Social Care Assistant (Adults - Mental Health)

Purpose: To assess the needs of adults and older people with physical disabilities, mental health, and/or learning disabilities and their informal carers in accordance with the Care Act and eligibility criteria. To work collaboratively with other health and social care colleagues to facilitate an integrated approach and seamless support to service users. To formulate and implement strengths-based support plans with service users, their informal carers and other appropriate people, which will maximise their independence. To assess service users and their informal carers' activities of daily living and organise appropriate solutions to meet needs. To support service users and/or informal carers to identify and commission resources that enable them to choose the best support options. To provide ongoing assistance where required to service users in the management of their rehabilitation and complex support needs. To use strengths-based approaches to assess, monitor and review the social care needs of service users and informal carers and find appropriate solutions. To hold an individual caseload of varying degrees of complexity excluding casework that requires the expertise of a qualified professional. Take responsibility for managing casework with the supervision of a qualified senior practitioner. To conduct Assistive Technology assessments and organise provision of suitable equipment.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• To conduct risk assessments and undertake initial enquiries in response to vulnerable adults safeguarding concerns.
• To undertake Continuing Health Care Checklists contributing as part of the Multi-Disciplinary Support Team to the decision support tool.
• To implement and co-ordinate individual support plans and/or reablement programmes in conjunction with the client, informal carers, health and social care colleagues, providing support, advice and monitoring as appropriate.
• To refer service users and/or informal carers where required to other health and social care professionals.
• To develop and maintain extensive knowledge of services and resources available within the local community, identifying and utilizing existing information.
• To provide information and support about welfare benefits, to support clients to benefit appointments and refer to other financial support services.
• To promote self-directed support and ensure that service users and informal carers are aware of how a personal budget can be used to meet their assessed needs.
• To work as part of a multi-disciplinary team and in collaboration with Health colleagues and external partners.
• To maintain accurate and relevant records, including needs assessments, mental capacity assessments, best interest decisions and support plans, inputting relevant information onto computer systems in accordance with Care Policy and procedures.
• To contribute to case conferences and service user reviews when required.
• To identify and alert safeguarding concerns to the appropriate manager in a timely manner, whilst ensuring the person is made safe.
• To discuss any matters outside remit of role with supervisor/manager and seek advice, support and training where appropriate.
• To contribute to working practices and processes that maximise the use of new technology to ensure efficient and effective delivery of services.
• Carrying out lone working which can sometimes involve visiting clients in unpleasant conditions.

Requirements:

• Significant relevant recent experience of working with people with social care needs (e.g. learning disability, physical disability, mental health, older persons and end of life/palliative care).
• Experience of working in a multi-agency environment to deliver services to people with social care needs.
• An understanding of the needs of older people and/or people with disabilities.
• Experience of teaching practical skills to individuals with these needs.
• Experience of working with people with social care needs in a community setting, respecting the privacy of people's homes.
• Experience of dealing with people with social care needs where safeguarding interventions have been needed.
• Ability to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and evidence of responding effectively.
• Understanding of the aims and principles of self-directed support and experience of advising people with social care needs and/or their informal carers in respect of self-directed support.
• Understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and Equal Opportunities legislation and experience of applying this knowledge in the workplace.
• Evidence of working effectively with people with social care needs and/or their informal carers where there are communication barriers.
• Detailed knowledge of the welfare and benefits system and evidence of signposting individuals to these services.
• Aware of data protection and confidentiality together with experience of applying these principles operationally.
• Ability to travel across a wide geographical area in a timely and flexible manner at various times of the day in accordance with the needs of the job.