Specialist Social Worker - Palliative and End of Life Care

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 64,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in London seeks a Specialist Social Worker for their Palliative and End of Life Care Team. Responsibilities include providing expert social work support to patients and families, assessing complex social needs, and advocating for service users. Candidates should have a recognized social work qualification, strong interpersonal skills, and experience in a healthcare setting. This part-time permanent position offers a competitive salary and opportunities for career development.

Qualifications

• Recognised social work diploma or master's degree.
• Working towards a post-graduate degree in Social Work/Policy.
• Experience in a health care setting or hospice.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist social work and family support services.
• Assess and evaluate complex social needs of patients.
• Advocate on behalf of patients and families.

Skills

Excellent relationship building skills

Ability to assess highly complex situations

Working knowledge of current social policy

Education

Diploma/Masters in social work

Qualification in Practice teaching

Job description

Go back Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Social Worker - Palliative and End of Life Care

The closing date is 11 January 2026

Band 7 Specialist Social Worker - Palliative and End of Life Care - 0.6WTE permanent post

We are looking for an ambitious and experienced Specialist Social Worker with excellent skills to join our well-established multidisciplinary Palliative and End of Life Care Team at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. We provide fully integrated 24/7 clinically effective, efficient and high-quality care to people with complex specialist palliative and end of life care needs across inpatient and community settings.

The successful post holder will lead and support the delivery of excellent personalised social work support to patients and families across our two inpatient hospital teams, in their own homes, care homes.

If you are looking for an amazing opportunity for career progression and to develop or expand your skills in quality improvement, research/audit, then please come and join our team. We're a member of the Palliative Care Clinical Academic Group, providing unique access to world leading researchers in the field. You will have the opportunity to develop teaching skills through delivering training across the Trust. We support our staff wellbeing through clinical supervision as well as multiple team and Trust wide initiatives. Please contact [e-mail] to find out more about our team.

Closing date: Sunday 11th January 2026 at Midnight

Provisional Interview date: Tuesday 20th January 2026

Main duties of the job

In partnership with members of the multidisciplinary team, the post holder will

• Provide a specialist social work and family support service to patients, their carers and families.
• Contribute within the team and understanding of the psychological and social impact of life limiting on people from very diverse communities.
• Provide and promote a specialist, comprehensive and evidence-based social work service at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust.
• Work autonomously, managing a caseload of patients.
• Recognise, advocate and empower patient choice, and promote the autonomy of the individual within the healthcare system.
• Work alongside other member of the Palliative and End of Life Team to deliver and develop the service Trust wide.

About us

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK's best known hospitals - Guy's, St Thomas', Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield - as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

Integrated Local Services provides a range of community and inpatient health services for adults within the communities of Lambeth and Southwark, with some services also provided in Lewisham. The services provided by the directorate include Neighbourhood Nursing, Specialist Rehabilitation and Reablement (bed and home based), Palliative and End of Life Care, Vulnerable Adults and Prevention Services, GSTT@Home, and site administration services.

The Palliative Care team provides specialist information and supportive care to people facing serious illness. This includes symptom control and advance care planning. We recognise that emotional, spiritual, family and financial worries can be just as important as physical problems and we support with these aspects of care as well. Our Palliative and End of Life Care team includes specialist nurses and doctors, pharmacists, social workers, psychological support staff and administrative staff to help with the consequences of serious illnesses such as cancer and long-term health conditions. We are able to see patients in hospital, in their own home, and in our outpatient clinics.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will

• Assess, evaluate and support the complex social need of palliative care patient and their carers/families.
• Develop therapeutic relationships with patients and their families/carers in order to establish communication, trust and support.
• Maintain their own caseload of patients/families/carers and provide one-to-one/group support for patients/families/carers.
• Advocate on behalf of patients/families/carers in respect of their social, cultural, financial, emotional and practical needs, providing or signposting patients/families/carers toward benefits advice.
• Provide expert social work interventions including information, pre and post bereavement advice, support to patients, their families and other healthcare professionals.
• Assess and evaluate risk for vulnerable patients/families/carers and manage the risk appropriately.
• Establish and develop relationships with a wide range of clinical staff, Social Services, Benefit Agencies, Welfare Groups and other service providers to promote a joined-up approach to discharge planning and patient/family/carer support.
• Be a source of expert advice to the multi-disciplinary team, advising on statutory duties/responsibilities and evolving social work practice, social policy and legal frameworks.

Person Specification

Knowledge/Qualifications

• Recognised (SQSW) Diploma/Masters in social work.
• Hold a Qualification in Practice teaching (or be willing to undertake one).
• Completed or working towards Post-Graduate degree in Social Work/Policy.

Skills

• Working knowledge of current social policy/legislation, welfare rights and benefits as it affects patients and families.
• Evaluate complex psychosocial needs of patients & those close to them.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent relationship building skills.
• The ability to advocate, negotiate, analyse, influence and make decisions.
• Ability to work within a team as well as independently organise and prioritise workload.
• Ability to assess highly complex situations.
• Proven skills of work in a multi-disciplinary manner.
• Ability to be innovative and flexible regarding the use of assessment tools and monitoring of clinical governance issues.
• IT Skills for database and recording of activity.

Experience

• Experience of working in a health care setting/hospice.
• Varied experience in bereavement work, both anticipatory and grief work.
• Experience of working with carers and families with palliative care needs and external organisations that support these groups.
• Sound political judgement and astuteness in understanding and working with complex policy, and diverse interest groups, and common sense in knowing when to brief “up the line”.
• Ability to liaise and establish networks.
• To have knowledge of both voluntary and statutory frameworks.
• Have knowledge of Palliative and End of Life ethos.
• Experience of working with children.
• Knowledge of differing models of theory in relation to working with families.
• Experience in working with loss and grief.
• Experience of managing a clinical project and/or developing services.

Personal Qualities

• To be committed to reflection upon one's own clinical work, to challenge and question accepted wisdom including one's own Excellent inter-personal and communication skills with good listening skills.
• High level of work organisation, self-motivation, drive for performance and improvement, and flexibility in approach and attitude.
• Strong sense of commitment to openness, honesty and integrity in undertaking the role.

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.

Address

Guys Palliative Care Department

Ground Floor Borough Wing, Guys Hospital

£56,276 to £63,176 a year per annum inc. HCA (pro rata)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

Job locations

Guys Palliative Care Department

Ground Floor Borough Wing, Guys Hospital