Job Summary
Dunstable Community Mental Health Team provides compassionate person-centred interventions to people experiencing mental ill-health in the Towns of Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.
Social Workers in the mental health team have access to a host of brand new facilities at the newly opened Grove View Health and care hub!
The new hub strengthens ELFT’s award winning social care presence and ethos.
At the Hub the team Senior Social Worker provides intensive support to ensure that bespoke professional supervision is readily available for all our social workers.
ELFT has a dedicated Social Care Lead locally in Central Bedfordshire. The Social Care Lead offers regular reflective practice sessions, Care Act training.
The excellent work of the Social Work Learning and Development Project Lead ensures that continuous learning is at the heart of Social Work in Bedfordshire.
The Trust offers an established ASYE programme for newly qualified social workers. CPD pathways beyond the ASYE include AMHP/Leadership Academy/AMCP/Practice Educator/ASYE Assessor training structures. Bespoke training opportunities are available as part of your yearly appraisal.
In short; now is a good time to be working as a social worker for ELFT in South Bedfordshire!
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Social Worker to work as part of our team. You will be registered with Social Work England and ideally have one year of post qualifying experience in a relevant health or social care setting; however with our new ASYE programme we would be happy to work with a newly qualified social worker who is able to demonstrate how their pre-qualifying experience and value base would benefitour team.
As a Social Worker, you will work as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, providing high quality social care services to adults experiencing mental ill-health. The core functions of the role will be to provide assessment, care planning and coordination of care from a social perspective to adults accessing the service.
You will hold a caseload of adults experiencing a wide range of mental health and social care needs. You will ensure that you maintain constant reflection and development of your practice and will ensure your continuing professional development in line with the standards set out by the professional regulator, Social Work England.
Person Specification
Educational/ Qualification
Essential
- Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England (SWE)
Desirable
- Educated to Degree Level
- Relevant specialist post qualifying/post graduate training
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary environment/community experience.
- Experience of attending funding panel and care commissioning
- Experience of working within an NHS/Local Authority environment and an understanding of the issues/ policies/ practice within these environments.
Desirable
- Post qualification experience within mental health services
- Previous appointment as an AMHP /Best Interest asAssessor (BIA) NB Social Workers are expected to train and practise as AMHP’s
Knowledge/Skills
Essential
- Understanding a range of models of mental disorder and the treatment options.
- Comprehensive understanding of the social determinants of mental illness and interventions to support recovery.
- Ability to conduct safeguarding enquiries and investigations when required
- Working knowledge of the NHS & Community Care Act, The Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and other social care & mental health legislation, policy & guidance
- Ability to assess manage complex and high risk situations effectively service users and carers
- Good report writing skills and ability to compile complex case recording ad report presentation, including legal documents i.e. social circumstances reports, court reports etc.
- Ability to manage and coordinate professionals, teams and services and mobilise provision where appropriate.
- Assessment skills and the ability to compile care plans in partnership with service users, carers and others
- Knowledge of relevant safeguarding legislation, statutory guidance and procedures
- Assertiveness and engagement with other professionals, able to make reasoned arguments and represent own professional views and perspectives.
- Decision -making and problem solving, able to adopt creative and flexible approaches to meet the needs of service users.
- Highly developed organisational skills, able to prioritise workload and delegate effectively.
- Well -developed communication skills, able to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences
- Mental Health Practice Skills and an understanding of CPA and the NSF standards.
- IT skills, experience of working with service user data systems
Desirable
- A thorough working knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983 and subsequent amendments
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 28 February 2026
