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Job summary

Main area
Nursing & Midwifery
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent: 9-5pm
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (9-5pm)
Job ref
196-NM12998
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
South East London Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia
Town
London
Salary
£44,806 - £53,134 p.a Inc HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
10/07/2025 23:59
Interview date
24/07/2025

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Genetic Nurse Counsellor

NHS AfC: Band 6

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. 

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.



Job overview

The post holder will work as part of an integrated team, in partnership with carers and other providers of health and social care to develop and deliver genetic counselling for pregnant women and couples with sickle cell and thalassaemic conditions/carriers in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham. The post-holder will provide genetic counselling to support the antenatal, neonatal and opportunistic screening programmes. The post will include clinical practice, teaching and training, health promotion, research and audit.

Closing Date: 10th July 2025

Interview Date: 24th July 2025

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will provide genetic counselling to support the antenatal, neonatal and opportunistic screening programmes. The post will include clinical practice, teaching and training, health promotion, research and audit.

Working for our organisation

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

We provide a comprehensive range of services for the 127,000 children and young people that live in Lambeth and Southwark. This includes
universal services – health visiting, family nurse partnership, school nursing, nutrition and dietetics, and a new-born hearing screening programme.
Our specialist services cover community paediatrics, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, complex needs nursing,
sickle cell and audiology. As well as part of statutory services including looked after children, child protection, safeguarding, and adoption and
fostering.
We have two main health centres, Mary Sheridan Centre in Lambeth and Sunshine House in Southwark but we have many more across Lambeth
and Southwark. We also provide services in schools, community buildings, in families’ homes, and occasionally in hospital. Through group
sessions and individual appointments, face-to-face and virtual, we hold over 145,000 appointments every year.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • Receive referrals from individuals, clinicians laboratories and other professionals and agencies
  • Deliver expert health advice and genetic counselling to individuals with or ‘at risk’ of having a haemoglobinopathy        
  • Provide nurse-led genetic counselling clinic sessions at the South East London Sickle Cell/Thalassaemia Centre, and other local Health Centres/GP Practices, giving easy access to users
  • Promote integrated care pathways
  • Enable individuals with sickle cell and thalassaemic conditions to improve their health and reduce inequalities
  • Provide input into service development
  • Practice in a cost aware manner

Person specification

Qualifications/ Education

Essential criteria
  • Registered General Nurse (RGN) • Certificate in Counselling
  • Evidence of professional development
  • Understanding of other haemoglobinopathies so as to provide support and counselling
  • Phlebotomy (or willingness to undertake relevant training)
Desirable criteria
  • Certificate in Counselling
  • Experience of caring for individuals with haemoglobinopathies in a community setting
  • Experience of delivering teaching and training packages to different disciplines Experience of delivering teaching and training packages to different disciplines

Skills/Knowledge/ Ability

Essential criteria
  • Clean, valid motor vehicle driving licence
  • Phlebotomy (or willingness to undertake relevant training)
  • ENB No8 Care and Management of Individuals with Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia (or willingness to undergo relevant training)
Desirable criteria
  • Certificate in Counselling
  • Pegasus Training (or willingness to undergo training)

Previous experience

Essential criteria
  • Ability to deal sensitively with patients, relatives and carers
  • Ability to convey contentious/complex information to patients, relatives and carers
Desirable criteria
  • Understand the requirements of the National Ante Natal and Neonatal Screening Programme Standards and National Standards for Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Timewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employer

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Olukemi Ajamufua
Job title
Specialist Nurse Team Leader
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07880781545
Additional information

Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Centre : 02030495993

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