Female Support Worker – near Hereford

We are offering a fabulous opportunity to join a small established care team working with a happy and easy-going young woman living within a busy family home environment in a beautiful rural area within the Forest of Dean.

Location
The family home lies about 20 miles south of Hereford, 19 miles north of Chepstow and 21 miles west of Cheltenham. Located within a rural position approximately 6 miles south west of Ross-On-Wye and a similar distance north west of Coleford, candidates will need to have their own vehicle to travel to and from the workplace.

The Client

Lucy is a 25 year old young woman who lives in a specially adapted annexe adjacent to her busy family home where her mum and siblings live. Whilst Lucy’s living accommodation is self-contained and fully adapted, she has daily contact, help and support from her family as well as receiving care from a dedicated team of Support Workers.

Lucy sustained a brain injury at birth resulting in complex clinical care with severe celebral palsy and epilepsy. Lucy is not independently mobile and uses a wheelchair to move around. Although non-verbal, Lucy is able to communicate effectively with those who know her by the use of eye contact, through facial expressions and body language. Lucy is fed via a PEG which is also used for the administration of medication and requires full support with personal care.

Hobbies & Interests

Lucy enjoys good vision and particularly loves to watch TV being a big fan of Strictly and Mr Tumble. She loves to go to the cinema where animated films are her preference, and also loves to be out and about in the local community; enjoying walks in the countryside and visits to the local shopping centre.

The family have two dogs and a new puppy who has recently joined the family and candidates will need to be animal lovers as Lucy loves spending time with the dogs at home. Lucy particularly enjoys sensory activities too and whilst she attends a local sensory centre weekly, she also likes to spend time within her sensory room at home or in her hydrotherapy pool. Candidates must also therefore be happy to spend time in the water with Lucy.

The Role

Lucy loves to be around bubbly, happy and positive people and a sense of humour is a definite must. You should have a naturally caring nature but also be able to think creatively about new activities or adventures Lucy might enjoy. You will need to be a team player, working closely with colleagues, with Lucy’s team of therapists as well as building good professional relationships with the family.

Ideally, candidates should have a nursing or clinical background, or have worked with clients with complex care needs previously. You will need to be an animal lover and be enthusiastic in implementing and supporting Lucy in her therapy programmes which will include physio exercises and time in the hydrotherapy pool.

The timely and accurate upkeep of daily care notes and clinical records is essential and you should have excellent written and spoken communication skills.

You should hold a full, clean, manual UK driving licence and have your own vehicle in order to get to and from the family home and you should also be happy to drive Lucy’s WAV to go out and about in the local and wider community.

Hours of Work

The available hours are 48 hours for two weekends in four, with the following pattern:

Saturday 08:00 – 21:15 with sleeping hours from 21:15 to:
Sunday 06:15 – 21:15 with sleeping hours from 21:15 – 06:15, waking hours to the end of the shift at 08:00 Monday

It should be noted that the sleeping night hours include one interruption to attend to the Client
during each shift.

Rates of Pay

Day Shift Hours (06:30 – 21:15) £16.00 – £19.00 per hour depending upon experience.
Sleeping Night Hours (21:15 – 06:30) National Minimum Wage per hour (currently £12.71 per hour)

If you are excited at the prospect of joining this established care team providing care and support to Lucy, enabling her to enjoy the things she loves, please submit your CV.

*Exemption is claimed under the Equality Act 2010 Part 1 Schedule 9.

Reference: BB/LH001