Lead Social Worker

Main Purpose

Over-sees and leads all Social Worker activity, Co-ordinates, negotiates and manages the mandatory processes and procedures to ensure the unit's compliance with current legislation and statutory regulation; taking appropriate action to preserve the psycho-social and socio-economic circumstance of assigned clients attending Priory units; needs assessments of clients and their families and identification of relevant resources pre and post discharge.

Key Accountabilities

1. To conduct a comprehensive and objective evaluation of the client's current status, environment and functional abilities, including risk assessment of clients, staff and the wider community.

2. Manages, monitors and reviews an assigned caseload ascertaining the socio-economic circumstances of clients, ensuring that the relevant people are made aware of the clients situation. Maintains accurate and timely records detailing each patient's rehabilitation / progress.

3. To take the lead on POVA or Child Protection issues and take appropriate action with those statutory services. To apply working knowledge of statutory and company policies and procedures to set a strategy for protecting potentially vulnerable clients.

4. Assists and supports colleagues and relatives in understanding and interpreting changes in legislation and statutory regulations.

5. To collaborate and to act as main contact between relatives, agencies and other official organisations co-ordinating negotiations and communications regarding admissions, discharges and long-term needs.

6. To co-ordinate health, rehabilitation, social service, medico-legal and voluntary agencies to ensure an individually tailored programme is provided for each client, to establish the necessary level of care and to liaise with external agencies to help obtain the funding and services necessary to meet ongoing needs.

7. Responsible for the supervision and practice teaching of students and trainees assigned to the unit.