Job overview

The OUHFT provides the highest standard of Paediatric and Neonatal Care and this care does not end when a baby or child has died.  The Trust will continue to effectively support and work with families in partnership after their child has died with a strong focus on ensuring that learning from child deaths is acknowledged and shared.  This depends on maintaining a continued relationship with families, collaborating with Trust and external agencies, advocating for patient and family rights and promoting best practices in Paediatric Bereavement Care. 

Main duties of the job

·       To act as a single point of contact between newly bereaved parents and carers and the agencies that are involved in the essential processes following the death of their baby or child, including Safeguarding agencies.

·       To ensure that bereaved families have accurate and timely information about the mandatory processes that follow the death of a child, supporting them through the initial and then ongoing stages after the loss of their child.

·       To have a major role in enabling the voice of the family to be heard throughout including input into the Child Death Review forum and feedback to families after review completed.  

·       To care for bereaved families, including siblings and where relevant, extended families, ensuring that their practical, health, emotional and psychological needs are met through individualised support and appropriate onward referral.

·       To provide compassionate, individualised care and foster an environment of respect, dignity and empathy for all bereaved families and colleagues with sensitivity to Safeguarding procedures when necessary.

·       To work collaboratively with professionals working in family liaison capacities in Paediatric critical care, emergency and ward-based settings.  The post holder is expected to continue to develop knowledge and skills in the understanding and support of the needs of families bereaved by child or baby death. 

Working for our organisation

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. 

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. 

 We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence, and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. 

These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

In 2023 NHS England launched its first sexual safety charter, and our Trust proudly signed it. We pledge zero tolerance for inappropriate sexual behaviour and commit to the ten core principles

Oxford University Hospitals promotes a safe, respectful hiring environment.

If you want to make a difference with us, come and join our team. Together, we will uphold the highest standards of care and professionalism.