Senior Social Worker

Main duties of the job
As Senior Social Worker, you will be required to;

Promote, lead and act in accordance with the principles of personalisation, working to promote wellbeing, and enabling individual’s rights to choice and control, in a multi disciplinary mental health team.
Expected to give robust, consistent, and expert social care practice advice in partnership with other specialist senior social care colleagues.
Support newly qualified social workers through the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE), acting as an ASYE assessor and engagement in the ASYE moderation process.
Undertake duties as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) or be willing to undertake AMHP training
In return at HPFT, we will:

Support you to develop your skills to provide robust, consistent expert social care practice advice in partnership with other specialist senior social care colleagues including the professional leads for social care in the Trust.
Leading company discounts and childcare vouchers
Salary sacrifice schemes enabling staff to drive a new car or bike - saving on tax and insurance included
Wellbeing activities - from mindfulness to yoga, pilates and our signature craft club join our monthly programme of regular and special events to support your wellbeing
Working for our organisation
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ from the Care Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.

Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.

The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Our Trust values are:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.

These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it!

Would you like to be part of the HPFT family? Would you like work with us to ensure our service users live the fullest lives possible they can? Would you like to be supported in your career to be the best that you can be?

Then please read on…

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Be a champion of social care with a comprehensive understanding of legislation and statutory guidance.
Maintain regular links and attend meetings with the corporate Social Work and Safeguarding Team, and keep up to date with accurate, consistent, and robust social care, legal and practice advice, and support to locality staff.
Undertake the most complex assessments and reviews, for people who may present with a high risk, or those with significant interpersonal, social, legal and/or environmental complexities, ensuring people are assessed appropriately against social care eligibility criteria as defined by The Care Act 2014.
Offer direct support to service users and their carers, and to colleagues, through information and advice, to ensure that those who do not meet social care eligibility are appropriately signposted and supported.
Ensure that appropriate health and social care services are commissioned with and on behalf of service users, including the duty to offer direct payments, and that processes are in place for service users to be charged by the local authority for the social care services they receive, if applicable.
Ensure that commissioned services allow choice to service users and carers and focus on people living in the community with appropriate support and access to universal services.
Undertake regular risk assessments and ensure that vulnerable people are kept safe.
Lead in the promotion of both child and adult safeguarding practice in line with current policy, and take a lead role in adult safeguarding investigations, including the chairing of strategy meetings and case conferences.
Advise colleagues in best practice when undertaking carer assessments, including identifying contingency plans, and provision of support.
Skilled in partnership working and identify, develop, and facilitate a wide range of recovery-focused community services, ensuring that colleagues within the locality are also aware of developments and best practice
Ensure the involvement of service users and their carers to that the Trust can learn from their experiences to make improvements to service delivery.
Ensure accurate computer records of all work undertaken are kept up to date.
Undertake your own post qualifying and other appropriate training to ensure high standards of practice and continuation of your registration with Social Work England.
Support the development of others in your team, including both experienced and newly qualified social workers, ensuring that they have regular access to continuing professional development.
Provide both management and reflective supervision to experienced and newly qualified social workers
18. To participate in your own regular supervision and ensure regular reflection on your own practice as both a social worker and AMHP.
19. To undertake other tasks and duties which form part of the delegated social care responsibilities accepted by the Trust on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council.
20. To adhere to Trust policies and procedures.
21. To undertake additional training as required.
22. To carry out any other duties as appropriately identified by your line manager.


Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria

An appropriate professional social work x qualification
Registration with General Social Work England
Education to degree level
Masters Degree or equivalent training
Approved Mental Health Professional training and qualification (or prepared to undertake training within a year of appointment)
Relevant post-qualifying training for social workers
Desirable criteria

Other post-qualifying training e.g. CBT, family therapy
Best Interests Assessment training
Experience
Essential criteria

Minimum 5 years post-qualification experience with demonstrable evidence of excellent practice at advanced level
Extensive knowledge of legislation, statutory guidance, theory, and policy in relation to adult and children’s social care
Experience of undertaking assessment focused on personalisation, choice and control, and care planning
Understanding of and experience of use of personal budgets and direct payments
Experience of supervising and mentoring others
Evidence of multidisciplinary and collaborative working
Evidence of partnership working with service users and carers, demonstrating dignity and respect, particularly in very challenging situations