Community Maternity Support Worker-Nepali Speaking (Development Post)

Job summary
We are looking for a compassionate, motivated, and reliable Nepali-speaking Community Maternity Support Worker to join our Community Maternity Services across East Kent. This is an important development role within our enhanced care pathway, supporting Nepali-speaking women, birthing people, babies and families throughout pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. The role has been developed to help improve access to maternity care for families who may experience language barriers, social isolation, digital exclusion, unfamiliarity with NHS services or practical difficulties attending appointments. Working alongside community midwives, you will provide practical, culturally responsive support in women's homes, community hubs, clinics and Trust sites. You will help women and families understand how to access maternity services, attend appointments and scans, engage with parent education and infant-feeding support, and know when and how to seek urgent advice. You will provide delegated antenatal and postnatal care within your assessed competence, including practical support with newborn care, infant feeding, maternal wellbeing and health-promotion information. You will work under the direction of a registered midwife, who remains accountable for clinical assessment, care planning and decision-making.

Main duties of the job
This role will contribute to reducing inequalities in maternity care and improving the experience and outcomes of women and babies from communities that may be at greater risk of poor outcomes. You will work closely with community midwives, specialist maternity teams, health visitors, GPs, safeguarding services, approved interpreting services and local voluntary and community organisations. Your ability to speak fluent Nepali and English will be central to helping families feel welcomed, understood and able to engage with care. However, the role does not replace independent professional interpreting services. Professional interpreters will continue to be used for clinical assessment, consent, complex discussions, safeguarding, mental-health concerns, emergency triage and other sensitive conversations. The postholder will be required to work independently in community settings, in line with Trust lone-worker procedures, and will need a full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle. The role involves travel across East Kent and may include occasional weekend work to meet service needs. This post is offered initially at Band 2. Subject to successful completion of the NHS Care Certificate, agreed community maternity competencies, lone-working requirements and demonstration of safe and effective practice, the postholder will progress to Band 3.

About us
We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates for a Skilled Worker Visa for roles that are eligible at the time of application.

Job responsibilities
Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in Documents to download.
If you have further queries please dont hesitate to contact Consultant Midwife using the contact details below.

Person Specification
Qualifications & Training
Essential

• Functional English and Maths

Desirable

• Care Certificate; Level 2/3 Health and Social Care qualification

Language
Essential

• Fluent spoken Nepali and English

Desirable

• Experience communicating with Nepali-speaking communities in East Kent

Experience
Essential

• Experience of supporting or caring for others; experience of working as part of a team; customer-facing experience

Desirable

• Previous maternity, healthcare, community, voluntary-sector or support-worker experience

Knowledge
Essential

• Understanding of confidentiality, dignity, safeguarding, equality and inclusion; understanding of the support-worker role and limits of practice

Desirable

• Knowledge of maternity pathways, infant feeding, newborn care or health promotion

Skills
Essential

• Compassionate communication; basic IT skills; ability to document accurately; ability to recognise concerns and escalate; good organisation and time management

Desirable

• Experience supporting people experiencing digital exclusion, isolation or difficulty accessing services

Personal/professional attributes
Essential

• Reliable, respectful, non-judgemental, compassionate, flexible and able to work independently and as part of a team

Other Requirements
Essential

• Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle; able to travel across East Kent; able to work flexibly to meet service need; enhanced DBS clearance

Desirable

• Willingness to work occasional evenings or weekends if required by service need

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.