HealthJobsUK

Job overview

Hope House Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) is a service in Gloucestershire offering emotional and practical support; as well as forensic medical care, to anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted. 

Victims are offered support based on their individual needs and can access the service via the Police and other professionals. Victims can also contact the SARC directly to arrange an appointment without Police involvement.

We are looking for a motivated individual to join our team as an Out-of-Hours Crisis Worker. 

The role of a Crisis Worker exists to provide initial crisis intervention and support to those attending the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC); based at Hope House Sexual Health Clinic, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

The post holder will be available to be on-call at night, weekends and bank holidays;  and will have a full driving license. The post holder must be able, when on-call to attend the SARC premises within 90 minutes of call-out. 

Main duties of the job

Main duties include:

• To provide 24-hour support to victims of sexual abuse; who may or may not wish to make a report to the police.
• To provide support and information, both in person and over the phone, to enable victims to make informed decisions in relation to medical care, forensic examination and police involvement.
• To inform victims about the self-referral service and the choices available; ensuring that they are supported and informed in a sensitive and appropriate way.
•  To advocate for the victim when needed, ensuring that their dignity, wishes and beliefs are respected and that they are involved in a shared decision-making process. This will include liaising with the Police and third-party organisations.
• To provide support to the Sexual Offences Examiner, during the Forensic Medical Examination.
• To assist with the collection of forensic samples, ensuring continuity and chain of evidence are maintained.
• To undertake a Forensic Medical Examination at any location outside the SARC, in order to meet the victims needs (ie, hospital).
• To forensically clean the examination suite to maintain the forensic integrity of the SARC; in accordance with the ISO 15189 FSR Accreditation.

• The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Working for our organisation

We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust. 

The annual NHS Staff Survey  gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust.  For the 2023 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%).   It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:

• 89.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users; 
• 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work; 
• 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;
• 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative     

Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.