Social Work Practice Manager

Now is an exciting time to join the London Borough of Waltham Forest as a Social Work Practice Manager.

We are currently transforming our services to provide high quality person-centred care and support to adults to maximise their mental health and wellbeing.

We need a highly skilled and experienced Social Worker to work at a senior practitioner level as Practice Manager in the Mental Health Community Recovery Services in Waltham Forest. You can help us deliver positive outcomes for adult social care users, their carers and families as well as the wider community.

Working alongside the nursing clinical lead, you will be responsible for providing support to a team of mental health Social Workers, Nurses and Occupational Therapists. As Practice Manager, you will take a lead in supporting the Social Workers in the team, providing them with regular supervision and line management. The team support service users with severe and enduring mental health needs as well as their families, carers and support networks. The work with service users involves completing Care Act assessments, arranging CPA meetings, preparing Social Circumstances Reports, attending Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings, completing Mental Capacity Act Assessments, and supporting people with severe and enduring mental illness in their recovery journey to maximise their independence. You may be required to also carry a small caseload of complex and challenging cases.

You’ll work as part of a wider team within the Specialist Social Work Service in the Mental Health Service. Mental health posts in Waltham Forest are covered within a s75 partnership with our Trust partners – North East London Foundation Trust. You will be required to be proficient in using the recording systems RiO and MOSAIC.

You will be provided regular supervision and access to training and career development opportunities including the opportunity to train in Open Dialogue and potentially gain a qualification in this area.

About you 

This role requires an experienced individual, with a proven track record of delivering outstanding care in a pragmatic and sensitive way that matches the needs of a multi-cultural community in a mental health setting. Your knowledge of relevant legislation, guidance and procedures will be second to none. You will have experience of supervising others and supporting staff with their professional development.

This is a challenging role in a busy, fast paced team. We want someone who can work effectively under pressure and manage high risk clients. You’ll have outstanding communication skills and the ability to engage service users, colleagues and third parties alike. 

We’re looking for people who want to be part of a fresh leadership team and adult social care service delivering a improved life chances for our residents. Do you relish a challenge and the chance to work in new innovative and imaginative ways to ensure our residents are resilient, independent, safe and well? If the answer is ‘yes’ then we’d encourage you to apply.

AMHP’s receive an AMHP bonus as well. All applicants must be qualified Social Workers and have completed a Social Work Degree.

About us 

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is fiercely ambitious. We want to make sure each and every one of our residents enjoys a good quality life. Over the past few years, the borough has changed significantly for the better. Good schools, great parks, excellent culture facilities, mass regeneration and budding community entrepreneurship are making it a place that people want to call home. We’ve also recently been the first ‘London Borough of Culture’. 

In line with our ambitions, the Adult Social Care service in Waltham Forest has plans to progress to excellence.  We want the service to enable the most vulnerable residents to be resilient, independent, safe and well. This is supported by the unique Families at the Heart of our Place Strategy which sees Adult Social Care working across the Families & Homes Directorate. Waltham Forest is in a unique position to deliver this as we have strong health and community partnerships and an emerging Integrated Care System. 

If you would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity, please contact the Social Care lead for the Trust Siobhan Askew on 07718 665 028