Youth Development Worker - Cardiac

Main area Child Health Grade Band 5 Contract Fixed term: 23 months (23 months secondment) Hours

• Part time
• Job share
• Flexible working

25 hours per week Job ref 188-CL140625

Site University Hospital Southampton Town Southampton Salary £31,049.00-£37,796.00 Per Annum (PA) Pro Rata Closing 10/07/2025 23:59 Interview date 16/07/2025

Job overview

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Please see below for detailed job description of the role.

Main duties of the job

The PEEER youth Service is a specialised team of youth workers offering a broad range of youth support provisions to young people living with a long-term health condition across the Wessex Region.

The Cardiac service here at UHS is one of the biggest in the UK and we are closely supported by Heartbeat Charity, who are passionate about supporting the psychosocial needs of young people and have funded our present cardiac youth worker role for a number of years.
Youth workers are recognised within the trust as a unique resource both to the young people and the clinical team. In recognition of this and the high need and demand, Heartbeat are funding a further role to work alongside the existing youth worker and expand reach to this specialist area.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced youth worker to broaden understanding and support young people to navigate their adolescent journey alongside their long-term health condition.

Working for our organisation

University Hospital Southampton is one of England\’s largest acute teaching Trusts, offering a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support your career aspirations.

Located on the south coast with an international airport and direct rail links to London, Southampton offers an ideal setting to live and work, with the New Forest, South Downs and Jurassic Coast.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalizing your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

At UHS we’re committed to providing a flexible working environment where possible. Whether you are balancing family, study, or your wellbeing with your career, we want to support you so you can help our patients.

At UHS, we proudly champion individuality, recognizing that outstanding care is only possible with a diverse, inclusive team. We’re committed to creating an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory environment where everyone feels valued, safe, and empowered to make a meaningful impact in our communities. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to join us in building a healthcare community where everyone can belong, thrive, and contribute.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The PEEER youth service prides itself on a youth-led approach involving young people in the development of new programmes and shaping services to meet recognised need. This specialised role will provide an expertise in youth participation and ensure that young people are
supported throughout their adolescence and into adulthood.

Some of the key elements of the role include:

– Delivery of bespoke interventions to support young people to navigate challenge relevant to their experiences.
– To participate as a professional member of the healthcare team and contribute to the care of
the patients as part of the multidisciplinary team.
-To act as a social prescribing link worker and enable access to local community services for
appropriate recreational, social, educational and advocacy support where appropriate/on request
of young person.
-To contribute to the provision of a varied programme of activities and opportunities to engage
young people, delivered flexibly in partnership with the wider PEEER Youth Service team.
-To contribute to the development of the PEEER Youth Service and agreed programmes to
support young people transitioning from Paediatric care to Adult Care.
– To support the work of Heartbeat Charity and share updates to showcase the work they support.

The successful candidate must have a Professional Youth work Qualification/Youth Work related
Degree or equivalent and relevant experience within Youth work. Work within a health care
setting is desirable but not essential.

The role will require travel to accommodate young peoples needs and flexible hours with some
evening and weekend work. This is a hybrid role with some working based at home, as well as
community and hospital locations.

Person specification

Trust Values

• Always Improving
• Working Together

Qualifications, knowledge and experience

• Professional Youth work Qualification/Youth Work related Degree or equivalent and relevant experience within Youth work
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Significant experience working with young people
• Good understanding of health issues relating to young people
• Good understanding of social needs of young people
• Knowledge and understanding of issues relating to child protection and cultural and diversity awareness
• Knowledge of issues relating to consent and confidentiality
• Knowledge of issues relating to adolescent care
• Understanding of social issues surrounding young people with life changing illness
• Ability to support young people within a clinical environment, occasionally when undergoing treatments and medical procedures.
• Experience working with young people in a hospital or health care setting
• Evidence of continued professional development Experience accessing community support services
• Knowledge of local authority policies and procedures
• Ability to present to/facilitate a group.

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications. We will not accept any applications or queries via agencies, under any circumstances.

Getting to work should be as easy as possible and that’s why we have introduced the UHS travel promise – a commitment from the Trust that we will provide reasonable travel options for every member of staff. Every member of staff can apply for a permit to use our park & ride facility. Eligibility for on-site parking is dependent on the nature and requirement of the role. All staff can also access a range of discounted benefits relating to travel including reduced price bus tickets, purchase of salary sacrifice bikes and ultra-low emission cars.

Our commitment to equality

Equality remains at the centre of our policymaking, service delivery, and employment practice, giving all employees equal opportunity to develop, apply for promotions, and have working arrangements that enable them to achieve a manageable work-life balance.

UHS actively promotes a work environment free from harassment and discrimination and provides training for managers and staff to ensure this happens. We also closely monitor recruitment activity, training, development, and employment practices to ensure equality of practice with regard to race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status and age.

How and why we use your information

The Trust is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided on this form for the prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.

The European General Data Protection Regulations enhances individuals’ rights and safeguards all of their data in place under the DPA.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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