Specialist Social Worker

An opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Social Worker working as part of an adolescent mental health service which is innovative, forward-thinking and committed to enabling Young People who are experiencing mental health difficulties to recover and discover their potential.

The primary focus of the role will be to provide a highly specialised social work service for young people and their families who are referred to The Cove, this will include building and maintaining professional relationships as well as completion of inpatient family assessments. If successful you will work as part of the multi-disciplinary team of health professionals and will be based in a 14-bedded in-patient unit, which has recently received GOOD CQC rating and been accredited by the Quality Network for Inpatient CAMHS (QNIC).

Main duties of the job

The service provides assessment and treatment for young people from across the whole of Lancashire and South Cumbria.

The successful candidate must have a genuine interest and a desire to work with young people within this age range and be committed to the support and development of student social workers by accommodating placements.

To join the team you will need to be caring, compassionate, innovative, creative, flexible and highly motivated. You will be a good communicator and team player.

Working with this age group is a specialist field that will provide you with a highly challenging and very rewarding career. Relevant training and supervision will be provided for all successful applicants as an integral part of their ongoing professional development.
Working for our organisation

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria

- CQSW, CSS, DipSW or equivalent.
- Post graduate /registration training (which is relevant to the post) to Masters Degree level or the equivalent experience / training.
- Evidence of post registration training in Mental Health.

Knowledge
Essential criteria

- In-depth knowledge of social care issues and how this relates to care delivery.
- Working knowledge of current legislation and national initiatives
- Highly developed knowledge of child and adolescent development.

Experience
Essential criteria

- Substantial post registration experience.
- Substantial Mental Health experience.
- Experience of working with children and young people who have mental health problems.

Please note that further communication from Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCFT to contact them.

Please ensure that you read the Person Specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document. Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.

For all posts which require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure & Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).

You are advised to consider applying for LSCFT vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.

Lancashire & South Cumbria Care is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (especially those with experience of accessing mental health, or Learning Disability Services or caring for someone who has accessed mental health services or Learning Disability Services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation. Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. The organisation is proud to be listed as one of the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers and our HR department holds the Lancashire LGBT Quality Mark. If there is anything you’d like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.