Lead Counsellor (Patient and Family Support Team) in Farnham

Salary: £37,048 per annum (WTE £46,310 per annum based on 37.5 hours a week)

Hours: 30 hours per week, worked Monday - Thursday

Are you looking for a job where you can make a real difference? At Phyllis Tuckwell, we pride ourselves on offering exceptional care to our patients and their families and carers. Phyllis Tuckwell is seeking to appoint a Lead Counsellor to join our Patient and Family Support Team, working across both the Farnham and Guildford sites, with occasional community-based work. The role focuses on providing emotional and psychological support to patients and carers under the care of the hospice, as a core component of palliative care.

A key aspect of this role is leading and supporting a team of counsellors, ensuring a cohesive, effective, and responsive service. The successful candidate will be confident in coordinating workload, offering day-to-day guidance, and supporting the professional development and wellbeing of colleagues. The Lead Counsellor will be expected to bring strong leadership experience, including the ability to manage team dynamics, provide informal support and guidance, and contribute to service improvement and the ongoing development of psychological support within a multidisciplinary team, working alongside the clinical psychologist and other professionals.

Main duties of the job

While involvement in supervision is part of the role, a formal supervision qualification is desirable but not essential, as additional supervision support is available within the service. Experience of, or a good understanding of, working with children and young people is also important, given the needs of the service.

If you would like to feel part of a welcoming and committed team, benefit from strong peer and managerial support, and want to develop your career with excellent training and education opportunities, we would be delighted to hear from you.

About You:

• A qualification in Counselling to at least a diploma level
• Experience of leading or coordinating a team of counsellors (essential)
• A certificate in Counselling Supervision CPCAB Level 6 (desirable, not essential)
• Experience in end of life and grief issues
• Experience of working with adults and some knowledge or experience of working with children and young people
• Experience in working with volunteers
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• A good understanding of safeguarding protocols and procedures
• The ability to coordinate workload and support colleagues in day-to-day practice
• Flexibility to work across both the Farnham and Guildford sites, with occasional community work
• Experience of working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team, including clinical psychology input where appropriate

About Us:

We are based in Farnham and Guildford, and provide bespoke, compassionate palliative and end of life care for people living with an advanced or terminal illness, across West Surrey and North-East Hampshire. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, with the principles of fairness and equality at its core. We warmly welcome applications from all sections of the community. All appointments are made following a fair and equitable process, based on merit, job requirements and business need.

We Offer:

• Six weeks paid holiday plus public holidays (pro-rated for part-time staff)
• Continuation of NHS Pension or Phyllis Tuckwell Group Personal Pension Plan (matched contributions up to 7.5%)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Blue Light Discount Card
• Access to learning and professional development opportunities (we have an on-site education team)
• A Great Place to Work
• Flexible hours and flexible working
• Supportive colleagues
• Clinical supervision and support

Job responsibilities

POST: Lead Counsellor

JOB PURPOSE: To provide leadership and line management to the counselling team. The post holder will take responsibility for coordinating the day-to-day function, promoting high standards of professionalism and practice, and contribute to the ongoing development of the service.

The role reports to and will work collaboratively with The Patient and Family Team Manager and Safeguarding Lead to ensure effective delivery of the counselling service. Together they will work with the multidisciplinary team to develop emotional support services to improve the effectiveness of Phyllis Tuckwell in meeting the psychological needs of patients and families, as one of the pillars of palliative care.

The role also includes maintaining a small clinical caseload, providing counselling support to patients and families (including children and young people), and working collaboratively as part of the multidisciplinary team to uphold Phyllis Tuckwell's values.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Maintain a high level of knowledge of professional, ethical and regulatory issues relating to counselling practice.
• Deliver safe, time-limited counselling and clinical assessments to patients and families (including children and young people), as part of a maintained clinical caseload, underpinned by a grief theoretical model.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary team (MDT) working, ensuring the counselling perspective informs holistic care, and work collaboratively with the clinical psychologist and other professionals to support coordinated care. This includes contributing to the ongoing development of psychological support within the service.
• Lead and oversee therapeutic work for adults and children.
• Identify and escape adult and child safeguarding concerns; manage risk in accordance with BACP (or equivalent), PT policies, GDPR and Caldicott principles.
• Role model ethical practice, confidentiality, and resilience, sharing best practice to foster team wellbeing.
• To have an ability to recognise, evaluate, analyse and problem solve ethical dilemmas, in accordance with the BACP (or equivalent) and organisational guidelines and policies.
• To work to the principles of clinical governance and risk management, contributing to risk assessments where appropriate and evidence-based interventions.
• To complete all relevant reports, outcome measures and case studies as required by the counselling service and Phyllis Tuckwell.
• To work flexibly on a basis agreed with the PAFS Team Manager and colleagues across service areas, which may include some weekend and evening working as appropriate.

Managerial

• Coordinate, support and provide leadership to counsellors, qualified volunteers and student placements, ensuring effective case allocation and day-to-day functioning of the service, and maintaining a consistently high-quality and responsive service.
• Support and develop the team through appraisal, performance oversight and day-to-day guidance, working in collaboration with the Patient and Family Support Manager to promote an open and effective communication culture.
• Work collaboratively and in conjunction with the Patient and Family Support Manager to ensure effective service delivery and continuous improvement internally whilst seeking opportunities for new external collaborations that will contribute to the business planning process.
• Liaise with Voluntary Services, external agencies and the Patient and Family Support Manager to optimise resources and develop collaborative initiatives.
• Oversee service evaluation, quality improvement projects and the handling of complaints, implementing lessons learned.
• Ensure compliance with PT policies on safeguarding, patient safety, lone working and record keeping.

Training and Development

• Share best practice with colleagues, particularly in relation to developing approaches to counselling practice and service delivery and development.
• Help shape and contribute to the strategic development of the counselling service and wider team.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of the counselling service and wider team, including identifying and supporting quality and service improvements in practice and service delivery.
• Develop and facilitate training and development sessions for staff within the hospice and wider settings where appropriate.
• Keep informed of changes in professional practice and participate in continued professional development in compliance with the BACP, or equivalent.

Personal

• To attend appropriate meetings and training events updating knowledge and skills in end-of-life care, ensuring that information being supplied and clinical practice is evidence-based, relevant and up to date.
• To maintain own continuing professional development in line with the BACP Register and keep up to date with advances and changes in practice and research.
• To review and demonstrate commitment to developing own learning needs using the annual appraisal process and reflective practice.
• To have regular individual supervision and line management meetings.

Research

• Maintain awareness of current research and contribute to inter-hospice or collaborative projects where opportunities arise.
• To actively contribute and take part in any quality measuring systems that PT may put in place.

Safeguarding, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Role holders are required to understand their responsibilities in the safeguarding context, ensuring that Phyllis Tuckwell reduces the risk of harm or abuse of adults and children at risk.
• You are required to adhere to Phyllis Tuckwell's Safeguarding Policy (held on the NEST), which supports the local authority's multi-agency safeguarding policy, the law (Care Act 2014) and Mental Capacity Act 2005 (including Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards).
• Inform the appropriate PT professional where there is concern that an adult or child may be at risk of harm, abuse, or neglect.

Phyllis Tuckwell is committed to an Equal Opportunities approach, valuing, and respecting everyone as individuals, with diverse opinions, cultures, lifestyles, and circumstances. This job description is underpinned by Phyllis Tuckwell's philosophy, culture, and core values, which actively embrace diversity and inclusion and promote total team spirit. This job description is current and subject to yearly review in consultation with the jobholder. It is liable to reflect and anticipate necessary changes to support the PT strategy.

Person Specification

• Able to carry out effective and appropriate assessment and evaluation
• Ability to manage a busy workload
• Ability to prioritise service needs and contribute to service improvement within workload management
• Using Information and systems
• Be in possession of good IT skills word, e-mail and internet usage
• Experience of working within a hospice/ hospital/ medical setting or with the dying and their families / partners / friends
• Knowledge and understanding of the grieving process
• Experience of supporting, guiding or developing counsellors in a leadership or supervisory capacity
• Possess group and family work skills or capable and willing to work towards becoming group and family work trained
• Experience of leading, coordinating or managing a counselling team and caseload
• Experience of contributing to service development and improvement within a counselling or clinical service setting
• Recognised counselling qualification
• BACP accredited or willing to work towards accreditation
• Ability to deliver teaching or presentations and contribute to staff development within the hospice
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Experience of working with children and young people
• Evidence of clear, concise recording of work
• Leadership skills and attributes
• Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team with a range of professions and show a commitment to teamwork
• Ability to show interpersonal sensitivity to others
• Ability to work collaboratively with clinical psychologists and other professionals within a multidisciplinary setting
• Understanding of policies and procedures relevant to the post
• Understanding of the emotional demands of working in palliative care on self and team members and how to deal with situations
• Understanding of psychological and emotional risk within palliative care settings

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.