Palliative Care Social Worker (Maternity Cover / 12 months)

To deliver interventions where high-level assessment, problem solving and decision-making skills will be required.

You will engage with colleagues, patients, patient’s families and carers, volunteers, supporters and visitors.

ROLE OF DEPARTMENT

The aim of the Family Support Service is to provide high quality support for people and their families who are experiencing challenging life circumstances related to a palliative diagnosis. This work aims to encourage advance care planning, enabling patients to remain in their identified preferred place of care, whilst avoiding unnecessary admission to hospital. The Family Support Service is also responsible for the bereavement support provided to those bereaved whilst receiving Hospice support.

The service provides high quality, comprehensive education, for health and social care professionals and patients/carers, facilitating an improved understanding of palliative care/ carer support need/bereavement needs, the value of early implementation of a palliative care approach and recognition of the importance of advance care planning

Contribute to the campaign to raise public awareness relating to death and dying, supporting families to have difficult and sensitive discussions and address the issue of advanced care planning.

Support and facilitate choice and the fulfilment of the wishes of people with a palliative diagnosis.

SCOPE AND RANGE

• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, providing a specialist palliative care social work service to Hospice patients, their families and carers.
• Support Hospice patients, families and carers with the practical and emotional implications of facing a life-limiting illness.
• Support any children or young people within the family with the emotional implications of a loved ones diagnosis and subsequent death.
• Support Hospice patients, families and carers in making decisions about their future needs as they adjust to a new and changing situation, and offer appropriate interventions. This includes work with Hospice patients, families and carers coming to terms with the illness and possible death of someone close.
• To work in collaboration to deliver sustained improvements in performance, quality and consistency of practice across the team. Thereby achieving the best outcomes possible.
• To develop innovative ways of working to ensure positive outcomes for those receiving the service
• To represent and promote the service in relevant multi agency meetings;
• To ensure effective partnership working and engagement to achieve and deliver these objectives
• To engage in the strategic development of the Team and Service

MAIN TASKS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
DIRECT WORK
• Assess the needs of the bereaved, and provide bereavement support to individuals, families, children/young people and groups as appropriate.
• Complete a holistic assessment of need, and formulate a plan to address those needs, in collaboration with Hospice patients, families, carers, and other service providers.
• To formulate, design and deliver expert evidence-based interventions
• To build a professional relationship with service users and their families and to use that relationship to safeguard and promote positive outcomes
• To communicate effectively with service users and their families, ensuring that their views and wishes are heard and recorded accurately, and plans reflects their views
• To establish rapport and build a respectful, honest and trusted relationship with service users and their families, in order to identify and reduce risk in line with safeguarding procedures
• To understand and respect the rights of service users
• To support the completion of good quality assessments and the analysis of risk through the use of best practice guidance
• Facilitation of group work relevant to the service provision and identified need.
• Maintain accurate and appropriate records, including the computerised database, and provide reports and statistics as required