Job Description
Post Title: Health & Wellbeing Practitioner (with a special interest in diabetes)
Work Area: The Well Centre / King’s College Hospital / Princess Royal Hospital (Orpington)
Responsible To: Clinical Lead
Contract: 1-year fixed term (with potential to extend)
Hours: 37.5 hours per week, including regular evening work
Locations: The Well Centre, King’s College Hospital, Princess Royal Hospital, and community-based settings
Key External Contacts: Young people and their families; voluntary sector organisations; project funders; Social Services; Health Authorities; Education Authorities; schools
About The Well Centre
The Well Centre is a Young People’s Health Hub offering integrated health, information, and advice services for 11–20 year-olds across Lambeth and Wandsworth. Our multi-disciplinary team includes GPs, counsellors, and Health & Wellbeing Practitioners (HWPs), with HWPs also embedded in specialist services across London (including diabetes teams at Guy’s and St Thomas’, Evelina, and King’s College Hospitals).
This role will be based within the hospital HWP team, focusing on young people with diabetes at King’s College Hospital and the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) in Orpington, while contributing to wider youth health initiatives such as the Youth Empowerment & Support (YES) Programme.
Purpose of the Role
The Health & Wellbeing Practitioner will support young people living with diabetes by:
- Engaging and building trust with young people attending diabetes clinics.
- Providing one-to-one therapeutic support and practical guidance to address health and wellbeing needs.
- Co-designing and delivering group interventions, pop-up clinics, and peer support opportunities.
- Helping reduce barriers to clinic attendance, improving engagement, and contributing to better physical and psychological health outcomes.
- Building the capacity of hospital staff to communicate effectively with young patients.
- Supporting the recruitment, design, and delivery of the YES Programme, empowering young people to take an active role in their care.
Key Responsibilities
Direct Work with Young People
- Manage a caseload, providing one-to-one therapeutic interventions using Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Therapy, and social prescribing.
- Proactively engage and support young people through clinic sessions, home visits, phone/video calls.
- Facilitate group sessions and peer support initiatives to address common issues faced by young people with diabetes.
- Re-engage young people missing appointments through outreach and community-based work.
- Work collaboratively with families, schools, and other professionals to ensure young people access appropriate medical and wellbeing support.
Service Delivery & Development
- Attend regular diabetes clinics at King’s and PRUH, linking young people to follow-up support.
- Help other HWPs with YES Programme (including recruitment, social media engagement, and post-programme activities).
- Develop pathways to link young people into wider services such as sexual health, mental health, education, employment, and extracurricular activities.
- Ensure accurate and confidential data recording in line with information governance best practice (including use of WHO-5 questionnaires, goal trackers, and EPIC database).
- Occasionally represent The Well Centre at NHS, local authority, and voluntary sector events.
Collaboration & Capacity Building
- Work closely with clinicians, safeguarding teams, and multi-agency partners to assess risk and support vulnerable young people.
- Attend regular MDT meetings and support diabetes and endocrinology staff to improve communication and engagement with young patients.
Person Specification
Essential Experience & Skills
- Professional background in health, psychology, counselling, youth work, or supporting vulnerable young people.
- Experience working in diverse, urban, multi-cultural communities.
- Non-judgemental approach and sensitivity to the needs of harder-to-reach groups.
- Strong interpersonal, communication, and advocacy skills.
- Skilled in needs assessment, referrals, and action planning.
- Resilient, confident, and motivated to work in busy and pressured environments.
- Ability to work autonomously while being an effective team player.
- IT skills, including database use (EPIC experience desirable; training provided).
- Understanding of safeguarding and information governance.
Qualifications & Knowledge
- Degree-level qualification in Youth Work, Social Work, Health, Psychology, Counselling, or equivalent.
- Knowledge of safeguarding procedures for children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
- Awareness of health, mental health, and social care pathways relevant to young people.
- Commitment to professional development and mandatory training.
Personal Attributes
- Outgoing, energetic, and passionate about improving young people’s health and wellbeing.
- Target-driven and committed to reducing health inequalities.
- Empowers and motivates others to achieve positive outcomes.
Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Pay: £17.50 per hour
Education:
Experience:
- working with young people: 1 year (required)
- Health / Psychology / Social Care or youth work: 1 year (required)
Licence/Certification:
- Driving Licence (preferred)
Work Location: In person
