Medical Social Worker at Paedspal 234 views1 applications

Paedspal is a registered nonprofit company based within the Rondebosch Medical Centre (RMC) complex. It is a public-private partnership programme that provides care and support for children living with life threatening and life limiting illnesses in the Western Cape. The name is a play on words with the ‘pal’ being a shortening of the word ‘palliative’ as well as a colloquial word for ‘friend’. Paediatric Palliative Care (PPC) is a rapidly developing new approach to care, organised in some places as a specialty, to improve the care and quality of life of children with life-limiting conditions. It is the science and art of lessening physical, psychosocial, emotional and existential suffering by multi-disciplinary teams that mobilise existing resources.

Paedspal seeks to employ a Medical Social Worker, based in Cape Town.

This is a half a day position.

Responsibilities:

• Head up Paedspal’s psycho-social team consisting of a family counsellor, aromatherapist and art therapy consultant
• Provide individual counselling and psycho-social support to families of children with life-limiting conditions
• Assist with the running of support groups for patients and their families (Including bereavement support) and an annual memorial service
• Conduct home visits as needed (usually with another member of the palliative care team)
• Provide meaningful input into multi-disciplinary discussions around the care of complex patients with psycho-social challenges related to the impact of living with a chronic illness
• Liaise with community based social workers and other organisations to ensure the needs of vulnerable children with chronic illnesses are met and to provide continuity of care
• Work closely with the social work department at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s hospital (our main source of referrals) and network with other hospices, child-focused NGO’s and palliative care organisations
• Keep good records of consultations and provide statistics and patient stories to the NGO’s administration to ensure good patient care as well as assist with fundraising

Requirements:

• Minimum educational qualification: Appropriate Bachelor’s degree in Social Work or equivalent qualification
• Registration with the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP) as Social Worker and proof of payment of registration for 2016/2017
• Experience in palliative care would be a bonus but is not a post requirement: Social workers without experience. in Palliative care will be required to complete the part time Postgraduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine at UCT
• Must have communication skills in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa (essential).
• A valid driver’s license (Code B/EB)

To apply, submit applications to [email protected]

Salary scale will be determined by Grade:

• Grade 2 – 3: A minimum of 10 years’ appropriate experience in Social Work after registration as Social Worker with the SACSSP
• Grade 3: A minimum of 20 years’ appropriate experience in Social Work after registration as a Social Worker with the SACSSP.

All NGO appointments are on an annual contract basis which is renewed based on the availability of funding.