Job responsibilities
- Communication and relationship skills
To maintain communication and liaison of a high professional standard with:
Internal
Senior Managers, Senior Social Worker/Team Lead for the Family and Carers Support Team, Psychosocial Services Manager and Bereavement Services Lead
Other members of the Multi-disciplinary Palliative Care Team, senior managers and volunteers.
Service Users.
External
GPs Mental Health Services, Social Care Agencies and Voluntary Sector providers.
Members of other disciplines and other professionals
Service users and other Hospice and end of life services.
Schools and community groups.
Involved in:
Palliative Care multidisciplinary meetings, service and organisational meetings.
External meetings as requested.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to communicate information of a highly sensitive nature:
Convey and explore complex information of a highly emotional content with service users
Work as an integral part of the Psychosocial Team co-ordinating and developing the service as required.
Participate as an active member of the multi-disciplinary team contributing to understanding of the service users physical, psychological social and spiritual concerns.
Attend multi-disciplinary meetings contributing to the development of the service users care planning process and identifying unmet psychosocial needs.
Participate as a full member of the multidisciplinary palliative care team to meet the wider needs of service users, their families and carers ensuring a seamless and person centred service is delivered.
Communicate directly with service users and be able to assess complex psychosocial and spiritual needs holistically.
Liaise with other service providers to achieve optimum supportive, therapeutic and person centred care.
Adapt therapeutic interventions to meet the specific and changing needs of service users, tailoring resources to individual and group goals.
Motivate, enable and empower service users to access and benefit from the resources available within the service.
Use a variety of therapeutic interventions including group work to engage positively with service users life experiences and develop resilience and coping.
Work effectively to improve the experience of service users and carers in the end of life through evaluation and recommendation for service improvement.
Participate in the team duty/triage system, as required.
Be available to support the wider team for consultation on psychosocial and safeguarding concerns regarding vulnerable adults and children.
Communicate effectively with all team members ensuring they have the information they need to perform their respective roles
Provide supervision to members of the multi-disciplinary team as required.
Promote cross team communication ensuring that effective and harmonious relationships are maintained.
- Knowledge, training and experience
Qualification in Social Work plus current registration with Social Work England.
Good working knowledge of mental ill health issues and their impact on families.
Knowledge of the impact of serious illness and bereavement on individuals and systems.
Knowledge of end of life care services.
Knowledge of psychosocial palliative care practise and underpinning theoretical models
Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team.
Experience of group work.
Experience of being supervised and reflecting on practise.
Experience and knowledge of MCA and DOLs
- Analytical and judgement skills
Provide comprehensive assessments and apply appropriate interventions to meet individual and family goals within the Inpatient Unit, Wellbeing Centre, hospital and/or community settings. This work will include individual, couple and group work.
Understand complex information, assess risk and use judgment based on informed practice in planning and delivering appropriate courses of intervention.
Participate in the team duty/triage system, allocating referrals and responding to sudden unexpected crises and directing others as required.
- Planning and organisational skills
Maintain a high standard of organisation.
Plan programmes/services to benefit service users
Organise service user information and record to a high standard on electronic system.
Identify priorities and effectively allocate resources within the service.
Collect, collate and record information regarding clinical activity as required by the service.
Be an effective time manager.
Review and evaluate to contribute towards service improvements
- Physical skills
Ability to drive to dispersed sites in a timely manner
Good computer and keyboard skills
- Responsibility for patient / client care
Develop specialist programmes of care providing highly specialist advice
Develop care plans for complex cases.
Provide comprehensive assessment of service users needs on which to base appropriate interventions and if necessary refer to appropriate agencies.
Work directly with service users using individual, group and family therapy interventions.
Provide a specialist social work service within the Inpatient Unit, Wellbeing Centre and/or community settings.
Manage a caseload effectively in consultation with colleagues within the Family and Carers Support Team and wider multi professional teams to deliver person centred services.
Communicate with other stakeholders in line with best practise guidelines and organisational requirements.
Respond to referrals and duty enquiries within the time frame and standard agreed for the service.
Provide supervision and mentoring to staff and volunteers.
Provide consultation to colleagues on areas of psychosocial palliative care practise.
Participate actively in Multi-Disciplinary meetings and reflections to identify service users needs, contributing to information sharing and care planning.
Ensure that patients/families and carers have a person centred service delivered in an appropriate environment
Deliver specialist training of other professionals as required.
Deliver care within an ethical framework.
- Responsibility for policy and service development implementation
Propose changes to practises and procedures for own area that may improve the patient experience.
Contribute to the delivery of training and supervision for staff in psychosocial, spiritual and bereavement care.
Develop and maintain working relationships with local statutory and voluntary agencies.
Identify priorities and ensure effective allocation of resources within the service.
Take responsibility for projects related to the development and delivery of the service as required by the organisation.
Act as an effective agent of change seeking to improve and develop the service at all times.
Deliver care within an ethical framework
- Responsibilities for financial and physical resources
Work within the policies and procedures of Medway Community Healthcare.
Ensure careful use of all service facilities and equipment when engaged in work duties.
- Responsibilities for human resources (HR)
As part of the Appraisal process, attend training for professional and personal development.
Set objectives that are Smart and fit with team and organisational objectives and values.
Take responsibility for identifying own training and development needs.
Undertake supervision, mentoring and support of volunteers.
Provide informal support of clinical staff as agreed with line manager.
Develop and participate in training and development programmes to benefit staff and service users
- Responsibilities for information resources
Record personally generated information update service users records
Organise and disseminate relevant, clear information and resources to staff, other professionals, service users and the general public in accordance with MCH Information Governance policy.
Maintain MDT records and input into RIO (record system) promptly to facilitate communication and care planning.
- Responsibilities for research and development (R&D)
Undertake service development and evaluation.
Collect and collate information regarding clinical activity as required by the head of service.
Develop knowledge, skills and expertise in counselling approaches and related therapies.
Contribute to own professional learning and practise development.
- Freedom to act
Social work specialist within own field.
Guided by national and local policies, the postholder will follow MCH policies.
Be accountable for own activity and able to act independently within the area of social work specialism.
Regulated by Social Work England.
Be aware of the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling & Psychotherapy (2002).
- Physical effort (refer to effort factor questionnaire)
Input at keyboard
mobilising around the hospice building and other health and social care areas.
Driving skills.
Full Job description attached
