Senior Social Worker - Inpatient

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust; Oxford; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic and supportive team at a leading health trust as a Senior Social Worker, focusing on recovery-oriented care for adults with acute mental health challenges. You will perform psychosocial assessments, support discharge planning, and mentor junior staff. This role is pivotal in ensuring effective patient flow and safeguarding processes, contributing to high standards of care in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays

NHS Discount

Pension scheme

Lease car scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Staff accommodation

Qualifications

• More than 2 years experience as a qualified social worker.
• Understanding of mental health conditions and models.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist social care assessments in an acute inpatient setting.
• Lead safeguarding processes and support discharge planning.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Team Management

Education

Qualified Social Worker

Job description

Are you a qualified and experienced Social Worker seeking a new challenge in a dynamic and fast paced new environment?

We are seeking a dedicated and experienced Senior Social Worker to join our dynamic and supportive multi-disciplinary team within our adult inpatient services. This is a pivotal role for a qualified and passionate individual who thrives in a fast-paced, recovery-focused environment, and is committed to delivering high standards of care to adults experiencing acute mental health difficulties.

As part of our team, you will work collaboratively with service users, carers, and professionals to support safe discharge planning and promote social recovery. You will carry out complex psychosocial assessments, undertake safeguarding responsibilities, contribute to Mental Health Act processes, and support our drive to provide strength-based, trauma-informed care.

Main duties of the job

This post will be a focal point ensuring effective patient flow from inpatient care. You will work with colleagues to report delayed discharges, particularly those service users who are ready for discharge and action is needed by the wider system to support a safe and timely discharge. The post folder will negotiate with team managers to ensure allocation, prioritisation and joint working to mobilise the service to ensure no-one deprived of their liberty beyond necessary.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide specialist social care assessments and interventions within an acute inpatient setting.
• Lead and support safeguarding processes, including Section 42 enquiries.
• Act as the lead professional for service users subject to the Care Programme Approach (CPA).
• Liaise with community teams, local authorities, and partner agencies to ensure effective discharge planning.
• Offer guidance, supervision, and mentoring to junior staff and students.

Working for our organisation

Oxford Health is a great place to work and to be able to showcase the best of yourself when making an application you are encouraged to read the “candidate guide to making an application” which is attached to all roles. Please include details around qualifications (including years these were gained particularly if we need to assess for clinical roles that these are still valid) and ensure that the supporting statement is tailored to the role you are applying for and addresses the essential criteria found in the JD.

As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible.Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive:“Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”

Our values are:“Caring, safe and excellent”

At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:

• Excellent opportunities for career progression
• Individual and Trust wide learning and development
• 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
• NHS Discount
• Pension scheme
• Lease car scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Staff accommodation (waiting lists may apply)
• Staff networking and support groups

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We hope that the advert has given you a clear understanding of the skills we are seeking and the opportunity at hand. You will need to use the “supporting statement” element of your application form to demonstrate your suitability for this role and you should refer to the job description, person specification and the guidance notes attached to this role to help you tailor your application.

The essential and desirable criteria will be used to shortlist for interview, and you should ensure that you refer to these within your application to increase your chances of being selected for interview.

Person specification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Qualified Social worker with more than 2 years experience
• Understanding of mental health conditions and models of mental disorder
• Experience of supervising others

Desirable criteria

• Higher level qualification BIA/AMHP or other

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of the Care Act , Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and associated codes of practice and statutory guidance
• Evidence of leading on s42 safeguarding enquiries using associated best practice models
• Able to articulate and promote the social perspective of mental health and the importance of rights based, person centred approaches he
• Evidence of understanding the legal and practical aspects of making applications to the Court of Protection
• Importance of understanding housing legislation and the importance of legal literacy and advocacy

Skills

Essential criteria

• The ability to lead a team in a busy and dynamic environment whilst managing competing demands
• Ability to manage complex situations using a range of interventions and communication methods
• Ability to manage difference of opinion

Desirable criteria

• Leadership qualification

All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.

Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.

We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.

Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.

We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.

We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Oxford is a world-renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing