Adults Senior Social Worker - East Surrey Hospital - The Guardian : Job Details

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

We are excited to be hiring a new Senior Social Worker to join our vibrant East Surrey Hospital adult social care team. The team is based in Redhill and covers East Surrey Hospital (part of The Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust), as well as working with adults who have recently been discharged under the NHS funded Discharge-to-Assess (D2A) scheme. 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 per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Team

The team is based within East Surrey Hospital and is one of five of Surrey's acute hospital teams and consists of qualified and non-qualified staff.

We are a dynamic team that carries out three main functions to assist people back home from a hospital stay: managing complex discharges, D2A post hospital visits and assessments, as well as our Duty Hub function. Senior members of the team will generally take on specific roles within one of these areas but need to become familiar with all of them to assist the team where needed. This makes each day interesting and fulfilling with no two days being the same and great opportunities for learning and applying diverse practice.

Our D2A work is carried out in people's homes when discharged with new home-based care, as well as short-term bed-based care within CQC registered care homes. Most of our work is handed over to one of three locality teams and we work closely with them to transfer each case.

About the Role

As a Senior Social Worker, you will supervise and support staff, as well as carrying cases, and work alongside the team managers to improve processes and help shape the team. You will need to be flexible to work in a hospital environment but be confident that support is always available where needed by a very experienced management team. You will also benefit from a structured induction programme to familiarise yourself with the hospital processes.

You will regularly be meeting with adults and their carers to understand their needs, how they can be supported and to provide the best outcomes as they see it and to get back home if possible. Your work can include but is not limited to:

• Care Act Section 9 and Carers assessments with adults, their families and advocates
• Mental capacity assessments and Best Interest Decisions.
• Safeguarding work
• Partnership working with our acute and community Health partners, locality colleagues, charity and voluntary organisations.
• Assisting to ensure duty hub work is carried out to support the hospital system
• Providing structured supervision to a small number of team members

The service runs from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday. To manage a 7 day per week service, we have a small roster of bank staff for weekends with any welcome to join as they like.

While we are largely hospital based, there is flexibility available with remote working and flexible hours and can be discussed at interview or on commencement in the post.

Shortlisting Criteria

In addition to the requisite qualifications and SWE registration, to be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• Substantial post-qualification professional experience as a Social Worker in a statutory setting, applying strengths-based practice to support people with needs.
• An applied knowledge of The Care Act and The Mental Capacity Act and of undertaking safeguarding enquiries, including experience of working with 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 team members, including those completing ASYE and social work students (can include unqualified and non-professional supervision.
• Willingness to be based onsite when required by the team and ability to adapt to a changing environment and grow with the service

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and social 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.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 30/03/2025 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants 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.