Mental Health Social Worker / Occupational Therapist

Role Responsibility

The County of Kent is a place where social work practitioners are able to make a real difference.  We are resourceful and resilient, committed to improvement and keen to embrace new ideas. 

It is an exciting time to join mental health services in Kent.  Building on widely acknowledged strengths, Kent Adult Social Care are developing a new practice model embedding innovation into practice for the better for the people we support and for our teams. This will enable us to develop a strengths-based service designed to be accessible to anyone needing mental health support.

You will be committed to working in co-production alongside service users, carers and their families, multi-disciplinary colleagues, and other agencies, including acute services and community trusts, primary care services and the voluntary sector.  You will be required to support service users and carers to develop personalised care and support plans which draw on community resources to achieve the most positive outcomes.

The service which is co-located with our health colleagues is now looking to appoint a Social Worker and Occupational Therapist.

We are looking for practitioners who are committed to working in partnership to achieve positive outcomes. You will have access to a supportive management team, well informed personal development plans ensuring access to a wide range of quality training and development opportunities and protected time for continuous professional development.

You will be provided with and have access to the latest equipment to enable you to undertake your role. 

A flexible working approach will be considered that meets the needs of the service and those of you as an individual.

You will be registered as a social worker with Social Work England, you will have a degree in Social Work, CQSW/Dipsw or equivalent (or on the verge of completing your social work degree).

You must also possess:

• Evidence of successful completion of the Assessed and Supported year in Employment (ASYE) or be willing to work towards this if Newly Qualified.
• To meet eligibility for grade KR10, you must possess current Approved Mental Health Practitioner approval status.
• Good working knowledge of all relevant Mental Health and Social Care legislation and Codes of Practice. You must also have a good understanding of Social Work England requirements.
• A robust working knowledge of mental health conditions and treatments, and approaches to social work intervention.
• Good computer literacy and report writing skills. Excellent interpersonal skills and mediation and negotiation skills.
• Working knowledge of the Care Act 2014, ability to work in partnership with people, the Kent Enablement and Recovery Service (KERS) and with our Strategic Partners to help identify services or resources in the community that can support well-being.

In return we will support you through the Social Care Academy to achieve your career ambitions.

External Social Work applicants are currently eligible for a £2000 “Golden Hello” payment after appointment.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and a relevant professional qualification (Social Work or Occupational Therapy) as well as up to date registration with the appropriate professional body.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

The ability to travel across a wide geographical area in a timely and flexible manner at various times of the day is essential.

Contact Details

Marie Gallagher 03000 422 286 

About the Company

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.