Health Care Assistant - Specialist Hospice at Home in Dorchester

37.5 hours per week (30 hours considered) - Permanent contract

Clinical Salary Scale: £24,937 - £26,598 per year FTE

Interviews: 25 February 2026

You will be joining Weldmar's Specialist Hospice at Home team in South Dorset, delivering outstanding patient care within the community in Dorchester, Weymouth, Portland and surrounding areas. Our South Hub is based at our Inpatient Unit in Dorchester. As a Health Care Assistant, you will provide assurance to patients and family members, who will have access to a range of support from those working within the hub, other clinical specialists from our multi-disciplinary team, and to our patient and family support services, as well as to hands-on care if required. This will enable them to live as well as possible at home, reducing the likelihood of hospital admissions. Demonstrating our values, you will work collaboratively with your clinical colleagues and external agencies to provide an agile and responsive service based on patient needs identified by the Specialist Hospice at Home team.

Main duties of the job:

• Passionate about delivering quality care and have experience in a similar role, ideally with experience of supporting those at end of life.
• Access to bespoke training and development provided by Weldmar to ensure that you have all the skills, knowledge and expertise to deliver compassionate care.
• This unique opportunity sees you having the time to make a real difference, not only to our patients at end of life, but also to their families and carers who we support.
• The role requires you to possess a full valid driving licence, your own transport and business insurance.
• Your core hours will be Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, with a requirement to provide weekend cover on a rota basis, anticipated to be 1 in 6 weeks.
• A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check is required for this role.

About us:

Weldmar Hospicecare: Rated Outstanding by the CQC, Weldmar Hospicecare provides specialist care to adults in Dorset with a life-limiting illness, and support to their loved ones. This care is given in the comfort of patients' own homes, in the community, and at our Inpatient Unit in Dorchester. All care is provided free of charge and mainly funded by the continued support of our local community, via fundraising initiatives and events, our retail chain, and gifts left in wills, enabling us to raise the £27,500 we need every day to keep our services going.

Job responsibilities:

• Provide reassurance to patients and/or families, reducing the likelihood of hospital admission.
• Offer hands-on care to patients at home.
• Provide emotional support and advice.

Qualifications:

• NVQ Level 2-3 or higher in care or experience from a relevant role.
• A minimum of 2 years working experience of direct care giving in a similar role is essential, and experience of delivering care at end of life is desirable.
• Knowledge of palliative care would be advantageous.
• Able to work independently and with other members of the SH@H team in the patient’s own home.
• Good awareness of own limitations, and able to recognise the need to ask for assistance and for onward referral.
• Commitment to developing skills and knowledge of the care of the dying person and family.

Experience:

• Skilled at working with people providing intimate and personal care to them in a respectful and dignified manner.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to build trusting relationships enabling effective communication with patients and carers.
• Show empathy and present a calm, courteous and compassionate manner.
• Ability to follow plans of care and take direction from senior colleagues.
• Ability to work autonomously and safely in a person’s home and/or other settings such as clinic, care home.
• Able to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of boundaries in relationships with patients and their families.
• Ability to work unsupervised as a lone worker as needed and the ability to work as a supportive team member.
• Able to demonstrate self-care and emotional resilience including access to clinical supervision, line management, and Weldmar’s suite of Wellbeing Supports.
• Committed to self-development.
• Post holders must hold a driving licence with appropriate business insurance, have access to a car and be prepared to travel throughout the defined catchment area.
• Must be IT literate and confident, and be able to use a number of IT systems and Weldmar databases.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

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.