Main area Social Work Grade Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday) Job ref 350-SC7260508
Employer Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Alexander House Town Leyland Salary £38,682 - £46,580 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 31/08/2025 23:59
Social Worker
Band 6
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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
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Job overview
The post holder will provide consultancy on issues relating to the social care needs of forensic clients of the Community Forensic Learning Disability Service (CFLDS), providing skilled advice and guidance to staff both for the CFLDS and in the wider social care community within the requirements of legislation.
Main duties of the job
Provide skilled social work service to people who have a Learning Disability.
Work in partnership with service users and carers to assess and identify their needs.
Contribute to the development of future service initiatives.
Assist in the assessment of suitable placements.
Contribute to MDTs with members to develop care plans in line with risk assessments and needs.
Assist in co-ordination of care in the with other professionals in forensic services.
To produce reports to reflect needs of individual service users and issues of risk.
Engage with service users, families and carers to ensure they are aware of rights.
Work in partnership to meet social care needs which arise out of offending behaviour.
Utilise the Electronic Patient Record for inputting data.
Take a role in promoting anti-discriminatory practice holistically within contemporary society and policies.
Ensure that service users have access to advocacy.
Take a role in Advocacy for the specialist support team to ensure advocacy is reflected throughout practice.
To ensure safeguarding children and vulnerable adults policies and procedures are in place within the SST.
Ensure implementation of MAPPA, Victim Liaison Services, and Domestic Violence and the National Probation policies.
Link and maintain contact with statutory and third sector agencies to inform assessments.
Participate in various MDT groups to contribute to service development.
Contribute to research and training to other professionals.
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Ensure an accurate comprehensive, holistic and up to date social history is available foreach service user which offers complex formulations and recommendations.
2. Provide a skilled comprehensive assessment and social work service to people whohave a Learning Disability and complex needs.
3. When it is part of an agreed care plan, focused casework with individual service usersusing a range of interventions.
4. Work in partnership with service users and carers to assess and identify their needs and
achieve service provision which is outcome focused and enhances their quality of life,independence and social integration. 5. Contribute to planning and development of future services by providing complex analysis and information to assist the multi-disciplinary team.
6. In conjunction with the responsible Social Services Department or NHS Trusts, assist inthe assessment of suitable after care placements working across professionalboundaries.
7. Contribute to multi-disciplinary teams and participate with members to develop careplans in line with specialist risk assessments and needs, taking into account the familyand social context, requiring the exchange of highly sensitive information.
8. Assist in co-ordination of care in the context of different legislation with otherprofessionals within forensic services by sharing knowledge and understanding.
9. To produce reports to reflect needs of individual service users and issues of risk, sharingsensitive information to support intervention and formulation.
10. Engage with service users and families to ensure they are aware of legal rights.
11. Work in partnership with users and carers to meet social care needs within a range ofcomplex needs which arise out of offending behaviour.
12. Utilise the Electronic Patient Record for inputting assessment data, record social workinput to the care plan and transfer summaries which reflect the patient’s views.
13. With the service user’s permission, initiate visits and maintain contact with serviceuser’s families and/or significant others, offering support, information and, whererelevant to the care plan, joint family and service user’s sessions. 14. Take a role in promoting anti-discriminatory practice in a way that links the service user’s individual circumstances to the broader social, political, legal and culturalcontext.
15. Ensure that service users have access to independent advice on financial, legal andadvocacy matters.
16. Take a role in Advocacy for the specialist support team, providing training, delivery ofpolicies and shaping the service to ensure advocacy is reflected throughout practice.
17. To ensure child protection policies within the Specialist Support team ensuring effectivecollaboration with the wider health and social care community. This will involve thesharing of highly sensitive information with agencies, requiring tact and negotiation inagreeing appropriate action required.
18. To ensure in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults ensuring policies andprocedures are in place within the SST and that service delivery compliments the widerhealth and social care community, linking with local safeguarding hubs, communicatinghighly sensitive information that requires tack and negotiation in agreeing appropriateaction as necessary.
19. To ensure policy, procedure and service delivery in terms of working with MAPPA,Victim Liaison Services, and Domestic Violence and the National Probation Services ensuring effective collaboration and connectivity with the wider health and social care
community.
20. Enable service users and carers to exercise their rights and promote their equality and diversity.
21. Link and maintain contact with statutory, voluntary, charity and external agencies toinform assessments and formulate detailed and complex care packages. Promoteinvolvement of voluntary agencies to meet social care needs.
22. Participate in various multi-disciplinary groups in order to contribute to servicegovernance and development within the workplace.
23. Will contribute to research and training to other professionals from internal andexternal agencies utilising own knowledge base.
24. Liaise with the Specialist Support Team Manager through regular meetings andsupervision to ensure that social care needs of individuals are being appropriatelyaddressed.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Degree in Social Work or DipSW or CQSW
* Current Social Work England registration
* Post-qualifying training (formally or work based) in relevant areas of social work and/or mental health, learning disability or forensics
* Evidence of significant continuing professional and personal development
* Qualifications relating to the Mental Capacity Act, e.g., Best Interest Assessor
* Approved Mental Health Professional Qualification
Knowledge
* Legislative Framework
* Health Act. 1999, National Service Frameworks, Mental Capacity Act (2006), Mental Health Act 2007
* Underpinning Knowledge and Understanding
* Requirements of relevant legislation, Childcare legislation and criminal justice system, Care Programme Approach, Social work models in forensic work, Drugs, alcohol and substance misuse, Interaction between learning disabilities and offending behaviour within a family and social context
* National and local policies
* Models of risk assessment and risk factors and management, Financing of community care
* Housing and welfare provision, roles, responsibilities of other agencies, Learning from enquiries’ reports, Role of Mental Health Review Tribunals, Victims.
* Theoretical models of forensic social work/forensic psychiatry/forensic psychology
* Putting People First (DH 2006)
* New Horizons (DH 2009)
* Revised NHS Operating Framework 2010/11 (June 2010)
* Transforming Care
* Forensic Mental Health
* Approved Social Work
* Multi-Disciplinary Work
* Offence related work
* Mental Health Social Work
* (Community Mental Health Team), Continuing Care Team, Hospital Social Work Team, Emergency Duty Team, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Team, Probation Service)
* Appropriate adult
Skills
* A demonstrated understanding of Equality and Human Rights
* Ability to work in a multidisciplinary setting
* Ability to apply social work practice in the framework of a nonmedical model
* Recording and preparing assessment and Mental Health Review Tribunal reports
* Ability to travel nationally at short notice to complete assessments and visit families
* To be able to practice as an autonomous professional
* Offence related work
* Victim work
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Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.
Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust’s guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.
Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email recruitment@merseycare.nhs.uk to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.
We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.
The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or email sensitive@dbs.gsi.gov.uk ) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.
Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
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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.
Name Patrick Palmer Job title Highly Specialist Forensic Social Worker Email address patrick.palmer@merseycare.nhs.uk Telephone number 01772 377960 Additional information
Available Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 8-6
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