Macmillan Cancer Therapeutic Family Practitioner | East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

An exciting position has arisen for someone to join our cancer wellbeing team as a Family Support Worker within the Cancer Wellbeing and Information Centre at Ipswich Hospital, part time 18.75 hours per week. This is a rewarding opportunity to work directly with children and families affected by cancer, utilising a range of therapeutic and counselling skills to support varied needs and emotions at a difficult time in their lives.

We are looking to employ a self-motivated, flexible, organised and, most importantly, compassionate individual, who possess the qualifications and skills to offer therapeutic support to children of all ages and their family members. You will be a qualified social worker, counsellor or accredited therapist and have evidence of relevant experience and specialised study, e.g. play therapy, cancer/ palliative care or bereavement.

If you have the skills, passion and enthusiasm to work with families affected by cancer to support their psychological wellbeing we’d love to hear from you.

The majority of the role will be working with patients at Ipswich Hospital, however occasional home working and community outreach will be required, including cross cover for Colchester Hospital colleagues.

You will manage and support parents (or grandparents) with a cancer diagnosis and their children to support communication and adaption to the diagnosis, treatment and resulting effects/ impact. You will require the knowledge and experience of the challenges, ethical dilemmas and safeguarding presented in this area of work.

You will work as part of an integrated multi-disciplinary team, including counsellors, clinical colleagues, wellbeing centre staff and volunteers. You will be required to work independently and be responsible for the associated administrative duties, record keeping, data collection and analysis which require proficient IT and telephone skills.

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is thatTime Mattersto everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bringwhat’swidely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

Find out about living and working here -www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

This advert closes on Wednesday 3 Jun 2026