Maternity Support Worker - Lifestyle & Tobacco Dependence Advisor

Maternity Support Worker – Lifestyle and Tobacco Dependence Treatment Advisor

Band 3 Support Worker

37.5 Hours

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work with the specialist midwife and other maternity team members in providing individualised healthy lifestyle and smoking cessation support to women and families in a flexible and innovative way.

• Provide intermediate smoking cessation support throughout pregnancy and the post-natal period, using the support of interventions such as CO monitoring and Nicotine Replacement therapy.
• Work with the specialist midwife/lead advisor for smoking cessation to undertake the Smoke free pregnancy reward scheme with those women and families who meet the criteria, along with administration of the incentive scheme data collection and collation.
• Work with minimal indirect supervision operating within the assessed level of competence and being accountable for all aspects of own work.
• Close liaison with local stop smoking services and work closely with the Health Improvement team and Public Health department.

If you believe you have the required expertise for this position, we would love to hear from you.

You must have completed the Health Education England Care Certificate.

For further information please contact:
Rachael Gosling - Specialist Midwife for Healthy Lifestyles and Substance Misuse, rachael.gosling@ouh.nhs.uk

• Working with the public health midwives and Community/Continuity of Care team members to provide individualised support to women and their families to help make them make positive lifestyle changes that will benefit themselves, their babies and their family in a flexible and innovative way.
• Provide ‘in house’ ‘opt out’ tobacco dependency support throughout pregnancy and the post-natal period, using the support of evidence-based interventions such as behavioural counselling and behaviour change approaches, CO monitoring and Nicotine Replacement therapy.
• Additional scope of the role will cover lifestyle elements specifically targeting health inequalities in the pregnant community. This would include nutrition, exercise, and other key determinants of health inequalities e.g. education about access to maternity services
• Work with minimal indirect supervision operating within the assessed level of competence and being accountable for all aspects of own work.
• Maintain close relationships with local stop smoking services and local public health teams.

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 of 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.

Many of our recruitment programmes use Value Based Interviewing to identify those who have the skills we seek, who share our values and who are able to deliver compassionate excellence from the outset. We know that this makes a significant difference to your job satisfaction and above all the outcomes and experience of our patients and their families. For more information about our Values and Value Based Interviewing please visit www.ouh.nhs.uk/about/vision-and-values

• Undertake relevant training to undertake the Lifestyle and Tobacco Dependence Advisor role and maintain the skills and knowledge as necessary through participation in continuous development. This will include specialist tobaccos dependency training, VBA, MECC and MI training. To have completed the Health Care Certificate or equivalent, but additional training will be tailored for the role.
• Identify, approach, and engage women (and their families) who are eligible for tobacco dependency interventions in a variety of different settings. These may be in a clinical area, community setting, or at home. This may be delivered in a variety of ways including face to face, by phone, text or online.
• Continue to support women who ‘opt out’ of service model or relapse during quit attempts, using knowledge and skills to revisit quit attempt at any point using a non-judgemental, strengths-based approach. This will include a contact at 34 weeks to discuss a plan for managing a smoke free hospital stay.
• Participate in educating pregnant women and their families about the benefits of stopping smoking in pregnancy and give support to those women and their partners wanting to quit. Promote smoke free homes and support and advise women and families about the risks of second-hand smoke.
• Deliver evidence-based interventions including Carbon Monoxide (CO) monitoring, behavioural support (using behaviour changes techniques), e-cigarettes and NRT to a high standard and engage in the data collection and collation of smoking rates in pregnancy and post-partum.
• Alongside the delivery of tobacco dependency care for pregnant smokers within the community and inpatient settings, the role will incorporate a broader public health/inequalities remit, to address the wider determinants of health inequalities which co-exist in the pregnant smoking population.
• This additional scope of the role will cover lifestyle elements specifically targeting health inequalities in the pregnant community. This would include nutrition, exercise, and other key determinants of health inequalities e.g. education about access to maternity services
• Organisation of on-going tobacco dependency training for all staff groups within maternity (e.g. VBA training)
• Work with indirect minimal supervision from the midwife, operating at all times within the assessed level of competence. Clear professional boundaries and limitations will be discussed and monitored by the specialist midwife.
• Work within the agreed and relevant policies and procedures and know how to access them.
• Ensure that the relevant equipment is provided and maintained on an agreed schedule. Report any failings of equipment or other environmental factors to the consultant midwife
• Ensure the lone worker policy is followed at all times and communication with the team before and after visits.
• Be aware of how to report incidents, concerns or complaints and escalate any concerns or complexities to the specialist substance misuse midwife.
• Meet regularly with the Consultant midwife to assess and direct progress.
• Work closely with the local stop smoking services and the PH team to ensure the work links to wider strategy and ensuring continued support once discharged from maternity services.

The above indicates the main duties of the post, which may be reviewed in the light of experience and developments within the service. Any review will be undertaken in conjunction with the post holder