Social Worker - Aquarius Ward | South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

This is a specialist professional leadership post offering social work leadership across the CAMHS service line, with a unique opportunity to strengthen social work practice within a mental health trust. The successful candidate will be confident, skilled, and highly knowledgeable in both child and family social work and children and young people’s mental health. A strong understanding and practical application of the law as it pertains to children and young people, including Mental Health Act 1983, is essential. The postholder will be required to provide expert professional advice, often in complex and high-pressure situations.

Responsibilities:

• Bridge operational delivery and strategic leadership, providing visible and effective social work leadership across the CAMHS service line.
• Ensure the provision of an efficient, effective, and high-quality professional service that meets all statutory, regulatory, and NHS requirements relating to social work practice with children and young people.
• Work collaboratively with senior leaders and multi-agency partners to align social work practice with wider organisational objectives and maintain the highest professional standards.
• Provide advice and guidance across the CAMHS Park to the social work staff.
• Serve as a primary practitioner on the Aquarius ward.
• Deputise for the CAMHS Social Worker Team Manager when unavailable.
• Provide advice on child safeguarding processes and ensure Trust safeguarding policies and procedures are followed.
• Provide clinical practice input across the Park in an advisory capacity and provide cover when required, but prioritise commitment to Aquarius Ward.
• Provide professional supervision for social workers in CAMHS and related services.
• Liaise and interface with multidisciplinary staff within the service area.
• Liaise and work with external agencies, in particular Local Authority Children’s Services and CAMHS Community Services (Tier 3).
• Investigate and advise with regard to complex and highly sensitive and often confidential information, relating to safeguarding cases and other cases where there are high-risk social factors.
• Provide written reports for a variety of purposes and audiences including social circumstances reports for Mental Health Tribunals and Managers’ Hearings; safeguarding investigation reports; social work reports for use within the Service and for communication with external health and social care organisations and possibly for the Courts; periodic audits and evaluations of aspects of service; periodic analytical reports on social work and social care practices and issues within the service area for the Directorate and/or for the Head of Social Work.
• Develop and provide consultation to other services and agencies, including individual clinicians and multi-disciplinary teams comprising the full range of mental health professionals, Social Services, Health Services, Educational Services, Housing, Police and CJS and voluntary and other statutory agencies.
• Supervise less experienced social workers in day-to-day clinical practice.
• Maintain up-to-date and detailed knowledge and awareness of relevant legislation, guidance, and Trust policies and procedures, and work within these.
• Maintain high standards of professional practice, working at all times in the best interests of service users and carers.
• Contribute to the assessment of young people and their families admitted to the ward in such a way as to ensure safe discharge planning.
• Work closely with all members of relevant service to achieve the best possible outcomes.
• Promote the interests and welfare of all patients and their families with particular reference to the Human Rights Act 1998 and all relevant policy and legislation (Children’s Act 1989, NHS and Community Care Act 1990, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) and the Mental Health Act 1983).
• Lead on adult and child safeguarding within the service area and act as a key point of liaison for the team between the Service and local and regional statutory children’s and adults safeguarding and child protection services within Local Authorities and other partner agencies.

This post will be based at Springfield Hospital. Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship; please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK. We offer flexible working, career development, and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

This advert closes on Sunday 24 May 2026.