Community Mental Health Social Worker (Hospital at Home)

Job overview

Older Adult Services

Community Mental Health Social Worker (Hospital at Home)

3 posts available – these are all cross county posts covering  Coventry and North and South Warwickshire

The Older Adults Service work with Older Adults who have mental health needs in the community. The Team is multi-disciplinary consisting of OT, Nursing, Psychiatry, Psychology, Social Worker, Voluntary sector, support workers and peer workers. The service works closely with health, social care, statutory and voluntary sector partners.

The focus of the position is to maintain patient at home whilst supporting a strengths-based approach to recovery. The role will be based in the community teams, working within people’s homes to support admission prevention, quicker discharges and to support carers. We are looking for enthusiastic, dynamic and experienced individuals who can work confidently on their own as well as being a team player.  Good communication and problem-solving skills are essential, as well as knowledge of the needs of older adults.    We also are looking for people who can demonstrate the Trust’s vision and values in practice, and are motivated to be involved in innovation and service development.

The Older Adults Hospital at Home service will provide care, support and treatment by a professional multi-disciplinary team. We will promote a shared approach to Older Adults, with an emphasis on individual choices and recovery.

Main duties of the job

The main functions of the service will be to provide care, support and treatment to Older Adults with mental health needs in their own homes and will aim to:

• Increase stability and quality in the lives of patients and their carers/families through the provision of timely and clinically effective health and social care interventions that meet the needs of individuals in their own environment.
• Promote individuals’ participation in their own recovery and enable them to develop coping strategies. Gender, cultural issues and personal preferences will be considered within the referral and assessment process.
• Promote positive risk-taking using a strengths-based risk assessment approach.
• Support patients to engage with community-based and neighbourhood services, to help avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
• Improve individuals' social functioning and social inclusion and tackle issues such as loneliness and isolation that impact health and wellbeing through collaboration with other agencies.
• Work in partnership with carers so that carers are supported in their role and signposted where appropriate to carers' support services.
• Protect the emotional and physical safety of staff – as per risk management policies, staff wellbeing policy & supervision policy.
• Work in partnership with local authority social care colleagues to promote holistic assessment, care planning, interventions and outcome.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful applicant will work alongside the leads and colleagues to continue to develop the service and begin to pick up a specific relevant clinical caseload, and provide evidence based interventions as well as liaising with other agencies. You will form part of the multi-disciplinary team, and be expected to voice your professional experience to support the patients who are open to the service, and other services that may need your advice or support.

As a social worker in the team, we will ensure that you have clinical and professional support from a qualified Social Worker to support the maintenance of your professional registration. This support will be alongside the supervision and management that will come from the Trust giving the best of both worlds.

We encourage staff development, and you will be supported throughout your supervision and appraisal process to develop your skills and reach your potential.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities – see separate JD.