Job summary

We are looking for an enthusiastic, compassionate and creative Youth Worker to join our Children's Services team at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT).This is an exciting opportunity to bring your youth work expertise into a healthcare environment and help ensure that the voices, experiences and needs of children and young people are at the heart of our services.You will work alongside children, young people, families and our multidisciplinary teams, providing support that goes beyond clinical care. You will help young people to develop confidence, independence and self-management, while ensuring their emotional, social and developmental needs are recognised.The role will involve building positive relationships with young people, supporting engagement with healthcare, contributing to transition, promoting participation and helping us develop services that are genuinely young-person friendly.We are looking for someone who is approachable, resilient, creative and able to connect with young people, including those who may find healthcare environments challenging. You will be a strong advocate for young people and confident working as part of a multidisciplinary team.

This post is in Ipswich with cross cover to Colchester when needed.

Main duties of the job

• To contribute to the development of services for young people at East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust.
• To act as an advocate and source of support for young people within Children's services including transition service and relevant adult services when required. Work closely with the education teams within the hospital setting and in partnership with community programmes and charities.
• To assist with the provision of a varied programme of personal, social and educational developmental activities with due regard for the needs and opinions of young people. This will include evenings and weekends as required.

• To contribute to the development of the team through identified project aims communicating effectively with the senior nursing team, transition and the required specialist teams.

About us

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 that Time Matters to 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 bring what's widely 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

Details

Date posted

17 September 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£32,073 to £39,043 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR809-26

Job locations

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

IP4 5PD

United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

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

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

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Experience of delivering youth work practice with young people.
• Experience of evaluating projects & monitoring outcomes.
• Good understanding of the purpose of Youth Work.
• Resource management.

Desirable

• Experience of working with young people with long-term health conditions and their families.
• Experience of supervising volunteers.
• Experience of working with young people in a healthcare/hospital setting.
• Experience of assisting with project management.

Qualifications

Essential

• Youth Work Diploma or professional youth work qualification.
• Evidence of continued professional development

Desirable

• Youth Work Degree
• Accreditation Training

Person Specification Experience Essential Experience of delivering youth work practice with young people. Experience of evaluating projects & monitoring outcomes. Good understanding of the purpose of Youth Work. Resource management. Desirable Experience of working with young people with long-term health conditions and their families. Experience of supervising volunteers. Experience of working with young people in a healthcare/hospital setting. Experience of assisting with project management. Qualifications Essential Youth Work Diploma or professional youth work qualification. Evidence of continued professional development Desirable Youth Work Degree Accreditation Training

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

UK Registration

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

Additional information Disclosure and Barring Service Check 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. UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

IP4 5PD

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.esneft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

IP4 5PD

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.esneft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)