Community Mental Health Social Worker

Job summary
We are currently expanding the well-established Countywide Early Intervention in Psychosis Team which provides a focussed and specific community service for the population of Bedfordshire and Luton in response to the needs of individuals and their families experiencing a first episode of psychosis. The team works across CAMH services and Adult Mental Health Services with an age range starting at 14 years. We are therefore looking for skilled Social Workers to join our team.

The post holder will be a Qualified Social Worker with a sound background of working in a Community Mental Health setting and Care Coordination within CPA. The post holder will be expected to work flexibly to ensure delivery of full care packages. They will also provide psychosocial interventions and undertake specialist assessments which will require a good understanding of At Risk Mental States and Psychosis.

The successful candidate will join a creative and motivated team who continue to make positive differences to families and individuals across the county. We believe that psychosis is treatable and recovery is expected.

You will be given expert support and advice from the team Senior Social Worker. The Senior Social Worker and Team Leader provide intensive support to ensure that bespoke professional supervision is readily available for all our social workers.

Main duties of the job
We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Social Worker to work as part of our team. You will be registered with Social Work England and at least have one year of post qualifying experience in a relevant health or social care setting.

As a Social Worker, you will work as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, providing high quality social care services to adults experiencing mental ill-health. The core functions of the role will be to provide assessment, care planning and coordination of care from a social perspective to adults accessing the service.

You will hold a caseload of adults experiencing a wide range of mental health and social care needs. You will ensure that you maintain constant reflection and development of your practice and will ensure your continuing professional development in line with the standards set out by the professional regulator, Social Work England.

You must have a valid driving license and the use of a car for business purposes.

About us
ELFT and Central Bedfordshire Council offer training opportunities to support Social Workers to maintain their professional registration with Social Work England. We believe the natural progression for a Social Worker within Mental Health Services is to strive towards completing their Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) training and this is something that we will expect and you will be supported to do.

We are proud to work with the diverse communities of Bedfordshire and want our workforce to reflect this diversity, which we believe is beneficial for our employees, the organisation and the communities we serve. It is an exciting time to be joining Mental Health Services as a Social Worker in ELFT and the Social Care Management team are committed to supporting your continued development

ELFT has a dedicated Social Care Leads locally in Bedfordshire. The Social Care Lead offers regular reflective practice sessions, bespoke advice and CPD opportunities.

The excellent work of the Social Work Learning and Development Project Lead ensures that continuous learning is at the heart of Social Work in Bedfordshire.

In short; now is a good time to be working as a social worker for ELFT in Bedfordshire!

Job description

Job responsibilities
In the role, you will liaise with acute inpatient units, the Crisis Team, Primary Care services, the Voluntary and Private Sector and contribute to providing a recovery focused model of care. You will play an active role in the discharge of our service users from hospital and will commission health and social care services as required.Partnership working is a key component of this post and you will need to be innovative in ensuring that there is a range of appropriate services locally to support individual recovery journeys.

Person Specification
Educational/ Qualification
Essential

Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England (SWE)

Desirable
Educated to Degree Level
Relevant specialist post qualifying/post graduate training

Experience
Essential

Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary environment/community experience.
Experience of attending funding panel and care commissioning
Experience of working within an NHS/Local Authority environment and an understanding of the issues/ policies/ practice within these environments.

Desirable

Post qualification experience within mental health services
Previous appointment as an AMHP /Best Interest asAssessor (BIA) NB Social Workers are expected to train and practise as AMHP's

Knowledge/Skills
Essential
Understanding a range of models of mental disorder and the treatment options.
Comprehensive understanding of the social determinants of mental illness and interventions to support recovery.
Ability to conduct safeguarding enquiries and investigations when required
Working knowledge of the NHS & Community Care Act, The Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and other social care & mental health legislation, policy & guidance
Ability to assess manage complex and high risk situations effectively service users and carers
Good report writing skills and ability to compile complex case recording ad report presentation, including legal documents i.e. social circumstances reports, court reports etc.
Ability to manage and coordinate professionals, teams and services and mobilise provision where appropriate.
Assessment skills and the ability to compile care plans in partnership with service users, carers and others
Knowledge of relevant safeguarding legislation, statutory guidance and procedures
Assertiveness and engagement with other professionals, able to make reasoned arguments and represent own professional views and perspectives.
Decision -making and problem solving, able to adopt creative and flexible approaches to meet the needs of service users.
Highly developed organisational skills, able to prioritise workload and delegate effectively.
Well -developed communication skills, able to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences
Mental Health Practice Skills and an understanding of CPA and the NSF standards.
IT skills, experience of working with service user data systems

Desirable
A thorough working knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983 and subsequent amendments
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.