Community Support Worker

Job summary

Band 3 Community Support Worker

The Community Support Worker will play a central role in supporting the Dementia and Older People's Mental Health Service across all areas of its delivery. While the core DOPMHS team works Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, the wider service includes Intensive Support Practitioners who provide cover seven days a week, including weekends and bank holidays.

Although the post is based within DOPMHS, the role forms part of the wider service model, and the post holder will be required to work across both DOPMHS and the Intensive Support Service in line with service need, including supporting extended working patterns where required. This ensures continuity of care for older adults experiencing crisis or requiring ongoing intervention.

This role is pivotal in the review and support process for older people and their carers, involving direct work in people's homes and care settings, as well as liaison with primary care and community-based services. You will be part of a skilled and supportive multi professional team, with regular managerial and clinical supervision.

As the post involves travel across the service area, the ability to drive and access to a vehicle is essential.

Main duties of the job

The role involves supporting the community nurses in delivering excellent service to the patients under our care. The successful candidate will be undertaking clinical visits to patients and their carers out in the community, be able to work as part of the multi-disciplinary team, feeding back any concerns thus ensuring risks are identified, discussed and acted upon within a timely manner.

You will be assisting the community nurses to plan, implement, review and evaluate individual patients care plans thus ensuring the patients' needs are at the fore at all times. The successful candidate will be expected to deliver safe and compassionate care and be pro-active in their approach to promote social inclusion and positive occupation in accordance with our Trusts values and behaviours.

To protect the health and safety of our staff/workers, patients, and those attending our sites, we encourage our workforce to get fully vaccinated against COVID

About us

We provide mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.

All our clinicians are given opportunities to develop and grow as professionals in the organisation. We provide regular supervision, a supportive working environment and access to training opportunities to assist you to realise your potential.

This Trust offers the following;

-Excellent starting salary
-NHS Pension contributions
-27 days holiday allowance plus bank holidays
-Flexible Working patterns
-Child care vouchers
-Excellent training and development opportunities
-NHS Discounts
-Employee Assistance Programme

We'd love you to join our organisation that is rated good overall and outstanding for caring by the Care Quality Commission. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Communication & Relationship skills Provide and receive information from clients, clients representatives and immediate team colleagues.Exchanges factual information to clients using persuasion, reassurance, tact and empathy.Overcome barriers to understanding that may be a result of mental illness.Knowledge, Training and experience Undertake procedures and practices that will require a base level of theoretical knowledge.Knowledge of health and related procedures, clinical observations, Mental Health act.NVQ 3 training.Analytical & Judgement Skills Assess patients condition through basic test results, assess comfort of patient, and instigate emergency procedures.Planning & Organisational Skills Plan and organise own day-to-day work including home visits.Physical Skills Support clients using equipment where narrow margins exist for error, accuracy is important and use of them requires training/ practice.May carry out activities such as vene puncture as trainedUndertake training to ensure safety and competence using equipment.

Person Specification

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential
-NVQ Level 3 in Care or equivalent experience

EXPERIENCE

Essential
-Experience working within a health or social care setting
-Experience of working in the community with mental health patients and those with dementia
-Experience of working as part of a team
-Good communication skills