Job summary
The main purpose of the Lead Social Worker role is to ensure the delivery of high quality palliative care social work services across the organisation through effective leadership, including operational responsibility for safeguarding across clinical services. The role will provide strong professional role modelling and leadership across all areas of hospice services, with both strategic and operational influence, will be central to the design and delivery of services and contribute to the continuous improvement of evidence-based practice in relation to holistic psychosocial care and support for hospice patients and families, and operational safeguarding across clinical services.

The role has the potential for hybrid working, however the post holder is required to travel across all organisational sites in order to be able to effectively undertake the role.

Main duties of the job

• Provide leadership, co-ordination, management, and development of the social work team across all organisation sites
• Act as operational safeguarding lead (adults and children) including MCA and DoLS, providing advice and guidance to colleagues
• Oversee the planning and allocation of the social work resource to meet service needs and ensure services are delivered
• Undertake direct social work practice with patients and families where required to maintain service delivery
• Lead and support the social work team in the review, evaluation and development of social work and wider psychosocial services
• Act as an expert resource on specialist psychosocial care and safeguarding issues
• Lead on audit, education and mentoring of staff
• Contribute to and manage quality assurance measures
• Provide professional supervision and safeguarding supervision
• Promote safeguarding as everyones responsibility across the whole organisation
• Lead on the delivery of Level 3 Safeguarding and MCA/DoLS education and training to clinical teams
• Work collaboratively with clinicians and stakeholders to support service development and improvement
• Represent the social work team at organisational level and lead on policy review and development
• Develop own professional role and practice, ensuring professional supervision is established and CPD requirements are met
• Co-ordinate opportunities for student placements within the social work team
• Manage staff sickness absence, annual leave ensuring adequate cross site cover where required

About us
As an award winning employer, Pilgrims provides end of life care services to patients and their families across east Kent.

Our commitment is to provide open, compassionate care and expertise for patients and their families.

Our Vision
Of a community where people with a terminal illness and their family and friends are supported and empowered to live well in mind and body until the very last moment of their life.

We recognise that our workforce is integral to the delivery of our vision and our organisational and charitable aims. Pilgrims Hospices continues to create a highly skilled, engaged and healthy workforce by providing an environment where staff and volunteers feel highly motivated to perform their roles to a high standard, and actively role model our organisational behaviours and values.

Our Benefits
As an Employer of Choice we are committed supporting our employees and volunteers through both a holistic benefits package, and also through wellbeing and work/life balance.

Our hospices offer:

• Friendly and highly professional working environments alongside passionate people
• Opportunities for professional development through a range of extensive learning
• A workplace pension scheme. Those joining us from the NHS may retain eligibility to membership of the NHS pension scheme
• Subsidised meals
• A good work life balance and realistic working hours
• Blue Light Card scheme

Job responsibilities

• Provide leadership, co-ordination, management, and development of the social work team across all organisation sites, enabling efficient working and effective delivery of high-quality palliative psycho-social care, support and intervention.
• To act as operational safeguarding lead (adults and children) including Mental capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), providing advice and guidance to colleagues
• Oversee the planning and allocation of the social work resource to meet service needs, ensure social work services are delivered in an efficient, effective and equitable way across the organisation.
• Undertake direct social work practice with patients and families where required to maintain service delivery.
• Utilise the social work teams expertise to contribute and improve systems and processes that support practice to promote continual improvement in practice standards, improving outcomes for palliative patients and their families.
• Lead and support the social work team in their continual review, evaluation and development of social work and wider psychosocial services.
• Manage appropriately staff sickness absence, annual leave ensuring adequate cross site cover where required.
• Facilitate regular 121 and team meetings, undertaking annual Performance Development Reviews and deal with capability, grievance and disciplinary issues as they arise, with the support of HR
• Act as an expert resource to other professionals, both internally and externally, on specialist psychosocial care including safeguarding issues.
• Take responsibility for/ lead on specific areas related to the role e.g. audit, education and mentoring of staff regarding social work interventions and safeguarding.
• Contribute to and manage related quality assurance measures ensuring good practice is being disseminated across the organisation.
• Provide leadership, co-ordination, management, and development of the social work team across all organisation sites, enabling efficient working and effective delivery of high-quality palliative psycho-social care, support and intervention
• To act as operational safeguarding lead (adults and children) including Mental capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), providing advice and guidance to colleagues
• Oversee the planning and allocation of the social work resource to meet service needs, ensure social work services are delivered in an efficient, effective and equitable way across the organisation.
• Undertake direct social work practice with patients and families where required to maintain service delivery.
• Utilise the social work teams expertise to contribute and improve systems and processes that support practice to promote continual improvement in practice standards, improving outcomes for palliative patients and their families.
• Lead and support the social work team in their continual review, evaluation and development of social work and wider psychosocial services.
• Manage appropriately staff sickness absence, annual leave ensuring adequate cross site cover where required.
• Facilitate regular 121 and team meetings, undertaking annual Performance Development Reviews and deal with capability, grievance and disciplinary issues as they arise, with the support of HR
• Act as an expert resource to other professionals, both internally and externally, on specialist psychosocial care including safeguarding issues.
• Take responsibility for/ lead on specific areas related to the role e.g. audit, education and mentoring of staff regarding social work interventions and safeguarding.
• Contribute to and manage related quality assurance measures ensuring good practice is being disseminated across the organisation.
• Follow through on any issues arising from quality assurance activities ensuring appropriate action is taken and lessons are learnt, including lessons from serious cases reviews, and that these are embedded in practice.
• Provide professional supervision within the psychosocial team, and safeguarding supervision to staff where appropriate or ensure that supervision arrangements are in place to meet the requirements of Accrediting Bodies.
• Work collaboratively to ensure safeguarding is promoted as being everyones responsibility across the whole organisation
• Lead on the delivery of Level 3 Safeguarding and MCA/DoLS education & training to all clinical teams, and contribute to wider education and training programmes of psychosocial assessment and interventions, both internally and externally.
• Work collaboratively with frontline and senior clinicians/managers providing support with regard to the implementation of new initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with frontline and senior clinicians/managers providing support with regard to the implementation of new initiatives.
• Work in partnership with external agencies and stakeholders forging strong working relationships to support the continued development and improvement of practice and service delivery
• Represent the social work team at Organisational level, facilitating communication between the social work team and the Senior Leadership and clinical teams
• Contribute to or lead on appropriate policy review and development.
• Co-ordinate opportunities for student placements within the social work team.
• Develop own professional role and practice ensuring regular professional supervision is established and CPD requirements are met
• Adhere to and ensure adherence to appropriate professional codes of conduct and CPD requirements for professional social work.

Person Specification
Knowledge, Skills and Other Requirements
Essential

• Must hold valid, unrestricted right to work in the UK without the need for employer sponsorship
• Excellent communication skills, in respect of both clients and colleagues
• Understanding of the benefits of clinical supervision and ability to supervise others where appropriately qualified
• Up-to-date knowledge of social care legislation
• An understanding and appreciation of the benefits of psychological interventions and care
• Access to own transport

Desirable

• Effective facilitation skills to support education of others
• An understanding of hospice and palliative care philosophy and current issues

Qualifications
Essential

• Appropriate qualification, e.g. CQSW, Dip.SW, Degree in Social Work
• Social Work England Registration
• Evidence of safeguarding level 4 training and experience delivery safeguarding (level 3) training

Experience
Essential

• Extensive knowledge and applied experience of safeguarding adults & children, the Mental capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), including leading or supporting safeguarding investigations
• Experience in multidisciplinary team working or the ability to adapt to multidisciplinary team working
• Experience of working with families
• Experience in dealing with multiple loss
• Experience of formal and informal teaching

Desirable

• Previous palliative care experience
• Experience of leading and supporting health or social care professionals
• Experience of change management

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.