Senior Social Worker Discharge, Assessment and Response Team (Acute)

Job introduction

Please do not apply if you are not a qualified Social Worker and registered with Social Work England. Unfortunately, if you are not qualified and registered, your application will not be read.

Vacancy Announcement:

Senior Social Worker - Discharge, Assessment and Response Team (DART)

Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

Permanent - Full Time (37 hours per week)

The Discharge, Assessment and Response Team (DART) are pleased to offer a fantastic permanent opportunity to an enthusiastic, professionally curious, and motivated Senior Social Worker to join our friendly, supportive, and high performing Hospital based Social Work Team based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in the vibrant area of Kemp Town, Brighton.

Position Available:

• 1 Full-Time Senior Social Worker position – permanent - (37 hours per week)

For an informal discussion, please contact Carl Killeen - Operations Manager on 01273 696955 x64001

About the role

• We are looking for someone with strong assessment, communication, and leadership skills, with relevant experience completing and supporting complex short-term casework.
• Someone who has high professional standards, who is keen to continue their professional development and share their knowledge and skills.
• To have a commitment to supervision, support and supervise our wonderful Social Workers and Social Care Workers to assess and support patients and their families through the often-complex hospital system, enabling their safe discharge.
• To promote and support excellent Social Work practice and providing guidance to our team.
• To work in partnership and contributing to a multiagency approach with our system partners and Health colleagues.
• Who possesses a comprehensive knowledge of relevant legislation, including the Care Act 2014 and Mental Capacity Act 2005, in addition to having excellent knowledge around Safeguarding vulnerable adults and the management of risk and demonstrating confidence in and supporting others in undertaking Section 42 Safeguarding Enquiries.
• A knowledge of the local Health and Social Care landscape in Brighton is desirable.
• The role is perfect for those who thrive in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment.
• Collaborate with our team, our health colleagues, families, and carers, adhering to statutory legislation and embedding strengths and relationship-based practice in assessments.
• Participating in leadership and decision-making initiatives, contributing to the ongoing development of DART - Hospital Social Work service, quality improvement and development, including the setting up and our contribution to the Transfer of Care Hub.
• Engaging in ongoing professional development to stay current with Social Work best practices and changes in the field of Social Work and changes in Brighton and Hove Local Authority.
• Lead and mentor our Social Workers and Social Care Workers, sharing your expertise and fostering a supportive learning environment and culture, maximising our team’s wellbeing and potential.

Our Team's Focus:

• Delivering high-quality, strength based and person-centred Social Work in acute and possibility community settings with clients and their families to enable safe discharges from hospital. This includes undertaking Care Act Assessment of need and Mental Capacity Assessments.
• Undertaking Safeguarding and Section 42 Enquiries for vulnerable adults.
• Professionalism and a commitment to ongoing professional development are the keystones of our practice and very much encouraged.
• This is an exciting time to join our team with the introduction of the Transfer of Care Hub on the horizon, changes within the Discharge to Assess (D2A) model and with Brighton and Hove HASC working towards and preparing for the imminent CQC inspection.

Our Work Environment:

• We pride ourselves on being a friendly and supportive team, thriving in a busy and sometimes challenging system and hospital environment. We are lucky to be based in our own offices in Kemptown, Brighton where there are local independent shops and cafés and just a short stroll to the sea. The new, modern, and spacious Royal Sussex County Hospital has communal space, a coffee shop and M&S food. There is paid parking near our office, and secure free bicycle parking is available too.
• We understand the benefits of being office based given the nature of our work and to support our team, however there is opportunity to work flexibly.

Our Team

• Our Social Work team consists of 1 Operations Manager, 2 Senior Social Workers (including this post), 4 Social Care Workers, 8 Social Workers and 1 Community Support Worker.

Interview Date:

• To be Confirmed

For More Information:

We are more than happy to receive a call for an informal discussion about the role, if you like, or arrange to pop into the office to see us

As part of your application, you will need to complete your education and work history and upload a supporting statement of no more than 2 A4 pages. Your supporting statement is the most important part of your application as it will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements as set out in the Senior Social Worker Hospital DART job description for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here (Supporting statement guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk)) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us

Company information

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.