Social Worker - Aquarius Ward

Job overview

This is a specialist professional leadership post offering social work leadership across the CAMHS service line, with a unique opportunity to strengthen social work practice within a mental health trust.

The successful candidate will be confident, skilled, and highly knowledgeable in both child and family social work and children and young people’s mental health. A strong understanding and practical application of the law as it pertains to children and young people, including Mental Health Act 1983, is essential. The postholder will be required to provide expert professional advice, often in complex and high-pressure situations.

The role bridges operational delivery and strategic leadership, providing visible and effective social work leadership across the CAMHS service line. You will ensure the provision of an efficient, effective, and high-quality professional service that meets all statutory, regulatory, and NHS requirements relating to social work practice with children and young people.

Working collaboratively with senior leaders and multi-agency partners, the postholder will ensure social work practice aligns with wider organisational objectives and maintains the highest professional standards.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced social work leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children, young people, and families within mental health services.

Main duties of the job

The post will provide advice and guidance across the CAMHS Park to the social work staff

The post holder will have a primary practitioner role servicing the social work function on Aquarius ward.

The post holder will be expected to deputise for the CAHMS Social Worker Team Manager when unavailable

The post holder will be a highly experienced social worker who has a sound knowledge of Mental health Legislation and Children’s inter-related children’s legislation

The post holder will be expected to provide advice on child safeguarding processes and ensure Trust safeguarding policies and procedures are followed

The post holder will provide clinical practice input across the Park in an advisory capacity and provide cover when required, but will have a primary commitment to Aquarius Ward.

The post holder can provide professional supervision for social workers in CAMHS and related services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To liaise and interface with multidisciplinary staff within service area.

To liaise and work with external agencies, in particular Local Authority Children’s Services and CAMHS Community Services (Tier 3).

To be responsible for investigating and advising with regard to complex and highly sensitive and often confidential information, relating to safeguarding cases and other cases where there are high risk  social factors.

To provide written reports for a variety of purposes and audiences including social circumstances reports for Mental Health Tribunals and Managers’ Hearings; safeguarding investigation reports;  social work reports for use within the Service and for communication with external health and social care organisations and possibly for the Courts; periodic audits and evaluations of aspects of service;  periodic analytical reports on social work and social care practices and issues within the service area for the Directorate and/or for the Head of Social Work.

To develop and provide consultation to other services and agencies. This may include consulting to individual clinicians or to multi-disciplinary teams, comprising the full range of mental health professionals, including Social Services, Health Services, Educational Services, Housing, Police and CJS and voluntary and other statutory agencies.

To supervise less experienced social workers in day-to-day clinicalpractice

To maintain up-to-date and detailed knowledge and awareness of relevant legislation (including its application to unusual circumstances that occur in specialist mental health services), guidance and Trust policies and procedures, and to work within these.

To maintain high standards of professional practice, working at all times in the best interests of service users and carers,

To contribute to the assessment of young people and their families admitted to the ward in such a way as to ensure safe discharge planning

To work closely with all members of relevant service to achieve the best possible outcomes

To promote the interests and welfare of all patients and their families with particular reference to the Human Rights Act 1998 and all relevant policy and legislation (e.g. Children’s Act 1989, NHS and  Community Care Act 1990, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) and the Mental Health Act 1983)

To lead on adult and child safeguarding within service area and to act as a key point of liaison for the team between the Service and local and regional statutory children’s and adults safeguarding and child protection services within Local Authorities and other partner agencies.