Senior Palliative Care Support Worker (Hospice at Home)

The Methodist Church in Britain; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS pension or hospice pension

Life assurance

30 days annual leave (pro rata) + bank

Unsocial hours payments

Study leave

Training & development

Employee counselling

Discounts with local suppliers

Job summary

St Michael's Hospice is seeking a senior support role in the Community Services team to provide hands-on palliative care for patients and families at home or as inpatients, under registered nurses' direction.

The post involves planning and coordinating the duty rota for support workers, mentoring new staff, managing staffing levels, and contributing to bereavement support. An enhanced DBS check is required.

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 in care or equivalent.
• Experience delivering hands-on palliative care.
• Experience dealing with challenging situations.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on palliative care to patients and families at home or inpatients under registered nurses' direction.
• Coordinate support workers' daily work, patient allocation and duty rota, and manage safe staffing levels.
• Provide medication management up to tier 3 and carry out clinical interventions (e.g., stoma care, dressing changes) after training.
• Give emotional and psychological support to patients and families, referring to wider hospice services.
• Escalate condition changes to the nurse on duty and use judgement in emergencies.
• Provide final care for deceased patients and contribute to bereavement care.
• Help with food preparation and dietary needs, and feeding patients when indicated.
• Lead, support and mentor new team members and contribute to appraisals.
• Manage clinical consumable stock ordering.
• Keep accurate care records and maintain confidentiality and dignity.
• Contribute to risk assessments and incident reporting processes.
• Help prevent complications of immobility such as falls and pressure sores.

Skills

Clear communication

Basic IT skills

Planning & organising

Building rapport

Resilience

Leadership

Education

NVQ Level 3 in care

Job description

This senior support post in the Community Services team at St Michael's Hospice combines hands‑on palliative care for patients and families at home or as inpatients with support to the nursing team. The role also involves planning the daily work of support workers, including the duty rota, and mentoring new staff. The community service provides 24-hour care seven days a week, with rotating shifts that include nights, weekends and bank holidays. An enhanced DBS check is a condition of appointment.

What the job involves

• Provide individualised, hands‑on palliative care to patients and families at home or as inpatients, under registered nurses' direction
• Co‑ordinate support workers' daily work, patient allocation and duty rota, and manage safe staffing levels
• Provide medication management up to tier 3 and carry out clinical interventions such as stoma care and simple dressing changes after training
• Give emotional and psychological support to patients and families, referring to wider hospice services
• Escalate changes in patient condition to the nurse on duty and use judgement in emergencies
• Provide final care for deceased patients and contribute to bereavement care, reporting vulnerabilities to the registered nurse
• Help with food preparation, dietary needs and feeding patients when indicated
• Lead, support and mentor new team members and contribute to support workers' appraisals
• Manage clinical consumable stock ordering
• Keep accurate care records and maintain patient confidentiality, privacy and dignity
• Contribute to clinical and health and safety risk assessments and follow the incident reporting process
• Help prevent complications of immobility such as falls and pressure sores

What’s required

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 in care or equivalent

Experience

• Experience of delivering hands‑on care for people requiring palliative care
• Experience of dealing with challenging situations

Skills & knowledge

• Basic IT skills
• Clear, fluent communication with active listening
• Planning and organising own time and prioritising workload
• Building rapport quickly with a wide range of people
• Resilience: staying calm under pressure and adapting to change
• Leadership: motivating and empowering others to reach goals

Checks & eligibility

• Enhanced DBS check
• Full UK driving licence held for 12 months, aged over 21 (depending on care setting)

Other

• Willing to work evenings, weekends and nights
• Patient focus: putting the patient first and looking after their interests
• Team working: building supportive relationships and team spirit
• Reliability: following direction and policies and completing tasks

Nice to have

• Care Certificate
• Previous experience of providing care in the community

What’s offered

• Transferable NHS pension or hospice pension scheme
• Life assurance
• 30 days annual leave, pro rata, plus bank holidays
• Unsocial hours payments on top of basic salary
• Generous study leave allowance
• Individualised training needs analysis and advanced communication skills training
• Employee counselling service
• Discounts with local suppliers