Social Work Practice Lead
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Main area Social Work Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a Contract 5 months for duration of substantive postholder's secondment.) Hours
1. Part time
2. Flexible working
hours per week (Flexible) Job ref -CHI-5- Site Kingsway Town Derby Salary £, - £, per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing //5 : Interview date //5
Want to make a real difference and have a truly rewarding career? Join 'Team Derbyshire Healthcare' and become part of a talented, compassionate and enthusiastic workforce committed to a vision of ‘making a positive difference in people's lives’.
We’ve been rated ‘good’ overall by the CQC, with some outstanding services. The CQC commented at our most recent inspection on how our colleagues “treated patients with compassion and kindness” and “felt positive and proud about working for the trust.
We are passionate about making equality, diversity and inclusion part of our DNA. We take pride in our “People First Culture” which creates a workplace where everyone feels a genuine sense of belonging, difference is celebrated, and people are comfortable to bring their whole selves to work. We value the richness that comes from having colleagues that are fully representative of the local community. We welcome people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, protected characteristics, and with all backgrounds and experiences.
Job overview
The post holder will provide professional leadership, practice development, and assurance for social work practice across designated service areas. They will ensure that professional standards are upheld, that governance frameworks are embedded, and that social workers are supported to deliver safe, effective, and person-centred care.
Main duties of the job
3. Acting to support the professional lead for social work within the Trust, providing expert advice and guidance.
4. Supporting and where appropriate leading on the implementation of Trust-wide policies, professional standards, and governance frameworks.
5. Supporting quality improvement, audit, and assurance activities within social work.
6. Providing professional supervision and oversight to social work leads and practitioners.
7. Contributing to service planning and workforce development in collaboration with operational managers.
8. Representing the profession within Trust-level forums and local multi-agency partnerships.
Working for our organisation
Join 'Team Derbyshire Healthcare' and become part of a talented, compassionate and enthusiastic workforce committed to a vision of ‘making a positive difference in people's lives’.
CQC rated us as 'GOOD’ overall, commenting on how our colleagues “treated patients with compassion and kindness” and “felt positive and proud about working for the trust.”
Benefits include:
9. Commitment to flexible working where this is possible
10. days annual leave/year plus bank holidays, increasing to days after 5 years & days after years’ service
11. Yearly appraisal and commitment to ongoing training
12. Generous NHS pension scheme
13. Good maternity, paternity and adoption benefits
14. Health service discounts and online benefits
15. Incremental pay progression
16. Free confidential employee assistance programme /7
17. Access to our LGBT+ network, BAME Network and Christian Network
18. Health and wellbeing opportunities
19. Structured learning and development opportunities
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please view the Job Description and Person Specification. To apply, please click ON APPLY FOR THIS JOB - this link will take you to the TRAC Recruitment Site, you will need to register if you do not already have an account.
Leadership and Management
1)Make professional judgements on behalf of profession and make recommendations to the professional lead, to ensure a robust clinical governance framework is maintained.
2)The Social Work Lead will be the expert for their profession in situations that have unique characteristics to their specific discipline.
3)The post holder will be required to contribute to and influence discussions on matters of a professional nature, giving appropriate advice and guidance to ensure a satisfactory outcome is achieved for the service and the profession.
4)The post holder to contribute to and influence Strategic and business planning of various Social Workfunctions in the trust.
5)The post holder reports to the Deputy Director of Transformation and AHP Lead and will agree personal and profession specific objectives through the formal performance review system. This requires considerable flexibility in determining the means of meeting these targets.
6)Work in collaboration with the other leads across Derbyshire Health Care healthcare foundation trust (DHCFT), AHP leads and multi-agency stakeholders as relevant to the specific profession to agree service organisation, service delivery models and clinical priorities.
7)Accountability for effective advice and oversight of the Social Work operational leadership team, who maintain systems are in place and monitored to support staff and clinical governance, patient safety, health and safety, risk management.
8)Advise on Social Work service improvements across patient journeys and facilitate the improvement to patient pathways across joined up care partnerships Derbyshire
9)Connect and collaborate with wider Derbyshire health care systems as appropriate
)Provides advice on the development of the workforce model and work force planning of Social Work service within area of responsibility in collaboration with the Leads for that speciality
)Provide collective support and collective leadership to other professionals with in the AHP in the trust when needed as requested by AHP deputy director as and when required
Clinical Governance/Quality Assurance
1)Support the operational leads to make recommendations on professional priorities in the development of local plans; support AHP Sector Leads in contributing to DHCFT service plans; contribute to, develop and implement policies and protocols and service changes within the sector – influence, negotiate and involve multi-agency stakeholders as appropriate.
2)The post holder will advise the operational leads on the implementation of policies and protocols which are relevant to the development of the Social Work practice in collaboration with service leads
3)Assure that Professional policy and service development changes are safe and appropriate within the Social Work area(s) new clinical guidelines, standards
4)With other lead colleagues within the profession, as a network, collaborate to identify priority areas and to take the lead on projects which have implications across the organisation.
5)Work within professional body guidelines to have a good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practice in sector area(s)
6)To promote and provide evidence of assurance of a learning environment and culture which can evidence implementation of national and local recommendations
7)To promote and engage in a positive, open and transparent culture, to support and enable the delivery of the Trust Strategic Objectives.
8)To ensure a patient and staff safety culture which assures adherence to Trust values.
9)To influence the learning and promote an open culture to support the reporting of safety incidents.
) Apply the evidence of advanced clinical practice within Social Work demonstrating the use application and evaluation of evidence based care interventions.
Supervision for Social Workers
1) To provide professional support, guidance and lead when appropriate in formal disciplinary matters and disputes
2)Provide consultation and professional advice on Training Needs Analysis
3)Act as an advocate for the Social Work services within the trust to promote Quality assurance standards of Social Work service delivery
4)Support specific Social Work team lead in any grievance related issues.
5)Actively promote equality, diversity and an inclusive and supportive environment.
6)Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and their application to evidence-based practice, clinical audit and research and development.
7)To advise on standards of care utilising relevant benchmarking information from relevant performance and quality standards for the named Social Work service.
8)Whilst the post holder will be guided by the Professional Lead and principles and broad occupational policies, they will be expected to interpret and act on these for the profession on an autonomous basis, using judgement and experience of when it is appropriate to seek advice.
9)Influence policy beyond own immediate scope of Social Work to improve quality of broader pathway sand services.
)Work within wide range of codes of practice and professional Guidelines/interpret national professional policies specialist area.
) Accountable to Lead Professional for Social Work and Chief AHP.
) Coordinating sources of funding and accessing available funding both external and internal to DHCFT.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
20. Current Social Work England Registration
Desirable criteria
21. Leadership training or equivalent experience desirable
Ability
Essential criteria
22. Person shows the ability to act under supervision in a leadership capacity.
23. Person shows understanding of the professional frameworks that support good social work practice
Desirable criteria
24. Experince of leadership
25. Experinece of professional regulation
26. Demonstrates a strong committment to social work values.
27. Project management skills
Skills
Essential criteria
28. Ability to provide professional leadership and assurance
29. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
30. Act as a visible leader and role model for the profession
Further details / informal visits contact
NamePaul BlakemanJob titleProfessional Lead for Social WorkEmail