About us
St Christophers, in our experience, is an extraordinary place to work.

Our aim at St Christophers is to deliver care and support that is of the highest quality to our patients, their families and carers and anyone else who looks to us for help. We know that people working across our organisation will only be able to provide this if they in turn, feel supported in their endeavours.

Social Worker
Location: Sydenham
Department: Social Work and Welfare
Tenure/Hours: 36 hours per week
Salary: £43,299 - £49,641 per annum

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced social worker to join our multi-disciplinary team. You will work collaboratively with colleagues from various disciplines and professional backgrounds, to provide holistic palliative care to adults and their families.

This role lends itself to working with people across the human lifespan and with varying care and support needs. You will work with adults and their families, including children, to assess the impact and navigate the social aspect of serious illness, end of life care and bereavement.

You will develop relationships with adults under the care of the hospice and their families, to assess unmet care and support needs. You will work in partnership with them to develop plans of support and ensure the implementation and review of such plans.

You will identify positive and potentially harmful risks to adults with palliative care needs, who are living in their own home or in other community settings. You will formulate strategies to either promote positive risk taking or, mitigate harmful risks where appropriate.

You will undertake mental capacity assessments and best interests decisions and work in partnership with other organisations from statutory and non-statutory settings. You will work within a clear framework of legislation, human rights and theories and be accountable for your own caseload with the support of a Senior social worker.

To succeed in this role
You will have over 2-years' post qualifying social work experience in the UK and will have worked in a statutory setting for this duration. You will have a good understanding of health and social care systems and boast sound wisdom of the legislative frameworks in place to safeguard both adults and children. You will be confident in liaising with statutory services and with professionals from various disciplines and levels of seniority.

You will have had experience of working with loss and grief and have an understanding of the impact of living with life-limiting illness. You will be committed to upholding the rights of adults and children and to safeguarding those at most risk of harm. You will be confident in undertaking psychosocial assessments of need, risk assessments and mental capacity assessments with best interests decisions.

You will be adaptable in your work and possess strong prioritisation skills. You will have proven expertise in problem-solving and be able to negotiate improved outcomes for people in need of professional support. You will have an aptitude for systemic practice and for working with competing and often conflicting needs.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Michele King at m.king@stchristophers.org.uk

To apply for this position, please complete an expression of interest by clicking the 'Apply Online' button.

Within your expression of interest, it is important that you include your qualifications, employment history, and explain how you meet the essential criteria within the person specification.

Why join St Christopher’s
At St Christopher’s, our people make it possible for us to deliver high-quality care and support to patients, families and communities. This is an opportunity to make a genuine organisational impact by helping to create the conditions in which staff and volunteers can thrive.

We are committed to being an inclusive organisation that values diversity, positive challenge and different perspectives. Our values are Collaborative, Empowering, Expert, Inclusive and Innovative, and we welcome applications from people who share our commitment to making a difference.

Closing Date: 26th July 2026

Person Specification

Qualifications

• ESSENTIAL: Professional Social Worker Qualification

• DESIRABLE: Degree in relevant subject

Experience

• ESSENTIAL: Experience of carrying out social work assessments with adults and/or families using strengths based and asset-based methodologies

• DESIRABLE: Experience of working with people with disabilities/serious illness

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).