Infant feeding Support Worker
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If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge then we are keen to hear from you.
Job overview
Are you passionate about breastfeeding and supporting close families and their babies? Are you enthusiastic about working with others to provide feeding support over the first few weeks of life?
An exciting opportunity has arisen at Colchester and Ipswich hospital, ESNEFT to join the Maternity Infant Feeding Team to deliver Infant Feeding support across Maternity services. The role will mainly be supporting families but will also include assisting the Infant Feeding Team.
We have two full time posts, one for Colchester Hospital and one for Ipswich Hospital.
The advert might close earlier if sufficient amount applications received.
Main duties of the job- The post holder will support the Infant Feeding Lead in planning, implementation and maintenance of UNICEF baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) standards.
- The post holder will have working knowledge of clinical and public health guidelines relevant to local and national breastfeeding agendas.
- To meet the needs of the Trust with regard to Induction, mandatory and statutory training
- To meet the direct and indirect care needs of patients under the delegation and supervision of a Registered Midwife.
- To ensure high standards of patient care at all times, in line with Trust policies and guidelines
- To work as an effective member of the midwifery and wider multi-professional healthcare team.
- To work within the boundaries of the role of the MSW supporting more junior colleagues as required and refer to the Registered Midwife as appropriate.
Working for our organisation
We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.
We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.
We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.
Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.
We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.
If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.
Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description and person specification.
Person specification
Qualification
Essential criteria- NVQ Level 3 (Health & Social Care) or equivalent
- Willingness to undertake further study
Experience
Essential criteria- Proven previous experience in supporting breastfeeding within a health or community setting.
- Tongue-tie recognition and management.
- Lone working in the community setting.
- Confident and competent in producing, evaluating and completing a feeding plan.
- Experience discussing and demonstrating responsive bottle feeding.
- Experience within an acute setting
- Experience running groups.
- Experience in mentoring / supervising staff.
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Can demonstrate an awareness of benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby in line with UNICEF BFI standards.
- Understanding of risk management, health and safety issues, including safe manual handling.
Please note that where response levels are exceptional we may close the post before the specified date, therefore early application is recommended.
Please make sure that you read the Job Description and Person Specification attached and that your statement in support reflects this as your application will be judged against these criteria.
Secondment - if you are interested in undertaking a role on a secondment basis, please ensure that you have discussed this with your current line manager prior to submitting your application. Please note if you are already an employee of ESNEFT fixed term roles will only be offered on a secondment basis.
When providing reference details please provide email addresses so references can be sought promptly to cover the last 3 years of employment.
Successful candidates may be charged for their DBS check. Please ensure you read the information found in the attached DBS Information document
The Trust is committed to its staff and their development and to equal opportunities and diversity. Applications are welcomed from all sections of the community.
Whilst we welcome applications from all and your application will be considered on individual merit, if you are offered a position and require a Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship we may not be able to process your application to the final stage due Home Office eligibility.
In submitting an application form, you authorise East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed to the post.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust; we look forward to receiving your application for employment.