Band 7
ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
East London NHS Foundation Trust provides the regional forensic mental health service covering the boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham, City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest. The inpatient units consist of the John Howard Centre (medium secure) in Hackney, and Wolfson House (low secure) in the Finsbury Park area.
The service meets the specialist needs of mentally disordered offenders, the majority of whom are admitted via the criminal justice system. The Forensic Social Work Team provides a comprehensive social care service to inpatients and community patients, working closely with families and other carers.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will provide managerial and clinical supervision to band 6 forensic social work staff.
The post holder will also carry a patient caseload which they will manage to a level consistent with the job description of Forensic Social Worker.
With the agreement of the Head of Social Work the postholder will represent the forensic social work service in various health and social care forums and undertake other delegated management functions on behalf of the service.
Working for our organisation
Social workers in ELFT work across a range of settings including Adult and Older Person’s Mental Health, Forensic, Crisis and CAMH’s Services and increasingly in Primary Care settings.
There are social workers in various management posts across ELFT including a Director of Social Work and a Learning and Development Lead for Social Work.
Wherever the base, ELFT values the skills and contribution of social workers and encourages them to maintain the requirements of their professional registration and will uphold the values and practice of Social Work across the organisation.
We want social workers to feel valued and supported in ELFT and to promote and support social work as a profession.
We will offer you:
* Training and development opportunities specific to social work including ASYE, AMHP training and PE training
* Social work professional supervision
* Social work forums and seminars
* A voice in the organisation and recognition of the skills and values you bring
* The opportunity to progress through the organisation as a social worker in a senior role
If you would like to know more about working in ELFT as a social worker, please contact Denis Thompson, Head of Forensic Social Work, at denis.thompson1@nhs.net.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Kindly refer to the job description and person specification that is attached to the vacancy profile.
Person specification
Education/Qualification/Training
* CQSW, DipSW or equivalent social work qualification.
* Current Social Work England registration
* High level of competence in written and spoken English. High level presentation skills in formal settings
Experience
* Demonstrable record of developing and delivering social care services within a performance management culture.
* Familiarity with NHS and social care modernisation agenda and key drivers for structural change.
* Previous experience of clinical and managerial supervision of social care staff
* Experience of advancement of human rights and promotion social justice and economic well-being
* Previous experience of managing a budget or delegated cost centre
Knowledge and Skills
* Ability to work from a social care perspective with patients who have committed serious criminal offences and who may be experiencing severe and/or enduring mental health problems, including those with a diagnosed learning disability or personality disorder.
* Extensive knowledge of theory, legislation and good practice guidance in relation to mental health care, particularly those aspects which relate specifically to mentally disordered offenders.
* Able to take responsibility for the professional learning and development of others through supervision, mentoring, assessing, research, teaching, leadership and management
* Identify and behave as a professional Social Worker, committed to professional development
* Able to recognise diversity and apply anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive principles in practice
* Able to use judgement and authority to intervene with individuals, families and communities to promote independence, provide support and prevent harm, neglect and abuse
Making Things Better
Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.
We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.
Our Community
We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.
Aiming High
We were rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated ‘Outstanding’ again in 2018 and continue to be rate 'Outstanding' in 2021.. We were named in the HSJ’s Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.
Staff and Service Users United
We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.
We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.
Diversity
ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.
Other reasons to apply
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s job share, part time or another flexible pattern.
As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.
What Next?
If you like the sound of ELFT, don’t waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!
As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..
If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.
Find us online at www.elft.nhs.uk | Find us on Facebook | Follow us on @NHS_ELFT
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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