Hours: Full time (37.5hrs) - Working on a rolling shift rota covering days, waking nights and weekends.
Salary: £26,775
Location: Russell House, Huddersfield
Benefits: Entry into Peoples Pension, death in service benefit (3 x salary), out of pocket expenses, free on-site parking, free access to confidential and extensive wellbeing support, generous holiday entitlement (26 days plus bank holidays rising to 31 days after 5 years for a full time employee, pro rata for part time), free tea / coffee, sight tests and flu jabs and excellent learning and development opportunities.
OVERVIEW OF ROLE
When time is short, every moment counts. So when children with life-shortening conditions spend time with us, whether thats at our hospice, in their own homes or out in the community, we want every minute to be meaningful.
As a clinical support worker, youll provide care to babies, children, and young people over the course of each shift, with the support of our nursing team.
Youll provide essential clinical care, like giving medication, feeding, bathing, toileting and moving and handling as well as care tasks specific to individual children. But dont worry, during your probationary period, well provide all the training you need to provide safe and effective care to children with complex needs. There will also be progression to work with more complex children with tracheostomies and ventilators.
With the freedom to design your day around the needs and wants of the child in your care, your role will also be to engage them in play and learning activities, making sure theyre always happy and safe. That might mean spending time in our sensory room, cinema or even our hydrotherapy pool. Or you might go on a day trip together.
Some experience of working with children perhaps in early years, in education or healthcare - is essential but you dont need to have worked in a hospice before. Whats more important is that you bring a caring, friendly and playful attitude, that you love engaging with children and youre good at building rapport with them and their families.
Adaptable and resilient, youll be open to learning new skills and to helping these very special children to live the best lives they can.
If that sounds like you, and youre looking for a role where youll see the difference you make every single day, then please apply now!
For an informal chat about this role please contact Kirsty Goddard on 01484 411 040
For more information about Forget Me Not Children's Hospice, please see our recruitment pack
Interviews for this role will be held w/c 06.07.2026
JOB DESCRIPTION
Responsible to: Clincal Coordinator
Role Summary
Our vision is to deliver pioneering care through pregnancy, childhood and loss, wherever families need us, whatever the future holds. This role supports our vision by helping us deliver outstanding care to babies, children, and young people with life-shortening conditions and their families. A key member of our amazing team, youll work both in our hospice and out in the community, supporting families in their own homes.
Main Duties and Key Responsibilities:
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Deliver holistic care and support to children and families in the hospice, and occasionally community, following relevant care plans under the supervision of the nurses and care team managers.
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Provide clinical care for children and young people with complex needs, including personal care, nutrition and hydration, seizure management, tracheostomy care, oxygen therapy and any other individualised care needed.
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Administer medication to the children in the hospice and home setting through a variety of routes under indirect supervision.
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Undertake child specific delegated care tasks following completion of proficiency training and assessment.
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Act promptly should any changes be observed in the childs condition, seeking advice and reporting back to the care team leaders or the nurse in charge, as appropriate.
- Be able to use with confidence equipment and aids necessary for the care of the designated child, following assessment and training and to report any faults promptly to the appropriate person.
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Provide pre and post bereavement support to families, either in the hospice or the family home, as agreed with the team leaders as part of the family support plan.
- Participate in play and learning activities for children following the identified care plan with a focus on making memories and sensory play.
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Participate as a team member in other activities which complete the care cycle, i.e. laundry, meals, ad hoc light domestic duties and outings with the young person and their family. This will involve driving the wheelchair accessible vehicles belonging to the Hospice
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Ensure that childrens, young peoples and family feedback is brought to the attention of their named care team leader or the nurse in charge
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Liaise effectively with members of the public, including receiving donations and passing on media enquiries to the relevant directorate.
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Report any equipment, maintenance and safety issues to the maintenance staff, ensuring that all hospice property is well looked after and maintained.
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Inform the care team administrator of any ordering required to facilitate good stock control for all clinical and pharmacy stores.
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Support the organisation to meet CQC fundamental standards (for example in safeguarding, infection prevention and control and health and safety)
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Maintain effective communication and collaborative working with hospice colleagues and other agencies involved with the care of the children and families.
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Provide support and assistance to other team members when carrying out nursing procedures or family support activities. This includes siblings.
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Share knowledge and skills with care team colleagues, providing support and training where appropriate.
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Comply with hospice safeguarding children policies, procedures and practice.
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Communicate concerns over a child in need of protection or a child in need of support to senior care staff, child protection teams or other statutory partners or agencies.
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Partake in and engage with child protection supervision, as required.
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Actively promote the consultation of children, young people and families and encourage their involvement and participation in decision making.
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Respect other cultural and ethnic observances, relating to social customs and those surrounding death.
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Be responsible for your own ongoing practice development and learning, including actively participating in appraisal, practice supervision, reflective practice, education and training.
Training and support provided:
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6 weeks induction where you will work with a buddy to find your feet
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Undertake training and competency assessments in core and extended clinical skills which will need to be completed within your first 6 months of employment, competencies include:
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Tracheotomy
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Ventilation
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Medication
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Epilepsy
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Oxygen
- Ongoing peer support with providing end of life care and having difficult conversations
For all of our roles we expect employees to abide by the expectations set out within the Together for Families Framework (attached). Complying with Together for Families means that we will all act with integrity to ensure we are trusted by the people we care for, the people we work with and everyone who supports Forget Me Not.
We also expect all staff to undertake any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job, the title of the post and its grading, as requested by your line manager or their higher level of authority.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Skills and experience
Essential:
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Experience of working with children in a professional childrens setting such as early years, learning disability, education or healthcare
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A keen interest in providing clinical care to babies, children and young people
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Experience of using IT systems to record information and complete eLearning
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Evidence of working effectively within a team with an enthusiastic and confident approach to work
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Evidence of a good standard of written and oral communication skills
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Able to interpret and follow complex written instructions, such as care and symptom management plans
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Able to demonstrate a flexible attitude and approach to the changing work environment, including flexibility of shift patterns
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Ability to act on own initiative in delivering care, recognising when to seek supervision and advice from a more experienced member of the team
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Ability to learn to use equipment in order to carry out designated nursing tasks such as hoists, suction machines, oxygen equipment.
Desirable:
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Knowledge of current legislation relating to children & young people including best practice in safeguarding children
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Knowledge of the wide range of services available to children and families in the locality
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Experience of working in a palliative care service
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Play skills and previous experience
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Experience of providing community care services
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Experience of working with volunteers
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Experience of using technology and complex equipment in the delivery of care
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Experience of mentoring and sharing expertise with other staff
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Experience of working with children who have medical complexities, including tracheostomy and ventilation.
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Experience of giving medication
Education / qualifications
Desirable:
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NVQ level 2 (health and social care) qualification or equivalent
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Childcare and Learning Development (CCLD)/CHCHE/ BTEC/NVQ level 3, or equivalent
As this role involves working out in the community, you will need to have a full, clean driving licence and access to a car for work purposes.
This role will involve evening, waking night and weekend work on a rota basis and so flexibility is essential.
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.
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY
Please note that we are committed to equality and diversity and make the following pledge in relation to our recruitment practices;
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We will actively encourage and support under-represented groups to join us as employees
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We will always interview you if you are an applicant with disability who meets the essential requirements of the job and will provide adjustments to the recruitment process if required.
- We are committed to supporting part time and flexible working; we will consider part time working requests for all our roles
Please click here to view our full equality, diversity and inclusion pledge
