Job summary
- Main area
- Maternity Support Worker
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week (7 day working service. Shifts are allocated throughout the 7 days.)
- Job ref
- 318-25-T0436
- Employer
- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Stroud Maternity Hospital
- Town
- Stroud
- Salary
- £24,625 - £25,674 (pro rata if part time)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 29/06/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Maternity Support Worker, Band 3
NHS AfC: Band 3
Join us at an exciting time for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust! We have an ambitious plan for our journey to Outstanding and are looking for aspirational, committed individuals to join us, making a real difference to both staff and patients.
As a former winner of England for excellence award: Tourism destination of the year, the beautiful city of Gloucester and the scenic regency spa town of Cheltenham are fantastic places to work and live.
As a hospital Trust we are currently involved in over 100 clinical trials and studies, whilst also providing acute elective and specialist services to a population of over 620,000.
By joining Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust new colleagues can look forward to a warm welcome and a future full of opportunities and support.
Job overview
A rare part time opportunity has arisen to join the maternity support worker team who works closely with the midwifery team and newborn screening team to deliver clinical and therapeutic care to women and babies within set protocols and remit.
The maternity support worker role focuses on the offering of the day 5 newborn bloodspot and hearing screen to the newborn babies, as well as offering support to the mothers’ health and wellbeing postnatally.
The maternity support workers will work as part of a multi-disciplinary maternity team, delivering safe, compassionate, and competent care to women and their families both in hospital and community settings. They will travel to multiple locations within a working day across county to provide support. Under the guidance of registered practitioners, they will assist in the assessment, investigation, and provision of care, based on their acquired skills and training within the first year.
The role involves working with minimal supervision, often lone working, supporting women throughout the transition to parenthood. The post holder will contribute to a high-quality maternity service by collaborating with multi-agency teams, liaising with hospital and community services, and acting as a key point of contact for care delivery, support, and signposting.
Main duties of the job
The maternity support workers delivers a day 5 postnatal care to the women and babies, as well as other postnatal support within the midwifery team such as day 3/9 postnatal visits. As part of the day 5 responsibilities, the MSW will carry out the newborn hearing screening and bloodspot for the babies, provide safe feeding advice and support, check baby’s weight and jaundice assessment. There are other clinical responsibilities, please see job description for all the details.
Training will be provided to ensure competency is met. The maternity support worker has to undertake a Level 3 health screening diploma to commence within 6 months in post. This comprises of 13 generic units to cover generic skills and knowledge to work in a healthcare setting including specialist units in newborn hearing screening. Time will be allocated within the work hours where appropriate, however, studying in your own time is expected.
Working for our organisation
We work as a close team where communication is important to ensure all eligible babies are offered the newborn screening on baby’s day 5.
There are 3 hubs, West (Gloucester & Forest), South (Stroud & Cirencester) & East (Cheltenham) to ensure all the babies across Gloucestershire are offered the newborn screening.
This available post is for the South hub which means at large, the post holder will be covering across the Stroud and Cirencester area. However, all the MSWs do cross cover across the county wherever staffing is required. You will be notified in advance where possible, however, sometimes cover is required at short notice.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
It is important that babies are appropriately offered, seen and referred timely, so interventions and support can be in place during the baby’s early stages of life. Good organisation skills and time management are important for this role, as well as accurate data entry of information due to handling sensitive and important patient information. Good interpersonal skills are required when making contact with the families on the telephone and in person, to ensure information is communicated clearly and the families feel supported throughout each contact we make.
We are a 7 days service, which means your working pattern will vary throughout the weeks. The person will be required to travel around the county to attend clinics and home settings, possibly in rural areas not accessible by public transport routes..
Training and support will be provided. Competency assessments will be completed before lone working in the community setting. A health screening diploma is mandatory for completion in order to meet the job specification. This normally takes 12-18 months to complete.
Person specification
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Relevent work/social environment within a health care/hospital setting
Desirable criteria
- Ability to demonstrate proficient use of IT systems/Microsoft/hospital systems
- Screening knowledge/experience
Clinical/Experience
Essential criteria
- Good written and verbal communication skills with a good command and understanding of English, punctuation and grammar
- An excellent, professional telephone manner to minimise conflict, resolve queries and maintain the reputation of the organisation when dealing with all calls
- Understanding of information governance, confidentiality and data protection
Desirable criteria
- Ability to read notes, extract data and document accurately on the relevant systems
Qualifications and Training
Essential criteria
- Educated to GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in literacy and numeracy
Desirable criteria
- L3 Health Screening Diploma
Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- Good interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organisation
- Ability to work flexibly within a team/react to change/good time management
- Ability to use initiative and sound judgement when reviewing screening outcomes, quality data and screening outcomes
- Ability to handle occasional distressing circumstances and able to process the sensitive data accurately and contacting relevant teams
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Kiki Mak
- Job title
- Newborn Screening Programme Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07741331429
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