Family Ambassador

Suitable for those looking for flexible work in Hampshire and Sussex. Are you looking for a rewarding and varied role where you can really make a difference? We are looking for highly motivated individuals to join our team of Local Family Ambassadors. This is an exciting opportunity to support the transformation of children and young people's specialist (Tier 4) inpatient and intensive community mental health services. As a Family Ambassador you will ensure the needs and views of parents and families are heard and acted on. You will use your warmth, personal skills and ability to listen and communicate effectively to support families whose young person is accessing Tier 4 CAMHS services. Young people being accepted for CAMHS Tier 4 support are likely to have already been assessed in the community as having significant and urgent needs that require specialised help. Tier 4 services are for those with the highest or most complex needs, therefore your role as a Family Ambassador will be a crucial support to families during an incredibly challenging time. You will need to be positive, confident, engaging and compassionate, able to extend warm and welcoming invitations to parents, advocates and families whose young people are admitted to your designated Tier 4 inpatient units., You will work with the Regional Family Ambassador and wider Provider Collaborative to achieve the following core objectives:

• Work with parents and families from admission to the unit to discharge.
• Help parents/families understand the inpatient system and processes - be a source for high quality information that is easy to understand.
• To work proactively with the allocated inpatient units. Supporting communication processes between the clinical unit and parents/families; enabling units to create a compassionate and responsive approach to parents, families and carers.
• Empower parents to access information and to be part of planning (with the young person's consent).
• Have knowledge and networks of the local area to support parents and families with information and signposting.
• To be a point of liaison with the Unit on family and carer matters, specifically quality improvement initiatives to enable more robust and inclusive engagement/parental involvement.
• Help parents raise concerns where necessary and take action to escalate those concerns if necessary.
• Use your lived experience to encourage clinical teams to embrace the value of involving lived experience in meaningful conversations at all levels.
  
  Working hours / pattern
A number of full-time and part-time positions are available and we are looking for individuals to be based at the following Tier 4 CAMHS units:
• Austen House and Bluebird House (Southampton)
• Serenity Path and Blake Day Service (Winchester)
• Spring Tide Day Service (Hove)
  
  We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, homeworking, part time hours, flexible start/ finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen!