Fertility Counsellor

We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic qualified Counsellor to join our dynamic team in the Department of Reproductive Medicine at St. Mary's, Manchester.

Working within the field of infertility and assisted conception (IVF) can be very challenging but extremely rewarding. As a member of a multi-disciplinary team, the post holder will provide counselling support to individuals and couples accessing the Reproductive Medicine services.

The successful candidate will be required to have experience of providing counselling in assisted conception, have excellent communication skills and a clear insight into the psychosocial impact of infertility investigations and treatment.

Main duties of the job

As a member of the multidisciplinary team, the post-holder will provide counselling support to patients before, during, and after their fertility investigations and treatment in accordance with the HFEA Code of Practice:

1. To deliver one-to-one, couples, and group support to patients accessing the Department of Reproductive Medicine services.
2. To provide implications counselling to those who are considering donor treatment or wishing to donate their gametes.
3. To carry out Welfare of the Child Assessments.
4. To deliver training, where necessary, to the multi-disciplinary team.
5. To maintain accurate records and professional standards by attending regular supervision, continuous professional development, and training relevant to this role.

About us

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England with a turnover of £2.6bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 28,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research and innovation through the introduction of Hive, our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We're proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What's more, we're excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Job description

Job responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you'll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that you're even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you'll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information you'll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Diploma in Counselling, as recognized by the BACP
• Membership of BACP or other recognised professional counselling/psychotherapy body

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

• Experience of counselling related to Reproductive Health and Infertility.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team in a health/social care setting.
• Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment.
• Experience of counselling individuals and couples.
• In-depth knowledge of counselling theory and ability to work with a range of counselling models, where indicated.
• Experience of loss and grief counselling.

Desirable

• Experience of undertaking safeguarding of children and vulnerable adult assessment.
• Understanding of the HFEA legislation, the Code of Practice (9th Edition) and the role of the Infertility Counsellor.
• Understanding of the social, psychological and emotional impact of infertility investigations and treatment, including the nature and complexity of loss associated with infertility.

IT and Interpersonal Skills

Essential

• Ability to use the Trust and Department IT systems.
• Ability to communicate with staff and patients via video link platforms.
• Ability to provide counselling to patients via video, telephone and face-to-face meetings.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to utilise counselling supervision.
• Ability to review and audit work.
• Ability to deal with distressing and emotionally demanding situations.
• Ability to maintain professional autonomy within the Department and multi-disciplinary team, and maintain boundaries and standards of good counselling practice.

Desirable

• Experience of providing group support to patients.

Employer details

Employer name

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Department of Reproductive Medicine

Oxford Road

Manchester

M13 9WL

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.