Support Worker

Role: To provide effective support to enable people with learning disabilities to live their lives to the full. 

People Supported:

• Enable people to achieve their full potential.
• Support people to fulfil their wishes expressed day-by-day and identified in their supporting documentation in which they lead.
• Support people in the day-to-day tasks involved in ordinary living.
• To support people through difficult times when they may injure themselves, be verbally abuse to staff and others around them, or attempt to hurt those around them.
• Support and encourage people to take part in the things that they enjoy.
• Understand and respect the relationships, which are important to those supported.
• Maximise the safety of people supported, staff and the community within the overall goal of supporting people to achieve positive outcomes in her life.
• Work consistently within risk management strategies which ensure people are safety supported.
• Provide support for personal needs, including all aspects of personal care.
• To provide personal care for the people we support who need it.  This means supporting a person bathing, washing, shaving, drinking eating, going to the toilet and changing pads.
• Ensure safe administration of medication and completion of full and accurate records.
• To maintain records necessary to support people effectively.

Staff Team:

• Contribute to and participate in a team-based approach.
• Attend training, development and team meetings, which may be additional to contracted hours.
• Take part in regular support and supervision.
• Act as a role model for those around you.
• Work within the organisation’s Working Values.

Finances and Administration:

• Keep full records of all income and expenditure.
• Fully comply with the financial and administrative procedures of the organisation.

Management and Organisation:

• Work to all policies and procedures.
• Promote positive relationships with those closest to people supported, and all others helping to support them.
• Shape the organisation by expressing your views and contributing to how it develops.

Self-Development:

• Attend and participate in all training and development as identified to develop one’s own skills, and abilities.

• Maintain a constant desire to learn and develop.

Person Specification

Support Worker

Positive Value Base and Person Centred Approach

Must be committed to ensuring that people with learning disabilities are valued and enabled to take control of their own lives.  To champion this when the going gets tough and be able to raise concerns if colleagues are not working in this way.

Relationship Skills

To get on well with people supported and others around them.  To be comfortable and relaxed in their presence, supporting them and helping them to get to know others in their community.

Positive Role Model

Must be hard-working, motivated, flexible and pro-active, someone who gets what needs to be done but can be relaxed about the pace at which some things will happen.

Integrity

Have a clear desire and commitment to working out one’s values openly and honestly.

Problem Solving Skills

Demonstrate skills in understanding complex situations and difficulties, and work thoughtfully, sensitively, creatively and purposefully to solve these.

Team Focus

Committed to working in a team dynamic rather than individually, to develop and fully use the skills of all team members.

Listening Skills

Able to listen to what people supported are communicating verbally, by action and emotionally.

Personal Learning and Development

Show a desire and openness to learn and develop evidenced through continuous training and development.  Be prepared to ask when help is needed.

Driver (for some posts)

Needs to have a full, clean driving license.