Senior Social Work Practitioner – Mental Health Social Work Discharge Team – Horsham

Job Description

Job Title : Senior Social Work Practitioner – Mental Health Social Work Discharge Team – Horsham
Job Category : Social Care – Qualified
Location : County Hall North, West Sussex County Council
Hours Per Week : 37.00
Start Date : Immediate start
Start Time : 09:00
End Time : 17:30
Salary: £30.44

We are bound by the MoC, which means pay rates are capped. Whist we are able to pay up to £40, this rate is for those deemed to be at Qualified Social Work Practitioner level with over 2 years experience. Please ensure your candidates are aware that the pay rate they request may not be the rate they are offered; managers are assessing skills and competency at interview. If the candidate is being offered less than requested, we will make the reasoning clear whilst providing feedback.
Location – County Hall North – Horsham but the team cover Countywide
Working arrangements – Mix of home and office will need to be in the office at least 2 days a week

Job Description : In this challenging, but rewarding role, you will be required to act as an allocated social worker responsible for delivering a statutory social work service to those people who access or need specialist mental health services and will support their discharge from hospital. Your role will be to work in partnership with the newly formed mental health hospital discharge hub including completion of all statutory work such as Care Act assessments, s117 aftercare planning meetings, safeguarding, Mental Capacity Assessments, Best Interest Meetings as well as any other social care related tasks and functions. This will be a fast-paced role and you will be required to be proactive and able to work under pressure to ensure all aspects of the individual’s needs are considered and incorporated into the discharge process.
You will work as part of a small county-wide team which will focus solely on the discharge role. The workers within this team will be aligned to geographically based mental health hospitals, providing a service to people who are aged 18 and over. The staff within the team may focus on a specific age group either 18-65 or 65+, but you will need to be willing to cover work across the age range.
You will work effectively in partnership with other staff, teams and agencies, both internal to the Council and external, including Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. An excellent understanding of all the relevant health, voluntary and private sector services in the area is essential. The role will involve regular exposure to people who access the service and/or subject matter, which may place significant emotional demands on you, for example dealing with unpredictable risk, complex social work cases and leading on safeguarding enquiries. You will act as a professional representative for the service by working with a focus on ensuring the safe and effective delivery of services to people who have complex mental disorder, acting with integrity, professionalism, and respect on behalf of the organisation, ensuring at all times that the needs of individuals and the business are paramount. You will remain up-to-date and compliant with all relevant legislation and adhere to organisational procedures, policies and codes of conduct as well as Social Work England professional standards in order to uphold a high-quality, seamless service.
You will be expected to work within organisational, policy and legislative requirements. There will be some requirement for you to work flexibly in order to support customers, carers and families, sometimes out of normal working hours. You’ll need to be able to travel independently throughout the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport, so a driving licence is essential . There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public. You will be passionate about delivering high quality social work services and will have experience of, or an interest in, working with people with a wide range of mental illness.
You’ll be able to demonstrate a desire to support people to improve their lives, by ensuring that they have opportunities to manage their mental health and engage with community activities. To be qualified for this role, you will possess the ability to influence in a multi-disciplinary setting and communicate clearly and effectively to explain complicated information to a wide range of people, negotiate and persuade others to adopt a particular course of action that they may not otherwise wish to take. You will demonstrate a good theoretical, practical and procedural knowledge of social work concepts, and evidence of dealing with varied and complex issues and cases. You will have a good understanding of the necessity of working with partnership agencies including health, housing, education and statutory, voluntary and independent agencies. You will undertake continued professional development and maintain records of your training in line with Social Work England requirements.

Required experience and skills
(These will be used as the shortlisting criteria)

Key Skills:
1. Ability to analyse and interpret people-related information and data in order to prioritise needs and formulate plans for intervention and service provision.
2. Ability to work proactively as a member of the team to make an accurate assessment of needs and negotiate and implement effective plans and outcomes, ensuring regular reviews and risk management with a variety of individuals, carers or families. Evidence of effectively prioritising work and meeting deadlines.
3. Ability to undertake direct work with those who access or need the service in order to support individuals.
4. Ability to recognise the limits of own accountability and responsibility, and to seek appropriate support, advice and supervision.
5. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in both written and oral format including the ability to explain complicated information to a wide range of people and negotiate and persuade others to adopt a particular course of action.
6. Sound and accurate IT and keyboard skills

Qualifications and/or experience:
⦁ Degree in relevant professional or equivalent qualification e.g. Certificate of Qualification in Social Work or Diploma in Social Work. Essential
⦁ Registration with the relevant professional registration body and responsibility for maintaining registration with that body. Essential
⦁ Approved Mental Health Professional (it is a requirement to have AMHP qualification or to be working towards the qualification to be complete within 2 years of appointment and to maintain level of knowledge). Essential
⦁ Experience of working with service users with severe and enduring mental health problems in the community.
⦁ Knowledge of theoretical social work concepts and practices, with demonstrable examples of dealing with a breadth of complex issues and situations as well as theoretical, practical and procedural knowledge of social work and working knowledge of legislation relevant to the specialist area of the post e.g. Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act.
⦁ Experience of effective partnership working and forming effective working relationships with individuals and colleagues, identifying issues, focusing on needs and handling conflict and disagreement. Good understanding of the necessity of working with partnership agencies including health, housing, learning, statutory, voluntary and independent sector.
⦁ Experience of managing levels of risk within a varied caseload of complex cases.
⦁ Experience of effectively coaching and supervising others, acting as a practice role model and promoting exemplary practice.
⦁ Experience of managing levels of risk within a caseload of complex safeguarding cases.
⦁ Practice Teachers Award. Desirable
⦁ Full, valid driving licence – Desirable