Family Support Assistant Practitioner

FAMILY SUPPORT ASSISTANT PRACTITIONER | Band 4 | £28,392 - £31,157

Full Time - working 35 hours over 5 days per week (a job share would also be considered)
Location: Winsley, Wiltshire (with hybrid working agreed)

WHY THIS ROLE?

Are you passionate about supporting people through some of life's most difficult experiences? Do you have the compassion, emotional resilience and interpersonal skills to help patients, families, carers and bereaved individuals feel heard, supported and understood?

As a Family Support Assistant Practitioner at Dorothy House Hospice Care, you'll play a key role within our Family Support Team, providing emotional and psychosocial support to people affected by life-limiting illness, grief and bereavement. You'll be the first point of contact for many individuals accessing our service, helping to identify their needs and ensure they receive the right support at the right time.

This rewarding role combines emotional support, care coordination, bereavement support and community engagement. Working alongside experienced professionals, you'll manage a small caseload, facilitate wellbeing and bereavement groups, support families throughout their hospice journey and help people build resilience during challenging times.

ABOUT THE BENEFITS

Dorothy House is an incredible place to work. Some of our benefits include:

• 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing to 29 days and then 33 days with length of service
• Excellent industry leading training with a focus on career development!
• Pension with Life Assurance.
• Colleague discount across our 30 retail stores.
• 45p per mile for work travel.
• Mindful Employer Plus Charter - supporting our colleagues with access to impartial, confidential advice when you need it most.

WHAT WILL THE ROLE INVOLVE?

As a Family Support Assistant Practitioner, you will work as part of our specialist Family Support Team to provide compassionate support and guidance to patients, families and carers. Your responsibilities will include:

• Acting as the first point of contact for referrals into the Family Support Team, undertaking triage and information-gathering conversations to identify support needs
• Providing person-centred emotional and bereavement support to patients, relatives, carers and bereaved individuals
• Managing a small caseload of individuals requiring low-level, time-limited emotional and psychosocial support
• Supporting people to access practical advice, resources and appropriate support services within the community
• Facilitating bereavement groups, wellbeing activities and family support initiatives
• Working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, volunteers and external organisations to coordinate support
• Undertaking hospice, community and home visits to assess needs and provide ongoing support
• Maintaining accurate records and ensuring appropriate safeguarding, risk management and escalation processes are followed
• Contributing to service development, awareness raising and the continuous improvement of family support services

See our full detailed Job Description on our website for more information.

ABOUT YOU

If you are a compassionate individual who enjoys supporting others and building meaningful relationships, you'll find this role incredibly rewarding both professionally and personally.

Essential requirements:

• Relevant qualification or equivalent experience in health, social care, counselling, mental health or a related field
• Experience providing person-centred support to patients, families, carers or vulnerable individuals
• Experience undertaking assessments, triage, referrals or identifying support needs
• Ability to identify, manage and appropriately escalate safeguarding, wellbeing or risk concerns
• Able to work independently, maintain accurate records and collaborate effectively within multidisciplinary teams

Desirable requirements:

• Experience within hospice, palliative care, bereavement, family support or mental health services
• Training or experience in counselling skills, bereavement support, group facilitation or trauma-informed practice

If this sounds like your ideal job, then we'd love to see your application.

Please note that our vacancies can close at any time once sufficient applications have been received. We therefore encourage early submission of your application.

INTERVIEWS

Interviews for this role will be held at the beginning of September 2026.