Social Worker WCC615024

Job Details:

Salary range: £41,286 - £46,053 per annum
Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QP
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Vetting requirements: Enhanced DBS Check
Closing date: 28 April 2024
Contact details for an informal discussion: Delayna Samm, Team Manager via email at DSAMM@WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF MR K’s RECOVERY

Adult Social Care in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where our passionate, caring and committed professionals do brilliant work every day.

A globe-trotting tourist called Mr K had a stroke. Hospitalised and very vulnerable, we put a unique plan together for him. He wanted to travel to Germany, but he wasn’t well enough. We placed Mr K in a care home to recover. Initially he didn’t like it, but our social worker worked hard to encourage him to stay. And he enjoyed the experience so much, he stayed for a year.

As he was recovering, Mr K’s social worker got him an iPad and a phone to help him manage his finances and arrange his next trip. This enabled him to book his tickets to Germany. ‘Auf wiedersehen’ and he was gone! 

The Role:

As a Social Worker in the Step Down Team, you can make your own powerful contribution to the wellbeing of our community. Working with our compassionate colleagues, you will enjoy a uniquely supportive environment in which multidisciplinary social care and health professionals collaborate to ensure the best outcomes for vulnerable adults and older people as they are discharged from acute hospital settings and in-patient rehabilitation services. 

With both Social Workers, occupational therapists and Nurses within our team (plus the full support of our health partners), we provide a great balance of physical health and emotional wellbeing support, seeing to it that patients are going into environments that are suitable for their needs. As such, you will assess patients’ care needs under the Mental Capacity Act Assessment and put measures in place to ensure they will be safe and comfortable at home. Putting safeguarding at the heart of every decision, you will determine how best to minimise and manage risk while respecting the wishes of each person wherever possible, and you will be a trusted advisor to colleagues across not only Westminster City Council, but also the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. 

Your expertise will also be called on in relation to Decision Support Tool CHC assessments in the community, so every day will provide you with plenty of interesting challenges. As you will be working across our rehabilitation units, home environments and our team office, you will need to bring a flexible approach to where you are working each day. But with such variety, comes a really interesting role!

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

With a qualification in Social Work, Occupational Therapy or Nursing, you will need some post qualification experience in a relevant Local Authority or health setting, in which you have worked with older or physically disabled people. Experience of conducting assessments in an acute environment is important, and you will have a good knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and the Mental Capacity Act. 

IT literate with good verbal and written communication skills, you’ll have exceptional negotiation and influencing capabilities, with the ability to get people to see your viewpoint – and provide a great deal of comfort to people at their most vulnerable moments.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.  

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties 

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working. 

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.