Practice Consultant - Occupational Therapist (11325)

Norfolk County Council; Norwich; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 25,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Welcome payment

Job summary

Norfolk County Council’s Social Care Community Engagement Team (SCCE) is seeking a Practice Consultant – Occupational Therapist to provide professional leadership across social work and OT practice, supporting high-quality, strengths-based and preventative interventions at the Adult Social Care front door.

You will offer professional oversight, case consultation and guidance to practitioners, ensuring safe decision-making and accurate judgments that promote independence and reduce escalation.

Qualifications

• Professional leadership across social work and occupational therapy practice.
• Support to provide strengths-based, preventative interventions at the front door.
• Commitment to reflective, collaborative professional practice.

Responsibilities

• Provide oversight, case consultation and practice guidance across complex front door activity.
• Support practitioners to promote independence, manage risk and reduce escalation.
• Contribute to change agenda and integrated service development within SCCE.

Skills

Professional leadership

Case consultation

Practice guidance

Quality assurance

Front door practice

Job description

Practice Consultant – Occupational Therapist | 11325 | Permanent Contract | 18.5 hours per week | £22,634 to £24,909 per annum | (Grade K) | Norwich

We offer a £2000 welcome payment for qualified and experienced Social Workers/Occupational Therapists (grade J and above), Practice Consultants and Team Managers new to Norfolk County Council. Amount to be repaid in full should you leave within two years of employment.

It’s an exciting time to join the Social Care Community Engagement Team (SCCE). We have bold changes happening in Norfolk and we want to find the very best social care professionals to be part of our future. We are looking for a Social Work and Occupational Therapy Practice Consultant who can bring strong professional leadership across social work and occupational therapy practice, supporting high-quality, strengths-based and preventative interventions at the Adult Social Care front door.

Our Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Assistant Practitioners work collaboratively within SCCE to provide timely, proportionate and person-centred responses for people contacting Adult Social Services. We are looking to strengthen our practice leadership so that social work and occupational therapy expertise are embedded at the earliest point of contact.

You will be responsible for providing professional oversight, case consultation, practice guidance and quality assurance across complex and emerging front door activity. You will support practitioners to work with people, families, carers and partner agencies to promote independence, manage risk proportionately, prevent escalation and reduce or delay the need for formal commissioned services wherever appropriate.

You will be confident in applying professional judgement, working with complexity and ambiguity, and supporting reflective practice within a fast-paced front door environment. You will be keen to work innovatively, strive for continuous improvement, and contribute to SCCE’s change agenda, particularly in shaping integrated, relational and preventative front door services for the future.

Who are we?

SCCE brings together Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Assistant Practitioners and managers to provide the first point of contact for many Norfolk residents, carers, professionals and partner organisations seeking adult social care advice, information, intervention or support.

Our team doesn’t ask the people we work with, ‘what’s the matter with you?’ instead we ask, ‘what matters to you?’ We actively listen to people to find out what will motivate them to enhance and maximise their independence. We focus on what a person can do and the strengths they have either personally or with support from family or community resources.

Social work and occupational therapy practice sit alongside each other within SCCE, supporting holistic assessment, professional curiosity, functional analysis, safeguarding awareness, proportionate decision-making and creative use of family, community and system resources.

Practice Consultants play a key role in supporting safe and consistent decision-making across the service. They provide consultation and professional guidance to practitioners, support escalation where required, and help ensure that practice is defensible, legally literate, strengths-based and aligned with SCCE’s preventative operating model.

We are committed to working in an integrated manner with colleagues across Adult Social Services, the NHS, housing, community services and the voluntary sector. The Practice Consultant role will help strengthen these pathways by supporting practitioners to identify the right response at the right time, reduce unnecessary handoffs, and promote independence through early help, prevention, reablement and community-led solutions.

Norfolk County Council is developing social work and occupational therapy practice in line with Human Learning Systems, relationship-based practice and a preventative approach to Adult Social Care. This role will contribute to practice development, learning, quality assurance and service improvement across SCCE, supporting staff to reflect on what is working well, what needs to change, and how professional judgement can be used to achieve better outcomes for people.