About the role
North Northamptonshire Hospital Adult Social Care Team – Principal Social Worker/ Principal Care Manager
Full time Permanent Post
The Hospital Adult Social Care Team is a busy and fast paced team, which provides support to hospitals for North Northamptonshire residents who need Social Care involvement to be safely discharged from hospital and then to follow up after discharge to support with assessment for ongoing needs.
Our referrals are predominantly received from Kettering General Hospital (KGH) and Northampton General Hospital (NGH) and the NHFT community hospitals, but we regularly receive referrals from Out of Area hospitals such as Peterborough City Hospital (PCH).
In line with current national guidance, we operate a Discharge To Assess (DTA) process which requires us to carry out timely assessments for those people discharged to DTA beds in care homes in the North of the County and for people discharged to their own homes with DTA packages of care.
You will be working with social workers, senior assessment and enablement officers and assessment and enablement workers who are based at KGH, Thackley Green Specialist Care Centre or who work from home. Staff provide a range of social care interventions and statutory safeguarding functions to people with enduring and complex needs, as well as their families and carers and with people who may be at risk of harm who are in receipt of or are eligible for adult social care interventions.
The remit of the team is to ensure timely, safe and appropriate discharges and to ensure flow through the hospital system, working closely with partners from health and the voluntary sector and to then carry out timely full assessments of clients who have been discharged under the DTA process or who have gone onto the Specialist Care Centre.
Our work is framed by the requirements of the Care Act 2014 and the need to ensure delayed discharges are kept to a minimum. The team has an ethos of ‘Think Home First’ and re-ablement is pursued whenever possible to promote independence and reduce or delay the need for ongoing support.
The position is based at Kettering General Hospital (although the expectation would be that you are flexible across all the sites we cover in North Northamptonshire if required). The Principals in the Team work on a rota basis so some working from home is practiced but there is the need for a presence in the office at KGH during the working week.
For further information or an informal discussion please contact one of the Principals Sarah Dawson or Richard Glenn on 01536 492085. Alternatively you can reach them by email on: Sarah.Dawson@northnorthants.gov.uk
Richard.Glenn@northnorthants.gov.uk
This advertisement will be closed on 28th July 2023. Applicants shortlisted for interview will be contacted week commencing 31st July 2023.
What will you be doing?
- Day to day management, supervision and mentoring of staff within the team
- Monitoring the performance of the team to ensure the delivery of agreed outcomes
- Liaising with other services and/or agencies as required including attendance on daily MDT (on rota basis).
- Currently there is an expectation to cover Bank Holidays on a rota basis as required. This may extend to all weekends and Bank Holidays in the future in line with 7 day working requirements.
- As part of the Teams management group, you will contribute to the overall management of the team in order to meet service objectives, key performance targets and statutory requirements of Health and Social Care legislation
About you
We are looking for a highly motivated, organised, and creative operational Principal Social Worker or Principal Care Manager ideally with proven leadership skills.
You will have a commitment to strengths based person-centred values and have good communication and IT skills.
We know that our staff are key to our success, and we are seeking people with ambition, creativity, and commitment to our values to help us to achieve the best possible outcomes for our customers by supporting your supervisees and the team to promote our values.
• You are a qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England OR hold a relevant qualification in Health or Social Care.
• You have experience of working with people with varying needs and are passionate about identifying their strengths and supporting them to achieve their outcomes.
• You are proactive and have the ability to think creatively.
• You exercise professional curiosity rather than accept things at face value or make decisions based on assumptions.
• You demonstrate problem solving abilities, working alongside team members to enable them to find their own solutions and develop their confidence.
• You are a great team player, willing to share knowledge and expertise with colleagues in your team and colleagues from partner organisations.
• You love a challenge and have an openness to learn and change.
• You put your ability to analyse and take action in challenging situations to good use and are able to evidence positive risk-taking skills – knowing how to balance individual rights against risks.
• You have a real commitment to identifying and promoting people’s strengths, hopes and aspirations.
• You are willing and able to work collaboratively with a wide range of partners, including community groups and the voluntary sector as well as colleagues in health and other sectors.
• You understand the legislative frameworks which govern the work we do as adult social care workers.
Our benefits
We offer:
- a competitive salary
- a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
- opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
- generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
- agile and flexible working arrangements to help you with a healthy work-life balance.
About us
We are a new unitary council, established in April 2021; we are one of the largest unitary councils in the country. Our vision for North Northants is to be 'A place where everyone has the best opportunities and quality of life'.
Our priorities are:
- helping people live active fulfilled lives
- caring for our young people, providing them with high quality education and opportunities
- enabling a thriving and successful economy
- leading on a green and sustainable environment
- ensuring our communities are connected so they can shape their lives and where they live
- providing modern public services
Our values, as chosen by our staff, are - Customer-focused, Respectful, Efficient, Supportive and Trustworthy.
Your differences make us different - Achieve Together.
We are undertaking consultation with the Trade Unions on terms and conditions and the future NNC pay structure and during this time are appointing new employees on interim spot salaries. You will be advised of the outcome and any impact on your role once this work is complete.
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