Permanent role of up to 30.5 hours per week.
Would you like to work in a stunning location, that offers great career development where you can achieve a great work‑life balance? Join our Hospital Social Work Team as a Social Worker.
Livewell Southwest is one of the largest independent social enterprises in England. We work as part of the NHS family in a similar way to GPs, dentists and pharmacies. Our 3,000‑strong workforce delivers health and social care to people in Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon, as well as some specialist services to people living in parts of Cornwall and Devon.
Livewell Southwest champions a positive work‑life balance and offers multiple flexible working options.
Livewell Southwest is fully committed to an integrated health and social care workforce which operates a shared skills model, whilst adhering to the core principles of the social work profession.
All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.
Main duties of the job
An exciting opportunity has arisen within Integrated Hospital Discharge Team for an experienced and dedicated Social Worker.
The post holder will support discharge planning for patients with complex needs who require coordinated care and support to return home. You will be responsible for ensuring that patients are able to access the services and resources they need to successfully transition back to their homes and communities. You'll work closely with patients, their families, and other healthcare providers to assess their needs and develop a plan for their ongoing care.
If you would like to be part of our supportive team and be involved in improving the discharge process for patients, relatives and their carers.
About us
Livewell Southwest is an independent, award‑winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.
As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values, kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve.
We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.
We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.
Job responsibilities
Responsibility for People Management
Supervise and or train students and colleagues as and when required to ensure their practice is safe and professional.
Provide supervision on a one to one basis or through peer supervision as and when required to ensure practice is safe and professional.
Support the delivery of induction training for new staff within the service as and when required to ensure practice is safe and professional.
Responsibility for financial and or physical resources
Responsibility for the occasional short term security of a persons cash, legal documentation or valuable items e.g. house keys until they can be securely deposited.
Duty to consider best value option when planning for peoples care and support.
Responsibility for administration
Plan and organise day to day work using an online calendar, recording systems, and workload management tools that are available on the intranet in accordance with departmental guidelines.
Ensure records are timely, kept up to date, accurate and used in accordance with the GDPR and organisational guidelines.
Have a good understanding of the various computer programmes essential for the completion of daily work such as Microsoft office.
Arrange and plan meetings with colleagues and/or people who use services and be willing to chair them if required.
Responsibility for people who use our services
Maintain contact with people who use our services either face‑to‑face, telephone or assistive technology such as video links and conference calls.
Design, implement and review care and support plans, which may involve the input of other professionals and disciplines.
Work to a number of protocols and procedures such as lone working, risk management and health and safety.
Complete carers assessments and seek feedback from people who use the service.
Learning some basic clinical skills to enable the undertaking of holistic assessments and liaison with the multi disciplinary team.
Take an asset based approach, including signposting to universal services, advice and information and considering the persons links and integration with their community and services such as advocacy.
Duty of candour and supporting people to make complaints if they wish too.
Increased level of responsibility and autonomy in relation to analysing and making professional judgements, informed by practice experience and underpinned by theory and best practice guidance.
Ability to work independently, utilising knowledge and skills with regular support from management, work is managed rather than supervised. Ability to act following broad policies and regulations, working within guidelines and protocols, utilising monthly supervision.
Responsibility for implementation of policy and or service developments
Contribute ideas and advocate on behalf of the people who use our services towards the development and implementation of policies and or services.
Work in other teams and across the organisation in order to support organisational demands and pressures.
Represent the team and organisation on planning or developmental groups as and when required.
A flexible and adaptable approach to organisational change.
Other Responsibilities
Correct use of computer hardware and software; security; processing and generating information, creating, updating and maintaining information databases.
Awareness of current social care research trends and to take part in development activities, such as Safeguarding Adult Reviews.
COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Maintain positive working relationships and communicate clearly with team colleagues, line manager, other professionals, people who use our service and their families and carers which may include highly sensitive issues.
Listen to and work in partnership with the people who use our services and families and carers.
Maintain professional conduct and communicate clearly when faced with competing demands and in situations that are potentially highly emotive, such as being challenged by families or other professionals.
Present evidence based decisions and judgements about potentially complex ambiguous situations in a manner fit for the audience. This includes writing court reports, explaining legal requirements to people and their families and projecting social work values in a multidisciplinary setting.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB
Travel between different offices to attend meetings.
Visit people at home, community setting e.g. cafe, hospital, care home or prison. Visiting people in their own homes may be prejudicial to health and wellbeing. Some visits may be out of county and on occasion may require an overnight stay. Protective equipment may be required such as gloves and facemask in certain settings.
Sitting at a computer either in office or remote working refer to DSE policy
Take pro‑active steps to maintain self‑care and resilience e.g. through the use of supervision, occupational health services etc.
Person Specification
Experience & Knowledge
* Post Qualifying Award.
* Experience and knowledge in line with national standards and guidance.
* Ongoing training and evidence of continuous professional development.
* Relevant policies and procedures of the Department and Livewell Southwest.
* Relevant legislation; e.g. The Care Act 2014, Health and Social care act 2012 and the Mental capacity Act 2005, Data Protection, Equal Opportunities, Freedom of Information Act, Disability Discrimination Act, The Human Rights Act 1998.
* Resources in order to provide advice and information to enable vulnerable adults and carers to make informed choices, e.g. Allowances, access to support advice and information.
* Safeguarding for vulnerable adults and children and young people.
* Working knowledge and experience of working to address a range of human needs, including personal crisis, disability, ill health.
* Awareness of the potential effects of providing regular and substantial unpaid care to a relative, friend or neighbour.
* Practical and procedural knowledge for a range of tasks related to the service area, of the policies or procedures relating to
* Continuing NHS Healthcare eligibility and interfaces
* Personal Budgets and Support planning, policies, and standards
* Multi‑disciplinary and partnership working
Specific skills and Technical Competencies
* Planning skills required to undertake appropriate care plans, manage day to day caseload; may have to plan up to a month in advance.
* Keyboard skills required using a range of Microsoft office software to write reports and care plans, assessments, letters, enter data and complete forms.
* Highly developed communication skills to enable daily interaction with colleagues, service users and partner agencies. Write reports for court and statutory reviews as well as for case recording. Negotiating skills to enable an appropriate way forward or provide an acceptable solution for the service user.
* Judgemental skills needed to analyse, interpret and assess each case, using professional knowledge.
* Observational skills when visiting service users homes e.g. interaction between service user and carer, home hygiene, safety of home.
* Prioritise and work flexibly as well as managing time effectively in order to meet specified tasks within agreed timescales.
* Work as part of a team and be able to contribute effectively to the achievement of wider service performance objectives.
* Freedom to Act: Ability to work independently, utilising knowledge and skills with regular support from management, work is managed rather than supervised. Ability to act following broad policies and regulations, working within guidelines and protocols, utilising monthly supervision.
Qualifications
* Degree or equivalent in Social Work e.g. DipSW, CQSW, CSS.
* Professional knowledge gained through degree in social work underpinned by theory and through relevant practice experience.
* Evidence of Continuous Professional Development by producing documentation to meet the Standards of Proficiency for Social Worker registration.
* Registration with Social Work England as a social worker.
* Experience of working within an Adult Safeguarding team or service.
* Significant experience of working as a Social Worker.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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