Adults Senior Social Worker - Royal Surrey County Hospital

This role has a starting salary of £46,399 per annum, based on a 36 hour working week.

We are excited to be hiring new Senior Social Workers to join our fantastic Royal Surrey Hospital team. The team is based in Guildford and covers the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Milford and Haslemere Hospitals. We are a friendly team with a strong emphasis on promoting personal and professional development and progression.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Team
The team is based within the Royal Surrey County Hospital which is one of five Surrey's acute hospital teams and consists of qualified and non-qualified staff.

In addition to the Royal Surrey acute hospital, the Team also supports discharges from the community rehab beds at Milford and Haslemere hospitals. Patients are supported on discharge with packages of care to return to living in the community or short term placements under discharge to assessment framework enabling assessment post discharge within a set timeframe as they regain their independence to the maximum.

About the Role
As a Senior Social Worker you will be expected to have strong experience in assessing the social care needs of service users, and provide direct social work intervention to some of the most challenging and complex service users and their carers. You will provide effective support to individuals using a strength-based approach to enable individuals to live as independently as possible with more choice and control. As a Senior Social Worker, you will supervise and support staff, as well as work alongside the team managers to improve processes and shape the team. You will need to be flexible to work in a challenging environment. You will be supported and will benefit from a structured induction programme.

On a daily basis, you will be meeting with clients to understand their care and needs, how they can be supported and to provide the best outcomes for them. Your work will include but is not limited to:

• Care Act assessments
• Carers assessments
• Safeguarding work
• Partnership working closely with our community Health, charity and voluntary organisations.
• Mental capacity assessments

This service runs from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday. In practice, you are likely to be required to work a minimum of one weekend shift per month and one late shift per week. Staff who are on the rota to work a shift falling on a weekend will be given a day off in lieu. Full-time applicants will be contracted to a 36-hour week and these hours will be worked on a rota basis across 7 days a week. The role will require being based onsite each working day. Further information regarding the working pattern can be discussed at interview.

Shortlisting Criteria
To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• A relevant degree and registration with Social Work England.
• Substantial post-qualification professional experience as a Social Worker is also required.
• Experience of providing professional supervision (can include unqualified and non-professional supervision).
• You will be motivated and flexible with high professional standards and sound knowledge and experience of current legislation and its application to practice in a social care setting.
• An applied knowledge of The Care Act and The Mental Capacity Act and experience of undertaking safeguarding enquiries is essential alongside experience of working in complex situations using professional judgement and a range of interventions.
• You will have experience of, and be able to provide, professional, reflective supervision, guidance and advice to less experienced social workers, including those completing ASYE and social work students.
• Willingness to be based onsite each day

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and locality based social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long-term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

Not local to Surrey? We can offer you relocation assistance and more details are included in the attachment below.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 31/12/2024 although applications will be reviewed and appointments made on an on-going basis.

Our Commitment
Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.