Health Care Assistant

NHS; Bradfield Heath; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading children's hospice charity is seeking a compassionate Health Care Assistant to work with children and young people with life-limiting conditions. The role involves providing nursing and palliative care, supporting families in a safe environment. Candidates should have relevant health or social care experience and be willing to work on a rota.

Benefits

NHS Pension Scheme

35 days annual leave including Bank Holidays

Enhanced maternity, adoption, and paternity leave pay

Flexible working arrangements

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Experience working with children and families in a health or social care setting.
• Ability to adapt working patterns and provide flexibility of service.
• Competent in moving and handling children with complex needs.

Responsibilities

• Provide nursing/palliative care for children, ensuring their and their families' needs are prioritized.
• Assist with nutritional needs and participate in routine household duties.
• Attend required training and adhere to health and safety policies.

Skills

Communication

Compassion

Teamwork

Adaptability

Education

NVQ Level 2 in relevant field

NVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care

Job description

Due to the expansion of the in-hospice services we have an opportunity for a caring and compassionate Health Care Assistant to join our experienced team. This is a rare opportunity to support children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families.

As a Healthcare Assistant you will take a role in creating a welcoming, safe and caring environment in which families can be relieved of all or some of the care needs of their child, working alongside them and supporting them.

You will provide care within Christopher's Hospice near to Guildford, working alongside the wider multi-disciplinary team.

The post requires a person with relevant experience of working with children and families in a health or social care setting. You will be expected to participate in a rota to cover 24/7, working a reasonable share of weekends and public holidays.

Main duties of the job

• Tosupport and assist in providing nursing / palliative care for the children,ensuring that the needs of the children and their families are at the centre ofall decisions.
• To participate in the appropriate clinical care of the children.
• Assist with nutrition where applicable (i.e. assisting with menu completion,feeding assistance), working closely with the Nurses.
• Participate equally with all Care Team members in general household duties.
• To behave at all times in a manner that is sensitive to the differing culturaland religious needs of the children / families.
• To ensure that the provision of care is consistent with the policies andphilosophy of Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.
• To be aware of child protection issues and be able to take the required action.To identify personal training and development needs with the Care Team Leader /Head of Care.
• To attend appropriate in-house training as identified in the personaldevelopment plan and to take proactive advantage of the professional supportoffered by Shooting Star Childrens Hospices to meet the demands of workingwithin this challenging field.
• To work with the Lead Nurses and the Head of Hospice Services to promote anddevelop the work of Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.
• To ensure the maintenance of effective communication skills with the childrenand families, within the care team, and with the Shooting Star ChildrensHospices Management team.

About us

Shooting Star Childrens Hospices is a leading childrenshospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limitingconditions, and their families, across west London and Surrey. In fact, theCare Quality Commission have rated our hospice in Guildford Outstanding.

Job responsibilities

Part 1: Job Profile

Main purpose ofjob

To take a role in creating a welcoming, safe andcaring environment in which families can be relieved of all or some of the careneeds of their child, working alongside them and supporting them.

Duties and key responsibilities

• Tosupport and assist in providing nursing / palliative care for the children,ensuring that the needs of the children and their families are at the centre ofall decisions.
• To participate in the appropriate clinical care of the children.
• Assist with nutrition where applicable (i.e. assisting with menu completion,feeding assistance), working closely with the Nurses.
• Participate equally with all Care Team members in general household duties.
• To behave at all times in a manner that is sensitive to the differing culturaland religious needs of the children / families.
• To ensure that the provision of care is consistent with the policies andphilosophy of Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.
• To be aware of child protection issues and be able to take the required action.To identify personal training and development needs with the Care Team Leader /Head of Care.
• To attend appropriate in-house training as identified in the personaldevelopment plan and to take proactive advantage of the professional supportoffered by Shooting Star Childrens Hospices to meet the demands of workingwithin this challenging field.
• To provide in-house training where appropriate with colleagues.
• To work with the Lead Nurses and the Head of Hospice Services to promote anddevelop the work of Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.
• To ensure the maintenance of effective communication skills with the childrenand families, within the care team, and with the Shooting Star ChildrensHospices Management team.
• To report complaints relating to patient care and inform the Lead Nurses orHead of Hospice Services as soon as possible, to ensure that the complaint isrecorded and a report prepared in accordance with the complaints procedure.
• To act in accordance with, and adhere to, all Shooting Star Childrens Hospicespolicies, guidelines, procedures and standards.
• To take reasonable care not to endangeryourself or anyone else by act or omission.
• Totake reasonable care or your health and safety and that of other people who maybe affected by your acts or omissions at work, and to ensure that statutoryregulations, organisational policies, codes of practice and safety rules areadhered to.

Part2: Main duties and key responsibilities

Professional

• To takeresponsibility for your personal development in liaison with your line manager.
• To takeresponsibility for undertaking the four elements of annual mandatory training,i.e. Fire Safety, Safeguarding Children, and Infection Control. Moving andHandling.

Mandatory Criteria

1.Other duties

The post holder will be working in adeveloping environment, and they will therefore be expected to undertake otherappropriate duties as required for the effective operation of Shooting Star ChildrensHospices.

2. ProfessionalCodes of Conduct

The post holderwill be required to respect professional codes of conduct and practice relevantto their role, as appropriate

3. Healthand Safety

Be responsible for health and safety in thearea under their control and ensure that they are familiar with Shooting StarChildrens Hospices policy on health and safety at work.

4.Mandatory Training

The post holder will attendall mandatory training relevant to their role

5.Our values and behaviours

Shooting Star ChildrensHospices is a leading childrens hospice charity for babies, children, andyoung people with lifelimiting conditions, and their families. We require thatall our staff share our common values and display behaviours that will enableus to achieve our goals.

Professionalism we will safeguard our families,each other and our organisation by working to ethical and professionalstandards at all times.

Respect We will treat each other with theutmost respect.

Integrity We will be open, honest andtransparent in all that we do.

Diversity We will respect individuality andensure inclusion and fairness to all.

Excellence We will strive for excellence inall that we do.

What we offer

• NHSPension Scheme (eligible employees)
• Employeecontribution 3.5%
• Additionalcontributions we will pay 1% above the contribution up to a limit of 7%

Annual leave

• 35 daysincluding Bank Holidays rising with length of service
• 2 weekspaid sabbatical leave after 5, 10 and 15 years service

Contractual benefits

• Enhancedmaternity, adoption, and paternity leave pay
• Flexibleworking arrangements
• Reimbursedprofessional membership fees
• Eye care
• Blue Lightdiscount card

Health and wellbeing

• EmployeeAssistance Programme
• OccupationalHealth
• Mindfulnesssessions
• MentalHealth First Aiders
• Nutritionallybalanced meals at Christophers (free employees)

Equality,diversity and inclusion

Shooting Star Childrens Hospice is committed toinclusion and diversity in everything we do. We know that getting things rightis critical for us to live our organisations values: Professionalism, Respect,Integrity, Diversity and Excellence.

We are always trying to improve our way of working tobe more inclusive and equal. Our vision is for Shooting Star Childrens Hospiceto be a place where people of all backgrounds, groups and communities feelwelcomed to work and volunteer.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• -NVQ Level 2 in relevant field
• Health and Social Care, Nursery Nurse Care Certificate or willingness to undertake
• NVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care

other

• - Ability to motivate others
• - The ability to work on own initiative and under pressure.
• - The ability to adapt working patterns to provide the flexibility of service required by the families seeking our care.
• - Sound communication skills both written and verbal
• - Basic IT skills
• - Moving and handling children with complex needs
• - Competent in caring for children and young people who use enteral feeding devices (Gastrostomy tube)
• - Experience of seizure management
• - Experience of children requiring oxygen support
• - Experience of using suction management devices

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.

Depending on experience£22,756.00 Plus GA