Home Care and Support Worker

Overview

If you have elderly friends and relatives, you will understand the value they place on independence. This role will give you the opportunity to work in social care and contribute to a vital and valuable 24 hour community service in your local area, by providing care and support to service users within Charles Dickens Lodge Extra Care Scheme, Barnard Castle.

What is involved? Home Care and Support Workers follow an individual\’s support plan to deliver person centred care to promote and encourage independence and to support their health and wellbeing. The role is varied and includes personal care; bathing, dressing, continence care, mobility support, nutrition and dietary needs, administering medication and ensuring that their medical, physical and emotional needs are met. The post requires successful candidates to be able to arrive at the scheme by 7am for some shifts and be able to work a rota of shifts over a 7 day period.

We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise that a diverse, talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services. We are committed to ensuring that our employment policies and processes are fair and equitable to all. We welcome job applications from everyone, and successful candidates are considered only on their skills and ability to do the job. As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and provide support throughout the recruitment process. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26899/Equality-diversity-and-inclusion-in-our-workforce We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.

You will require good communication skills, be able to demonstrate a common-sense approach, work on your own initiative after completion of an extensive induction, along with the ability to build positive relationships with service users and colleagues. No previous experience required however applicants should be willing to undertake personal care. Qualifications: NVQ Level 2 in Care or willingness to achieve within a set timescale. If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.

You will be contracted to 18.5 hours and required to follow a rota which consists of early, late, and night duties. The duration of shifts varies from 3 hours to 9.5 hours. Please note you will not work 18.5 hours each week. The rota is designed to meet the needs of service users, and hours worked per week will vary from 12-28.5 hours depending on the number of weeks on the rota, but equates to 18.5 hours per week over the rota period. There will be a variety of shifts covering days, evenings, nights and weekends.

Benefits include: Induction into the service and the role, working as part of a team within a building, support from the senior team and Supervisor on site, structured career path including professional development, guaranteed hours with the opportunity of working extra hours, full training, equipment and uniform provided. We offer generous rewards and benefits that are designed to help you perform at your best:

• Competitive salaries and 27 days holiday per year rising to 32 days after five years continuous local government service.
• Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave per year.
• Excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Plus, top up options – Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC scheme and standard AVC scheme for members of the LGPS.
• Wellbeing Portal and access to an Employee Assist Scheme.
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities including professional qualifications, coaching and mentoring.
• Employee Benefits Portal and Lifestyle Savings Scheme (discounts across a host of major retailers).
• Discounted DCC gym membership.
• Staff networks run by staff for our staff, including Race Equality and Diversity, Disability, LGBT+, Armed Forces, Carers, Menopause.
• Trade Union membership.
• A range of other salary sacrifice schemes such as car leasing.

Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26895/Rewards-and-benefits