Senior Social Worker - Mental Health Social Care Team Hospital Discharge

at  Reading Borough Council

Job description
We are a local authority working for the community, improving the lives of our residents and we are looking for a motivated and talented Senior Social Worker with mental health and social care experience to join our Mental Health Social Care Team.
This role focuses on leading the small Hospital Discharge team primarily based at Prospect Park in Reading. You will work jointly with Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust and formulate discharge plans, which will involve preparing applications for S117 panel discussions. You will also be part of a wider Mental Health Social Care team working out of Reading Civic Centre and we work flexibly around service needs. It is an exciting and rewarding post focusing on developing partnership working.
Working as a Senior Social Worker for Reading Borough Council you will be part of a friendly and supportive team. We are looking for an individual who can demonstrate great communication skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with adults of all ages, colleagues and health partners.
We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.
We are open to flexible working patterns and can provide a hybrid working environment which utilises the best of both worlds with a mix of office working in central Reading and homeworking according to the needs of the Service.

You will hold a small, varied caseload as well as providing supervision, guidance and oversight to a group of social care practitioners, operating as the duty manager for the team on a rota basis and deputising for the Team Manager as necessary. You will contribute to the team performance and positive outcomes for our residents.
The Mental Health Social Care Team works with adults with a diagnosis of functional mental disorder.
In Reading we use the Conversation Counts model and the team offer the full range of social care interventions for the client group, from advice and signposting, adult safeguarding, discharges from the psychiatric hospital, to initial assessments under the Care Act and commissioning of services to meet eligible needs or mental health aftercare needs under S117 Mental Health Act 1989 and onward reviews.
We benefit from a mental health reablement service which supports our clients to meet their goals and retain independence and recover from periods of ill health.
Have a particular focus on reviewing and S117 aftercare, you will support the team manager with quality assurance of S117 applications across the council and the process and we are particularly looking for someone highly organised and efficient.
You’ll be part of a team that relies on each individual to play their part to the best of their ability. As well as the colleagues that you work closely with every day, you’ll also be part of Team Reading, playing your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place.
Our vision is to ensure that Reading realises its potential as a great place to live, work and play, and that everyone shares the benefits of this success. Our values and behaviours guide how we will achieve this:
Work Together as one team - work collaboratively, with each other and with our partners, and demonstrate the Team Reading values in everything we do
Drive Efficiency - show initiative, be adaptable to change and put forward ideas to help improve delivery and efficiency. Take responsibility for our own learning and development and for reaching our potential
Be Ambitious - be demanding of our own performance – striving to be even better – and be prepared to engage with and challenge leaders in a constructive and positive way
Make a Difference to Reading - maintain the highest levels of customer service and be flexible and willing to provide the services needed at the time they are needed