual and group basis.
Experience of interacting with Children with Complex and/or Additional Needs
Previous experience of care in health, social, education or voluntary setting.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

Very good interpersonal and empathy skills
Very good oral and written communication skills
Ability to work under supervision and independently recognising own limits.
Ability to adapt approach to engage children of different ages and developmental levels

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NVQ Level 3 in care or equivalent experience.
A willingness to undertake further study
Develop new skills in accordance with evidence based practice

Knowledge

Essential

Good knowledge of child development
Ability to care for a child / young person in partnership with the family
Basic understanding of how complex needs/chronic illness affects children and families
Sound working knowledge of professional issues e/.g. confidentiality

Experience

Essential

Experience of managing children on an individual and group basis.
Experience of interacting with Children with Complex and/or Additional Needs
Previous experience of care in health, social, education or voluntary setting.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

Very good interpersonal and empathy skills
Very good oral and written communication skills
Ability to work under supervision and independently recognising own limits.
Ability to adapt approach to engage children of different ages and developmental levels

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

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ashton Health Centre

Preston

PR2 1HR

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ashton Health Centre

Preston

PR2 1HR

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)