Family Support Worker in Charlton

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Family Support Team at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. Shooting Star Children’s Hospices provides specialist care and support to families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, or whose child has died. Rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, our teams support families across Surrey, north-west London and south-west London from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.

Family Support Workers (FSW) are the frontline of our care. Each FSW holds a caseload of end-of-life and bereaved families. They get to know their families, and check-in regularly with phone calls and home visits and can provide enhanced emotional support where required through more regular contact and interventions. Our FSWs tell families about the many services they can access at Shooting Star, assess their needs and make recommendations to our multi-disciplinary team. They support families of different ethnicities and families living in poverty, helping our service be as accessible as possible. Our FSWs work closely with our Therapists, Counsellors, Social Workers, Transition Team and our Care Events Team. Weekly MDT meetings bring the team together to think of ways to help families in crisis. The work is varied and creative, taking place at the hospices, in family homes and hospitals, allowing the support to be where the families need it. Our Family Support Workers are hugely appreciated by the families we support. The ambition of our strategy is to ensure every family affected by a life-limiting condition, or the sudden death of a child, has access to the specialist care that they need.

Day to day duties are:

• Being the on-site duty FSW, welcoming families on site, monitoring email inboxes and answering the Family Support Line.
• Helping with support groups and family events.
• Providing on the spot emotional support, sometimes in a crisis where a calm and supportive response is required.
• Visiting newly bereaved families in their homes.
• Supporting families staying at our Christopher’s hospice (booked stays and end of life).
• Attending various locations over the course of a week: hospice, hospital, family homes.
• Building connections with families from different backgrounds, delivering culturally sensitive care.
• Helping safeguard families at risk of harm.
• Acting as an ambassador for Shooting Star’s Specialist Bereavement Service, supporting other care team members with their learning and delivery of the bereavement pathway, and continually seeking ways to improve what we offer families.

The post holder will need to have a UK driving license. The hours are predominantly worked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Once a month, the FSW will work a weekend day (with advance notice). This is in place of a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that week.

This role requires experience of working with children and families who have experienced hardship, or those with complex needs. You should have a calm, positive manner, conveying empathy whilst maintaining professional boundaries. We are looking for someone passionate about supporting children and families.

In return you will receive a competitive salary along with a range of benefits, which include: Pension scheme NHS Pension Scheme (for eligible employees) or our stakeholder pension scheme, with up to 7% employer contributions Annual leave 27 days plus.