[ref. k35862404] Social Worker
About Us
EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:
- We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
- We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.
EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.
Our vision and values
Our Vision
“To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care”.
Our Purpose
“We care for people every day. What we do together, matters”.
Our Values- We Care
- We Learn
- We Empower
- We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
- We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
- We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
- We will help our communities to thrive.
- Mental Health Services
- Community Health Services
- Learning Disabilities Services
- Social Care
Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for highly motivated social workers to join Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) as locally we invest in the development of social workers and as we play a lead role in the ‘Think Ahead’ initiative.EPUT is a highly successful and ambitious organisation dedicated to providing mental health services, substance misuse services and other specialist award winning services to a population of approximately 2.5million throughout Essex, Bedfordshire and Suffolk.
We are seeking enthusiastic and resourceful social workers who will have the ability to respond positively and creatively to the needs of our service users.
Main duties of the job
You will work as part of the discharge team on one of our locality psychiatric units working with patients (currently on the psychiatric inpatient unit); their families, the mental health system and working proactively with the discharge coordinator to ensure that patients are discharged in a timely manner, ensuring that their needs under the Care Act (2014) are assessed and met.
Our posts require people with a high degree of flexibility and creativity and a positive, forward-thinking attitude.
You must be an excellent communicator, dynamic and well versed and assertive in multi-disciplinary working and developing and maintaining relationships with key partners.
In return we offer you support from our established Social Care Leadership Team, supervision, training and development opportunities.
Working for our organisation
EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;- Season Ticket Loans
- NHS discounts for staff
- Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
- Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
- The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
- Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
- Day One Flexible Employer
The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment
Join our Staff bank
What is Staff Bank?
Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.
All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.
If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful candidate will work as a Social Worker as part of the discharge team providing high quality interventions to service users experiencing a wide range of mental health difficulties, promoting recovery and independence.
You will work with a defined caseload, working with individuals and their families, where there are system wide barriers that delay discharge and recovery. It would be highly beneficial if the successful candidate holds previous knowledge and/or experience of accommodation funding streams, local housing referral pathways and priority need, safeguarding, dual diagnosis, NRPF (No Recourse to Public Funds), and social circumstances that lead to both admission and challenges to discharge.
This post will involve implementing the personalisation agenda through strengths based assessments and you’ll be vital to delivering the statutory social care duties and responsibilities within the Care Act (2014).
The postholder is required to actively practice as an AMHP, if they have an AMHP qualification, on the Area AMHP rota, undertaking MHA assessments and other allocated work in relation to service users with a range of mental health problems and engaging with their carers so that, within the legislations, appropriate action is taken.
Person specification
Education/ Qualifications
Essential criteria- Possession of recognised Social Work Qualification – Degree in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW, CSS or equivalent
- Registration with Social Work England, Approved Mental Health Professional. – either already approved as an AMHP, or agrees a commitment to AMHP training.
- Studying or willingness to study towards full Post Qualification Award in Social Work
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Multi-disciplinary Social Care experience within multi-disciplinary team – relevant to people with mental health difficulties.
- Knowledge and understanding of Social Care practice as defined by Social Work England and appropriate legislation and guidance.
- A variety of experiences working with people with mental health difficulties.
- Supervisory experience
- Awareness of government guidance and legislative changes across broad range of NHS and Social Care issues
Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Important Professional References
Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.
As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.
Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.
Equal Opportunities Employer
Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply.If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email [email protected] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.
The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.
Covid Vaccination
Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.
If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing [email protected].