Previous applicants need not apply.
The East of England Adult Eating Disorders Provider Collaborative have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated and compassionate Senior Support Worker to play a core part in delivering support to those with a severe eating disorder, to enable them to avoid specialist hospital admission whenever possible. You will need practical and interpersonal skills which are underpinned by psychological thinking and will work with nurses, psychological therapists, occupational therapists, a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a dietitian to deliver the new A-EDIT service.
Most of our service users will need to restore weight in order to remain in the community and supporting meal times and the preparation of food will be a central focus of this role. The successful candidate will provide skilled support at mealtimes and should be able to use the four Cs of caring - to be compassionate, consistent, confident and calm - whilst doing this. The support is also informed by a good knowledge of eating disorder symptomatology and psychopathology, so an understanding of why someone with anorexia nervosa may find eating difficult is essential.
If you are confident that you have the skills to work with someone with severe anorexia nervosa, ideally have experience at band 3 or 4 within an eating disorder or mental health setting and are passionate about or have a strong interest in the field of eating disorders, then we’d love to hear from you.
The post holder will support adults with a severe eating disorder who are on the alternative to Specialist Eating Disorder inpatient admission pathway and their carers. The nature of this support will be guided by the patient’s formulation and will support the service user’s recovery.
The principal support will be required at meal times or before or after and will require skilled and compassionate thinking. Other groups and session support will be required and will use the post holder’s skills which align with the service users' needs.
The postholder may also assist in the assessment and provision of behavioural and supportive interventions outside of mealtimes. The postholder will support people online or in person at mealtimes and may also be involved in online group provision along with other team members. The post holder will ensure they communicate with excellence within the A-EDIT team and with community eating disorders clinicians and teams in the region.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.
Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children’s, adult and older people’s mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.
To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly under represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
All appointments are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.
Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at https://www.cpft.nhs.uk
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities
- Work with the multi-disciplinary team to facilitate recovery steps which will enable the service user to avoid inpatient eating disorder admission or continue their recovery following admission
- Understand the service user’s psychological formulation and use it to guide supporting them at meal times and in other recovery activities
- Co-facilitate online groups
- Provide support and signposting to carers of the team’s service users
- Participate fully in providing quality care in line with local and national guidelines.
- Act as a role model in providing a service for people with a severe eating disorder.
- Participate in team audit projects associated with the service.
- Be required to challenge practice that compromises or challenges high quality care
- Advise Team Leader of any resource shortfalls.
- Provide advice and support to service users and carers on issues related to eating disorders
- Carry out other duties deemed necessary within the framework of the post as directed by qualified staff and the Team Leader.
- Partake in continuing professional development that will also benefit the development and quality of the service.
- Document all activity on the electronic patient record (PARIS and SystmOne), use Outlook in line with guidance and utilise Employee Online, Online Expenses and other computerised systems.
Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the east of England region (Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Suffolk and Norfolk) meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.
- DVLA have a number of reciprocal arrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website
