Social Care Practitioner

West Berkshire Council has a rare opportunity for a full time Social Care Practitioner to join our friendly and supportive team. We are a small Local Authority with a mixture of urban and rural communities which offers great variety and positive challenges.   West Berkshire Council is embracing a new way of working with a strong focus on localities and a strengths based approach towards the people that we work with. 

As a Social Care Practitioner in the Joint Care Provider Services / Maximising Independence Team you will be required to support in the safe discharges of patients from hospital through the Joint Care Pathway and assess or review for eligibility of long term support in accordance with the Care Act.  You will work alongside colleagues to support vulnerable individuals who are unable to make decisions in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act.  You will promote the rights of individuals and may be involved in safeguarding those who are at risk of abuse by working with the Safeguarding Team and jointly completing S42 enquiries.

You will work closely with your colleagues who include Social Workers and Occupational Therapists.  You will also work alongside health colleagues through the integrated health and social care pathway for hospital discharges and hospital avoidance.  A key role for the Social Care Practitioner in this team is to support in the link worker role in one of the hospitals in the area, which include Basingstoke, Swindon, Reading and West Berks Community Hospital.  Dedicated teams of workers are deployed in these hospitals to build relations and links to ensure the smooth transition for the patient from hospital to home, or into a care home.

The team operates a duty desk which is covered by a member of staff on a daily basis.  We also have a Social Worker on duty each day to offer support in any duty tasks that come into the team.  You will be rota’d onto this duty work alongside colleagues each month.

We are ideally looking to offer the successful candidate the full number of hours advertised above. We may however consider offering less hours than advertised providing they meet the requirements of the role and service which will be determined by the recruiting manager.

West Berkshire Council offer excellent employment benefits such as flexible working, access to a wide range of relevant training, local government pension scheme, family friendly policies, a range of local discounts and much more. You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days per annum rising to a maximum of 32 days.

Please see the West Berkshire Council website www.westberks.gov.uk for more details of these posts. Alternatively, feel free to come and visit us or contact Ann Tubbs Team Manager or Elisabete Santos Assistant Team Manager on 01635 292130 for further details.