Social Work Assistant

We are looking for an empathetic, resilient, and highly organised Social Work Assistant to join us. If you want to live our Trust values of being Respectful, Open, and Empowering while making a tangible difference during someone's most critical time of need, we want to hear from you.

As a Social Work Assistant within Dartford CRHT, you will hold delegated responsibilities crucial to the seamless and safe delivery of our social work interventions. Working under the direct guidance of the Social Work Team and alongside our diverse Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT)--including nurses, occupational therapists, doctors, and support workers--you will help service users and their carers safely navigate crisis recovery.

This is a fast-paced, community-facing role that bridges social care support with clinical crisis intervention.

Main duties of the job

The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

-To undertake certain specified tasks with service users as agreed with the Social Worker/MDT
-To liaise with a range of partnership agencies, both statutory and voluntary on behalf of service users as well as the wider MDT.
-Encourage feedback from service users/carers and other professionals about our service delivery
-Be aware of the need to report any safeguarding issues as a matter of urgency and complete the necessary paperwork
-Contribute to safeguarding investigations
-Contribute to risk assessment and risk management planning
-Support our Child Protection policy in completing and recording contracts with SSD and Persons with PR
-Support the undertaking of capacity assessments where appropriate and when advice is available
-Developing skills and ability to work effectively with service users who are experiencing severe and enduring mental health problems and may be in crisis
-Keeping abreast of changes in legislation, policy and practice guidance

About us

We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway and are rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Our teams support children, young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD.

Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve.

Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's working well together.

Job description

Job responsibilities

-To support the delivery of a competent level of social work to assist service users with their health and wellbeing needs.
-To assist in the assessment of service users mental well-being and community support and care needs under the supervision of a qualified social worker.
-To work as a member of the MDT, to liaise and share information with social work and nursing/health colleagues.
-To ensure that accurate and reliable documentation of patient records are maintained in accordance with local and Trust standards.
-To liaise and work closely with outside agencies as required.
-Develop networks with other organisations and key staff

Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification

What is High Cost Area Allowance?

The High-Cost Area (HCA) allowance, also referred to as London Weighting is a payment made to employees who work in London and the surrounding areas.

As this post is based in Dartford, Gravesham or Swanley, the successful applicant will receive an additional payment each month.

5% of basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £1,346 per year and a maximum payment of £2,270 per year (the agreed annual amount will be divided into 12 equal amounts and paid monthly) (2026/27 figures)

Person Specification

Training, Qualifications and Registration

Essential
-NVQ Level three

Desirable
-NVQ Level four

Experience

Essential
-Experience of working in a caring environment, including the undertaking of initial assessments and risk assessments and the drafting of support plans.
-Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team
-Experience of working and liaising with other partnership agencies

Desirable
-Experience of working within mental health services

Knowledge and Skills

Essential
-Knowledge of mental health conditions
-Good awareness of social issues and knowledge and experience of the problems relating to particular service users
-Understanding the Social Work task
-Knowledge of Adult/Children Safeguarding procedures
-Ability to work as member of a team
-Effective communication skills, both orally and written, in order to communicate effectively with service users and their families, colleagues and external agencies
-Ability to record and maintain written notes
-Able to prioritise workload and work effectively on own initiative and undertake delegated tasks
-To be self aware and recognise appropriate boundaries in client relations
-demonstrate a sensitive, and empathetic response to service users and carers

Desirable
-A good understanding of local facilities and resources
-Able to use RiO
-Competent IT skills (Word, Excel, Outlook)
-Good self-awareness
-Reliable
-Non-judgemental