Job responsibilities
Job Description - Children's Social Work Assistant
Responsible to:
Accountable to:
Specialist Palliative Care Social Worker
Head of Care
Job Purpose:
To assist and activity work with the social work team in providing social support to patients and families, known to Keech Hospice Care.
To work holistically with children who have a life limiting illness and specialist palliative care need working alongside the childrens in patient unit, community team and day support services.
Liaising with community services including community health service, education and local authorities
To be an advocate for patients and their families.
To work within the social work team with colleagues with an adult specialism and provide support to adult patients and families and transition services if required.
Relationships:
Internal
External
Specific Duties:
- Specialist Childrens Social Worker
- Social Worker Team Lead
- Adult Specialist Social Work Assistants
- Supportive Care Team
- Nursing and Healthcare Assistant Staff
- Therapists
- Doctors and Medical Team
- Multidisciplinary Team Meetings
- Patients, their partners, families, friends and carers.
- In Patient Unit, day support and community teams
- Fundraising, comms and marketing
- Local authority childrens services.
- Childrens community teams
- Housing departments
- GPs
- Occupational Therapists and physiotherapists
- Carers organisations
- Acute teams
- Other hospices
- Other charity / voluntary organisations supporting families
- To show an understanding of and commitment to the Policies and Procedures at Keech Hospice Care, with particular relevance to the role, such as Equal Opportunities Policy, Safeguarding and The Mental Capacity Act Policy
- To accept referrals and day to day work tasks from the Specialist Childrens Social Worker or person delegated to work on their behalf.
- To manage your own workload with the support of your line manager ensuring good practice and personal integrity at all times given the confidential and personal nature of the issues raised inherently in the role.
- To seek and accept regular supervision both formal and informal from the Social Work Team Lead/ Specialist Childrens Social Worker and colleagues .
- Help patients, their families and carers to establish their needs and support them to understand how they may access services
- Advocate for patients and carers as needed with other statutory and voluntary agencies and multi disciplinary professionals.
- To aid patients and families to make informed choices about their current and future care.
- Work directly with housing associations
- Direct work either assessing needs and risk and/or providing emotional support for patients and family carers. This work can take place in the community, in familys homes or on site
- To give basic benefits advice and give relevant information and/or signpost on to specialist benefits agencies
- To offer basic psycho/social support and pre bereavement support to service users and their carers.
- To understand own boundaries and able to reflect on own practice
- The ability to hold difficult conversations with families whilst still maintaining relationships
- To promote an understanding within the Multi Disciplinary Team of the psychosocial difficulties encountered by service users.
- To advocate for and raise awareness when working with community professionals of patients with Palliative Care diagnosis and needs.
- Maintaining confidentiality and good professional practice with both internal and external colleagues .
- To keep up to date with confidential records on all cases, in line with organisational standards. To be competent in using computers and have computer literacy skills able to support the role. To be able to complete basic administration duties.
- To utilise training opportunities and to be personally
responsible for growth within the role and developing skills in line with organisational and role changes as required.
- Provide informal training to colleagues and volunteers if required.
- To promote the safeguarding policy and procedures and contribute to safeguarding MDT meetings . To represent the organisation at any required social work lead external meetings (CIN meetings. TACs, child protection conferences, core groups etc) .
Duties in common with other members of staff:
- To report accidents and incidents without delay, according to policy
- To be an ambassador for the charity
- To maintain the best appearance of yourself and your immediate working area
- To demonstrate a positive and supportive attitude to staff and volunteers
- Respect confidentiality applying to all Hospice areas
- To adhere to the Infection Control Policies and Procedures set by the charity and the Care Quality Commission
- To promote the safeguarding and welfare of children, young people and adults.
Training and Education
To be responsible for liaison with your line manager regarding your own development needs
Health and Safety
To adhere to Fire and Health and Safety regulations and maintain a safe working environment at all times
Policies and Procedures
To take responsibility for being up to date with current policies and procedures and to adhere to these
Equal Opportunities
To treat everyone with whom you have contact through your work with equal dignity and respect regardless of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, creed, religion, disability, age, or any other factor that could be used in a discriminatory manner
