Advertised role location: BALLYOWEN HEALTH CENTRE
Official document: Band 7 Senior Social Work Practitioner MDT September 2026 (docx)
JOB DESCRIPTION

Post: Primary Care Social Worker: Senior Practitioner
Grade: Band 7
Directorate: Adults Community and Older People
Reports to: Social Work Lead for Primary Care Social Work
Location: Belfast GP practices
Hours: 37.5 hours. This post will require some flexibility in working hours depending on the needs of individual service users and local communities.

Job Summary
The post holder will provide the social work role in multi-disciplinary primary care teams based in GP practices. Primary care multi-disciplinary teams are a new service aimed at enhancing the services available to people at primary care level. These teams are intended to deliver the vision set out in Delivering Together of an increased emphasis on a holistic model of health and wellbeing which includes physical, mental and social wellbeing with a greater focus on prevention and early intervention.
The social worker in these teams will contribute social work relationship-based, person-centred and systems focused assessments and interventions to the work of the team. The social workers will concentrate on the social determinants of health and well-being and will tackle health and social inequalities by resilience and resource building with individuals, groups and communities. The post holder will be community facing and will use social work community development approaches. The post holder will also know and understand Trust services and will provide advice and guidance to other multi-disciplinary team members on Trust pathways and Trust thresholds for intervention. The post holders will be generic social workers and will work primarily with people who are not eligible for or availing of Trust services.

Key Results Areas
Service Delivery
Provide individual time-limited social work assessments and interventions as necessary. Provide expert input in areas of social well-being and social determinants of health such as poverty, loneliness, adverse childhood experiences, social relationships and meaningful activities.
Support service users to identify, shape and manage their own health and well-being needs using a strengths –based approach. Support service users to develop resilience.
Support service users to keep safe and well. Assess risk for service users as appropriate and take appropriate action.
Use social prescribing as appropriate to support access to community based resources.
Develop and deliver group-work interventions as appropriate.
Develop and maintain an understanding of local factors affecting health and well-being.

Collaborative Working
Develop and maintain a detailed knowledge of community resources available in the local area.
Develop and maintain a knowledge of and links with Trust services.
Provide advice and guidance to primary care multi-disciplinary team colleagues about the full range of Trust pathways for social work and social care and support.
Provide advice and guidance to primary care multi-disciplinary team colleagues about thresholds for Trust services, including risk thresholds for child and adult safeguarding.
Participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings in primary care and necessary management meetings within Trusts.

Strategic and Resource Development
Work in co-production with the local community and other stakeholders to support and grow community capacity and resources that meets the needs of the local population.
Inform and assist senior Trust management and other agency management in strategic planning for population health and well-being.
Provide representation on any appropriate fora in relation to community well-being and development.
Staff Management
Provide line management and supervision for social work assistants working in the primary care team multi-disciplinary team.
Information Management
Collate and provide necessary information for the purposes of planning, reporting information and audit.
Financial and Resource Management
Allocate, manage and monitor a seed funding budget to provide small grants to the local community and voluntary sector.
Manage and monitor budgets including the requisitioning and use of goods and services and meeting contract compliance requirements.
General Responsibilities
Participate in a programme of formal and informal supervision and training and take responsibility for your own personal and professional development in line with NISCC professional registration standards.
Maintain appropriate records in line with Trust policies for the service. Ensure that all service user and service information is maintained, updated, stored and disposed of in keeping with the requirements of the service and all legislative and regulatory requirements.
Deputise for the Operations Manager as appropriate.

GENERAL DUTIES

Employees of the Trust will be required to promote and support the mission and vision of the service for which they are responsible.

Develop and maintain good communication with all levels of management and build partnerships with the wider HPSS, NHS and external organizations in the promotion of the Trust.

Carry out their duties and responsibilities in compliance with health and safety policy and statutory regulations.

Participate in the grievance and disciplinary processes as required.

Promote equality of opportunity through his/her own actions and ensure this policy is adhered to by staff for whom he/she has responsibility.

HSC Code of Conduct for Employees
The Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of all staff in the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust and presents standards of conduct and behaviours required during and after employment with the Trust. Professional staff are expected to follow the code of conduct for their own professions as well as this code.

Service Quality
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust is committed to providing the highest possible quality of service to all patients, clients and community through supporting and contributing to Trust quality initiatives. Employees are expected at all times to provide a caring service and to treat those with whom they come into contact in a courteous and respectful manner.

Personal & Public Involvement
Staff members are expected to involve patients, clients, carers and the wider community were relevant, in developing, planning and delivering our services in a meaningful and effective way, as part of the Trust’s ongoing commitment to Personal and Public Involvement (PPI).

Please use the link below to access the PPI standards leaflet for further information.
http://www.publichealth.hscni.net/sites/default/files/PPI_leaflet.pdf

Conduct
Employees must at all times abide by Trust policies and procedures and the terms of their contract of employment. They must conduct themselves with impartiality, integrity, objectivity and honesty and maintain high standards of personal and professional accountability.

Performance
Employees are expected to demonstrate commitment to the Trust by ensuring regular attendance at work and efficient completion of duties.

Risk Management
Employees must ensure that they comply with any risk management responsibilities specific to their post, and as set out in the Trust’s Risk Management Strategy.

Governance
The Trust is committed to the development and implementation of systems under Integrated Governance to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of services provided. Employees will be expected to co-operate and work with such systems.

Records Management
All employees of the Trust are legally responsible for all records held, created or used as part of their business within the Trust including patient/client, corporate and administrative records whether paper based or electronic and also including emails. All such records are public records and are accessible to the general public, with limited exceptions, under Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Data Protection Act 2018. Employees are required to be conversant with the Trust’s policy and procedures on records management and to seek advice if in doubt.

Confidentiality
All information concerning patients and staff must be held in the strictest confidence and may not be divulged to any unauthorized person.

Equality & Human Rights
Employees must ensure that equality and human rights issues are addressed within the post holder’s area of responsibility in accordance with the Trust’s Equality Scheme.

Health and Safety
Employees should note that under Health & Safety at Work Legislation they are required to take all reasonable steps while at work to ensure their own health and safety and the health and safety of those who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work.

Smoking, Alcohol & Health
The Trust operates policies on smoking, alcohol and health.

Environmental Cleanliness
The Trust promotes a culture of cleanliness and has adopted a partnership and collaborative approach that recognises cleanliness as the responsibility of everyone, cascading throughout every level of the organisation.

Infection Prevention & Control
The Trust operates a zero tolerance policy to preventable healthcare associated infections and the post holder is required to comply with all extant infection prevention policies, guidelines, protocols and procedures.

The Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer
The duties and responsibilities outlined in the above job description are not intended to be definitive nor restrictive, and may be amended to meet the changing needs of the Trust.

PERSONNEL SPECIFICATION

Title of Post: Primary Care (MDT) Social Work: Senior Practitioner (Band 7)

Directorate: Adults, Community and Older People’s Directorate

Location: GP Practices West Belfast

Date: September 2026

Notes to applicants:

You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria.
Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form. Please note the Trust reserves the right to use any desirable criteria outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet the desirable criteria.
Proof of qualifications and/or professional registration will be required if an offer of employment is made – if you are unable to provide this, the offer may be withdrawn.
Volunteering experience may be considered appropriate in particular for roles within the context of direct patient/client care.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

SECTION 1: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will initially be measured at shortlisting stage although may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form whether or not you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is stated below.

Factor
Criteria
Method of Assessment


Registration
Experience & Qualifications


Hold a professional Social Work qualification (Degree, Dip SW, CQSW or equivalent)

Hold current registration with the NISCC on the Social Work part of the register or be eligible for immediate registration within a reasonable timescale prior to taking up the post.

Have a minimum of five years post-qualifying social work experience at band 6 or equivalent.

Be able to demonstrate examples of active involvement in service improvement initiatives.

Must be able to demonstrate examples of taking the initiative to achieve change.

Have experience in working with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders.


Shortlisting by
Application Form

Other
Must hold a current full driving licence which is valid for use in the UK and have access to a car on appointment. This criteria will be waived in the case of applicants whose disability prohibits driving but who have access to a form of transport approved by the Trust which will permit them to carry out the duties of the post

Shortlisting by
Application Form

SECTION 2: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will be measured during the interview/ selection stage:

Knowledge


Knowledge of relevant statutory responsibilities and of the organisational and policy framework within which they are carried out.
Candidates should evidence that they are working towards or have achieved their specialist post qualifying award and/or their strategic leadership award.


Interview

Competences/
Skills

Ability to provide effective leadership to a team.
Ability to effectively manage resources including a delegated budget.
Effective planning and organisational skills with an ability to prioritise workload.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to meet the requirements of the post in full.
Ability to identify solutions to problems and ensure implementation.
Demonstrate a commitment to the provision of high quality and safe services with an ability to drive a culture of quality improvement.

Interview

DESIRABLE CRITERIA


SECTION 3: the following will ONLY be used where it is necessary to introduce additional job related criteria, and is dependent upon the number of applications received. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

Factor
Criteria
Method of Assessment

Additional Experience

Experience of community development work
Interview

The Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS

Thank you for your interest in this post. Please read the following information before completing your application form. The form is designed to ensure that you provide the necessary information to determine how you meet the essential criteria. For your assistance, we have provided the following useful tips on completing the application form. Remember it is important that you allow sufficient time to submit your application form, ensuring that it is accurate and complete

We require all sections of the EOI application form to be completed in full. We will not accept CV’s, letters, or any other supplementary material in place of, or in addition to completed EOI application forms. It is therefore important that you complete each section of our application form giving the information requested.

Meeting the Criteria set out in the Personnel Specification
The Job Description describes the purpose, scope, main duties and responsibilities of the job. You are advised to study the Job Description before completing your application form, then indicate on your form how, in your opinion, your experience and/or qualifications are relevant to the post you are applying for.

Please pay particular attention to the essential criteria detailed on the Personnel Specification and make sure you address these requirements in full as shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the information contained on your application form. We cannot make any assumptions about such information, and failure to address the requirements on the Personnel Specification will result in you not being shortlisted.

You must provide specific and detailed information when answering the criteria questions on your application form. Simply answering “yes” or “no” on your application form will not be sufficient and failure to be specific will result in the rejection of your application form at a later stage in the process.

Identify relevant examples. This is very important as the examples you provide may be explored further at interview and you may need to be prepared to talk about these in detail. It is your unique role that the panel is interested in.

Clearly detail your personal involvement in any experience you quote; Write “I” statements e.g. I managed the service, I managed a budget, I led on the initiative.

Do not use acronyms, complex technical details etc. Write for the reader who may not know what the acronyms mean and include concise examples.

Completing Your Current / Previous Employment Details
When completing the details on your employment history, you must give exact dates of when you started and finished each period of employment. These should be stated in the following format DD/MM/YYYY. Please also include details of your reasons for leaving each post and explain any gaps in your employment history. Provide a list of key duties that you have been responsible for in current post / previous posts, and for care posts please ensure that when entering details of the post and description of duties that you specify the client group (e.g. Elderly, Learning Disabled, Mental Health, Children etc.). Finally, if you are employed on a “Bank” or “As and When required” capacity – please specify the days/hours per week/month that you work.

Questionnaires
The questionnaire section of the application form asks you to detail how you meet each of the essential and desirable criteria. Please ensure that you provide full and accurate information to answer each of the questions. Simply answering “yes” or “no” on your application form will not be sufficient and failure to be specific will result in the rejection of your application form at a later stage in the process.

Please ensure you provide full details of all qualifications / professional registration required for the post on the application form. Your relevant qualifications must be detailed in full e.g. if English Language is an essential subject required in the criteria you will NOT be shortlisted if you only record English (except GCSE English), identifying double awards. It is also essential that you accurately record all your typing qualifications including the relevant parts, for example Part I & II for all stages. Please ensure you detail fully your qualifications giving the subject, awarding body, level, grade and year obtained.

Please note that some posts may require a full current driving licence and access to a car as part of the essential criteria. It is important that you refer to both parts of this criteria when highlighting how you meet this requirement, i.e. you must state that you have a full current driving licence, and that you have access to a car. Failure to demonstrate how you meet both parts of this criterion will result in you not being shortlisted.

If you are successful at interview, you will be required to produce original documentation of these qualifications / professional registration prior to commencing the post.
References
You must provide the names and addresses of two referees. At least one of the named referees must be your current or most recent employer. Please note that relatives must not be used. We will always seek a reference from your last HSC /
NHS employer (if applicable), even if this is not one of your nominated referees. Please note we will not contact your referees until an offer of employment has been made.

Your references should cover previous employment / training / education within the past 3 years i.e. needs to be current.

One of your referees should have knowledge of your present work / or most recent employment and be in a supervisory / managerial capacity. If you are a student you should provide the name of your college tutor/lecturer or teacher / principal.

Please see below for guidance:
Candidate Employment Position
Reference 1
Reference 2

Currently employed
From current employer
From employer prior to
current

Not currently employed
From most recent employer
From previous employer

Never been employed
Character* reference / relevant Academic** reference / Other

Previously employed in the HSC/NHS
From current employer
From previous HSC/ NHS employer

Self Employed
Character reference*
From previous employer / relevant Academic** reference / Other

*Character Reference – e.g. Accountant, Banker, HM Revenue & Customs, Solicitor, Client references or voluntary organisation
**Academic Reference – e.g. school, college, university

This section must be completed in full, therefore be sure to include complete names, job titles, and addresses, including work email addresses (where applicable) and contact telephone details for both of your referees.

THE SELECTION PROCESS – WHAT TO EXPECT

Shortlisting
Once the vacancy closes, the shortlisting panel will consider each application and will make a decision on whether or not the applicant meets the criteria outlined in the Personnel Specification. Please note that whilst the Trust will make every effort to allocate you a post as close as possible to your preference, this may not always be possible due to the availability of posts.

Annual Leave and General Public holidays

The Trust offers excellent provision for Annual Leave and General Public Holidays as follows:

On appointment 27 days plus 10 public holidays
After 5 years service 29 days plus 10 public holidays
After 10 years service 33 days plus 10 public holidays

Human Resource Policies
The Trust offers a wide range of Human Resource Policies to underpin the value that is placed on our staff such as a range of Work Life Balance/Flexible Working Policies; Child Care Voucher Scheme etc. Further information is available on Trust website.

Committed to Equality of Opportunity
The Trust recognises and values the diversity of its workforce and the population it serves and is committed to a working environment free from intimidation of any kind. Through a systematic and objective recruitment and selection process the Trust is committed to ensuring that appointment decisions are taken solely on the basis of merit.

HSC Values
Whilst employees will be expected to portray all the values, particular attention is drawn to the following values for this role