Community Mental Health Social Worker

Job summary

Dunstable Community Mental Health Team provides compassionate person-centred interventions to people experiencing mental ill-health in the Towns of Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.

Social Workers in the mental health team have access to a host of brand new facilities at the newly opened Grove View Health and care hub!

The new hub strengthens ELFT's award winning social care presence and ethos.

Click on the link below to see our exciting new base for South Bedfordshire Social Workers!

https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/18/health_and_social_care/726/grove_view_integrated_health_and_care_hub_and_grove_view_apartments

At the Hub the team Senior Social Worker provides intensive support to ensure that bespoke professional supervision is readily available for all our social workers.

ELFT has a dedicated Social Care Lead locally in Central Bedfordshire. The Social Care Lead offers regular reflective practice sessions, Care Act training.

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.

The Trust offers an established ASYE programme for newly qualified social workers. CPD pathways beyond the ASYE include AMHP/Leadership Academy/AMCP/Practice Educator/ASYE Assessor training structures. Bespoke training opportunities are available as part of your yearly appraisal.

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

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 ideally have one year of post qualifying experience in a relevant health or social care setting; however with our new ASYE programme we would be happy to work with a newly qualified social worker who is able to demonstrate how their pre-qualifying experience and value base would benefit our team.

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.

About us

We have Social Workers who are also Practice Educators and ASYE assessors and are currently promoting this training. ELFT are currently part of a pilot programme for ASYE training of newly qualified social workers. 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

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

Experience

Essential criteria

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

Desirable criteria

Post-qualification experience within mental health services Previous appointment as an AMHP /Best Interest Assessor (BIA). SocialWorkers are expected to train and practise as AMHPs

Knowledge/Skills

Essential criteria

To undertake comprehensive Care Act assessments and reviews, for people who may present with complex Health and Social Care needs, ensuring people are assessed appropriately against social care eligibility criteria as defined by The Care Act 2014. To take a lead in the promotion of adult safeguarding practice and undertake safeguarding enquires and contribute to the provision of care plans that protect both adults and children from abuse. To ensure that appropriate health and social care services are commissioned with and on behalf of service users. To promote the use of Direct Payments in the commissioning of service user and carer care and support plans. To undertake regular risk assessments and ensure that vulnerable people are kept safe from harm. To ensure accurate records of all work undertaken are kept up to date on the service users Electronic Patient Record.4To attend reflective practice sessions and access post qualifying and other appropriate training to ensure high standards of practice and continuation of your registration with Social Work England. To provide both management and reflective supervision to newly qualified Social Workers and Support Workers. To support newly qualified social workers through the Assessed andSupported Year in Employment (ASYE), with opportunities to train as anASYE assessor. To undertake duties as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) or be willing to undertake AMHP training. To participate in your own regular supervision and ensure regular reflection on your own practice as both a social worker and AMHP. To undertake other tasks and duties which form part of the delegated social care responsibilities accepted by the Trust on behalf of Central BedfordshireCouncil. To adhere to Trust policies and procedures. To undertake additional training as required.To carry out any other duties as appropriately identified by your line manager.

Desirable criteria

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

Additional Requirements

Essential criteria

Car driver essential and be able to travel between Trust sites throughout the County Full driving licence Flexible working according to the needs of the service and to support work/life balance and improving working lives.

Educational/ Qualification

Essential criteria

Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England5

Desirable criteria

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

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

Team player, able to negotiate and lead other professionals whilst considering competing views and agendas Able to work independently, with initiative, but to seek appropriate guidance and supervision when required. Self-motivated, committed and open to new ideas and experiences Committed to equal opportunities, and equality and diversity issues Anti-discriminatory & ant oppressive practice Committed to core social work values, able to recognise that protection is sometimes required and should be carried out in the least restrictive manner observing the human and civil rights of the individual A commitment to leadership & change management

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