Job Summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and ambitious Social Worker within the Autism Liaison Service. This is a new post, due to expansion of our innovative provision with acute mental health services, to cover a defined cohort of autistic service users within Community and Recovery Mental Health Services, who are at increased risk of readmissions to inpatient mental health services or frequently utilise unplanned care.
The post spans acute and community mental health services across Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow. The post will be primarily based at either Hammersmith and Fulham or Lakeside Mental Health Unit, but will involve outreach provision and therefore travel across all three boroughs.
This role is intended to provide specialist assessments and interventions to autistic service users inpatient mental health services or at increased risk of readmission, with the overall aim of improving the care and experience of admissions and supporting earlier, sustainable and safe discharges, and reducing the risk of readmissions. You will be an integral part of the Autism Liaison Service in promoting safe, effective and therapeutic care for autistic adults in acute and community mental health services. This role gives the opportunity to develop specialist assessment skills, in addition to delivering individually-tailored interventions, including planning for and facilitating transitions.
Main duties of the job
This new post offers an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and experienced Social Worker, looking to specialise in mental health and Autism.The successful candidate will offer a thorough, compassionate and evidence-based service to adults with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of Autism within acute mental health services. The post will also involve an outreach component, offering community-based input to autistic adults at risk of readmission or who frequently utilise unplanned care.
As an integral member of the Autism Liaison Service, the post holder will have knowledge and understanding of taking a strengths-based approach to working with autistic people, supporting the individual and teams to identify and meet unmet needs. The role offers opportunities for service development and clinical audits. Multidisciplinary joint working will be central to the development of integrated care, and fostering strong relationships with stakeholders will be key.
The post spans acute and community mental health services across Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow. The post will be primarily based at either Hammersmith and Fulham or Lakeside Mental Health Unit, but will involve outreach provision and therefore travel across all three boroughs.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.
Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.
We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.
We’re rated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To provide a client-centred autism specialist service to a defined caseload of service users withcomplex needs across acute mental health services (AMHS) and community and recovery mentalhealth services (CARMHS). The post holder will work within the specialist Autism Liaison Service,which supports multi-disciplinary teams to identify and meet the needs of service users with adiagnosis of autism or where autism is suspected, and where the individual is at risk of admission toinpatient mental health services. As a Social Worker registered with Social Work England, the postholder will offer specialist assessments and interventions for this population of service users. Therole will be based across acute and community mental health services within Hammersmith andFulham, Ealing and Hounslow, with some in-reach input to other teams (such as Crisis Assessmentand Treatment Teams) where appropriate.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional qualification in Social Work, with current Social Work England registration.
- Attained at least Level 2 Maths and English (equivalent to GCSE grade 9-4 (A*-C))
- Evidence of recent and on-going relevant further professional development
Desirable
- Training in positive approaches to behaviours of concern
- Training relevant to working with autistic people (such as sensory integration, Social Stories).
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrable experience of post qualifying work as a Social Worker/Mental Health clinician in a mental health and/or autism and/or learning disability setting
- Understanding and experience of operating with a comprehensive assessment framework.
- Experience of working with autistic people
- Experience of working with people within a social care model of mental health and the social model of disability
Desirable
- Experience of supervision of students and staff within own and/or other disciplines
- Experience of working in a primary care setting/ social care/ voluntary sector
- Involvement in research and clinical audit.
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- Specialist knowledge of mental health conditions and autism, as well as their relationship to physical health
- Up-to-date knowledge of autism, including applied understanding of how different aspects of autism might impact on a person’s communication, social interaction and behaviours.
- Knowledge of counselling skills/cognitive behavioural skills, and psychosocial interventions, and how these might be adapted to the strengths and needs of an autistic person.
- Experience of social work assessment and interventions
- Ability to engage challenging and/or acutely distressed service users and use de-escalation techniques effectively
Desirable
- An understanding of trauma informed care and recovery approaches in mental health.
- Knowledge of sensory differences and how this might impact on a person’s experience of care
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: 04 June 2024
