Complementary Therapist
Job Description
Job summary
East Lancashire Hospice is a registered charity, founded in 1984. We support and care for patients with a life limiting illness, their families and others close to them. We provide this in a number of ways; at the hospice and in peoples own homes across our community.
As part of our drive to return to normal after the pandemic, we are re-introducing our very popular complementary therapy provision for those accessing hospice services. The service forms part of our Support and Wellbeing Department and will provide individualised treatments and therapeutic interventions to enhance the wellbeing of patients and families from our communities. The service will provide an out-patient clinic and also support patients on our Inpatient unit working with the medical and nursing teams to help minimise pharmacological interventions for symptom relief.
This role may be closed early applications dependent, as recruitment is ongoing so please apply as soon as possible.
Main duties of the job
Qualifications are essential; however to support a person with life limiting illness or those at the end of life requires much more. Are you resilient enough to be able to cope with the extremes of human emotion and vulnerability? Are you sensitive and empathetic in your approach, whilst maintaining an appropriate sense of humour and an energetic positive approach. Will you take pride in the service you deliver, always looking for ways to improve and enhance this? If so this may be the role for you.
About us
The salary for the post is £25,094 for full time hours or pro-rata £15,056.69 for part time, 22.5 hours. The hours will be worked on a rota basis of up to any 5 days of the 7 day week. We do expect staff to be flexible to ensure service delivery is always covered.
We have an excellent, collaborative working environment with a generous holiday allowance of 27 days + Bank Holidays with the option to buy additional days. There is an employee / employer generous contributory pension scheme and you will have access to learning and development opportunities, ongoing training, and funded access to a private health scheme. There is also onsite parking and an onsite Cafe with reduced staff prices.
Aside from the terms and conditions detailed above, you will joining a very special and unique organisation, where people are at the heart of everything we do.
Equality and Diversity
We support an inclusive and holistic working environment and aim to empower our people to bring their authentic self to work. We are committed to this and so encourage applications from all individuals with the required skills for the role inclusive of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. ELH is committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and volunteers."
Job responsibilities
To work proactively as a Complementary Therapist within the Support and Wellbeing Team providing individualised therapeutic treatment programmes on both an out-patient basis and for those receiving care and support within the hospice Inpatient Unit.
Exercise professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of the patient ensuring an approach that complements existing medical provision.
Formulate and implement treatment plans, based on evidence of their efficacy; with a particular therapeutic focus on, for example, reducing anxiety, pain, stress and insomnia, enabling relaxation, a feeling of wellbeing and overall quality of life
Undertake risk assessment and risk management of clients/patients and work in partnership with healthcare professionals/others involved in the patients care to manage identified risks
Use empathy, tact, sensitivity and discretion when working with clients with long-term illness and those who may be approaching the end of their life
Manage a caseload and participate positively in prioritising referrals and using time efficiently to minimise waiting times
Provide patients with a clear synopsis of the assessment process and treatment plan including aftercare advice notifying relevant healthcare professionals and the multi-disciplinary team once treatment is complete.
Provide advice and support to the multi-disciplinary team and other professionals on the complementary therapy dimensions of illness and early death
Lead and / or contribute to developments and projects to evaluate the effectiveness of Complementary Therapy provision
Be responsible and accountable for own actions, working within the boundaries of the role and standards of practice set by own professional body.
Contribute to the development of staff / volunteers and informal carers to enable continuity of support for the patient where this is appropriate for example M Technique
Work collaboratively with the wider clinical team to maximise outcomes for patients
Engage pro-actively with colleagues across the hospice community to develop own understanding of the contributions of each department to patient care
Support the line manager in service development, evaluation and monitoring.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Q1 Diploma level professional qualification in at least three complementary therapies (massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, reiki)
- Q4 Registration with the Federation of Holistic Therapists(FHT)
- Q5 Evidence of professional development.
Desirable
- Q2 Degree level professional qualification in at least three complementary therapies
- Q3 M Technique
Experience
Essential
- E1 Post qualification experience of assessment and provision of complementary therapy to individuals with a range of physical and emotional needs
- E3 Experience working in a time limited way
- E4 Experience of identifying assessing and managing client risk
- E5 Provision of informal/formal education
Desirable
- E2 Experience working with clients with life limiting conditions including those at the end of life
- E6 Experience of evaluating complementary therapy treatments / service provision.
- E7 Audit / evaluation of practice
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.
Employer details
Employer name
East Lancashire Hospice
Address
Park Lee Road
Blackburn
BB2 3NY
