Division: Huntington’s Disease Specialist Service

Reporting to: Senior HD Specialist

Are you looking for a role in which you will improve the lives of families in your community? A role that enables you to work differently, build your knowledge and skills and feel valued by clients, colleagues and the organisation you work for?

We are looking for a Health and Social Care professional to join our nationwide network of Huntington’s Disease Specialists to provide care management, specialist assessment and emotional support to individuals and families across Scotland.

Working in partnership with local Health and Social Care teams, you will also provide advice, training and education to professionals and voluntary agencies involved in all aspects of Huntington’s disease care.

The successful candidate will be enthusiastic and motivated to have a positive influence on the quality of life of the individuals and families they support. This role is open to medical and health and social care staff from backgrounds such as nursing, allied Health, social work and medicine. Professional body membership is essential. Previous experience of Huntington’s disease is advantageous but not essential as full training will be provided.

You should be able to work autonomously in this challenging and rewarding position. Good listening, communication and interpersonal skills are vital, as are excellent time keeping and caseload management abilities. Community-based practice knowledge, a driving licence and use of a car complete our list of essential criteria. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced disclosure check.

You will find a values-driven organisation, founded by families for families and recognised at national and international levels for expertise in supporting the Huntington’s disease community.

As an HD Specialist, your responsibilities will include:

• Delivery of support to individuals and families affected by Huntington’s disease using a psychosocial approach in line with the National Care Framework for Huntington’s Disease: care.hdscotland.org
• Facilitation of regular peer support opportunities for individuals and their family members. These include carers groups and symptomatic support groups.
• Advising on positive management of Huntington’s disease to individuals, families and relevant health and social care professionals and agencies.
• Liaision with other professionals to help individuals to obtain the services to which they are entitled e.g. advocacy, respite, welfare rights, community and health services.
• Training at a local level and participation in regular national training events.
• Raising awareness of the needs and challenges facing individuals with Huntington’s disease, their families and care providers through the provision of education and information. (double full stop)
• Support individuals who are participating in current drug trials or new treatments.

Skills & Experience:

• Role holders must be a full member of a professional body relevant to qualification and able to work within the scope of registration guidelines.
• Registered Nurse or other relevant health/social work qualification.
• Significant experience working in the community as a nurse or allied health professional.
• Ability to assess, develop and implement programmes of care with an inter/multidisciplinary approach.
• Understanding and applying the principles of data protection and confidentiality across all areas of work.
• Including Microsoft Office, PowerPoint and other relevant software programmes.
• A clean driving licence and access to a vehicle daily.

In line with our commitment to safeguarding, this role is subject to a PVG for working with children and adults. Scottish Huntington’s Association is committed to equality of opportunity and to providing a service that is free from unfair and unlawful discrimination. We therefore aim to ensure that no applicant, volunteer, or member of staff is unfairly treated on the grounds of offending background.

You will need to be available to work from our registered national office, situated at Business First, Burnbrae Road, Paisley PA1 2FB. For the rest of your working week, you will have the option to work from home. Additionally, occasional travel to various locations in Scotland will be necessary for departmental and organisation-wide meetings.

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer benefits including a generous leave allowance totalling 37 days. Upon 4 completed years of service, you will receive an extra day for each completed year up to a maximum of 5 days, and the the opportunity to opt into our competitive pension scheme.

About Scottish Huntington’s Association

This is an exciting time for the charity, now in the second year of Standing Tall: A Strategy For Growth 2023 - 2028 to transform the care and support of Huntington’s families, expand specialist services and deepen involvement in research and clinical trials.

People impacted by Huntington’s disease need specialist services to cope with a severe and complex disease, its impact on families, and a lack of awareness amongst health and social care providers and the wider public.

Scottish Huntington’s Association is the only charity in the country exclusively dedicated to providing expert and personalised support for those impacted by Huntington’s disease.

Our personalised support reduces unnecessary hospital admissions, supports carers and other family members; lowers household poverty; and alleviates wellbeing risks to children and young people living in Huntington’s families.

We are commissioned by NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships throughout the country to share our expertise with front-line staff and build support for improved services and higher standards of care for every family impacted by this devastating disease. Scottish Huntington’s Association plays a full and active role in attracting the global research community to Scotland to work in partnership with us to improve the lives of families impacted by Huntington’s disease.

If you wish to apply to join a values-driven organisation, founded by families for families and recognised at national and international levels for its expertise and support delivered through a nationwide network of Huntington’s Disease Specialists, Specialist Youth Advisors, and Financial Wellbeing Officers, please follow the application notes below.

The ALLIANCE is excited to be recruiting a Media and Digital Communications Manager.

The Media and Digital Communications Manager will deliver communications, public relations, content strategy and digital communications to increase the profile and reach of the organisation.

The successful candidate for this role should have:

• Degree level qualification in journalism, public relations, communications or related field or at least 5 years proven experience in communications/public affairs
• Compelling copywriter, with attention to detail and confident in writing high quality content in a variety of styles for different audiences
• Good proof reading and copy editing skills
• Ability to interpret news, policy and business reports and translate to compelling content
• Ability to draft documents to reflect the requirements of members, staff and others
• Ability to manage multimedia channels
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain relationships with media professionals and stakeholders
• Understanding of health and social care and media landscape
• High quality time management and work scheduling to manage a variety of jobs with different deadlines
• A commitment to the ethos of membership organisations
• Proficiency in video production and editing software (e.g., Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro), podcast editing tools (e.g., Audacity, GarageBand)
• Good understanding of data protection legislation
• IT literate – office 365

As an ALLIANCE employee you will benefit from:

• 210 hours annual leave (equivalent of 30 days)
• 91 hours of public holidays (equivalent of 13 days) that can be taken flexibly
• Additional leave between Christmas and New Year
• Contributory pension scheme
• Open to flexible working (formal and informal)
• Hybrid working – opportunity to work from home for part of the week
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Learning and development opportunities
• Time off in lieu
• Cycle Scheme
• Carer Positive Employer

The ALLIANCE is a healthy working lives employer and encourages a healthy work life balance and is happy to talk flexible working.

The ALLIANCE recognises that in real life, great people don’t always ‘tick all the boxes’. Even if you don’t meet every point on the job description, if this role and our organisation feels like a good fit for you, we still want to hear from you.

We are currently recruiting a Community Involvement Coordinator, which is a newly created role to join our dedicated team at Vision PK, a growing charity who have recently opened our new sensory hub in the heart of Perth.

About Us:

VisionPK is an exciting and growing charity, recently opening our new Sensory Hub in the heart of Perth. We provide specialist services for people with sight loss, hearing loss, or who are deaf, living within the Perth and Kinross local authority area. Our specialist rehabilitation service is commissioned by Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership, allowing us to offer essential support to individuals facing sensory challenges.

The Role:

This role will strengthen VisionPK’s presence in the community by overseeing volunteer recruitment and governance, building stakeholder relationships and managing our telephone befriending project.

Key responsibilities include:

• Volunteer Recruitment and Governance
• Community Engagement and Relationship Building
• Telephone Befriending Project Leadership
• Raising Awareness and Promoting VisionPK

About You:

• Experience in volunteer management, community engagement, or project coordination.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build relationships with diverse groups.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• A proactive, collaborative, and compassionate individual who is passionate about making a positive difference.

Why Join Us?

• Be part of an exciting time as we grow and develop our newly opened Sensory Hub in Perth.
• Make a real difference in the lives of people with sensory loss.
• Join a supportive and fun team that values hard work and collaboration.
• A supportive and collaborative working environment.

Alternatives has been established since 1996 as a charitable company, with premises across West Dunbartonshire.

Alternatives’ core theme and purpose is to facilitate the personal journey from chaos to wholeness for individuals who have a substance dependency, by normalising a lifestyle without such a dependency.

To deliver the Foundation, Advanced and Move On phases of the Community Recovery Programme. This involves working with individuals and families affected by drug misuse, collaboration with partner organisations with specific focus on the delivery of our new innovative groupwork programme aimed at promoting positive alternatives to drug use and stability in the community.

PVG Scheme Membership is required for this post

Alternatives operates an Equal Opportunities Policy