Senior Practitioner

All of our job vacancies are now advertised at www.fife.gov.uk/jobs

Proposed Interview Date: Week Commencing Monday 02 August 2021

Supporting Statement

As part of the application process, you must provide a Supporting Statement which tells us how your skills, knowledge and experience make you a good candidate. This should be uploaded where you see Supporting Documents and URLs "upload CV". We know this is confusing and we are working to resolve it, however we only want a supporting statement and not a CV. Without this supporting statement, your application will not be progressed. More information is available on our Career site at www.fife.gov.uk/jobs/howtoapply.

Job Details

Fife Health and Social Care Partnership are looking to recruit an innovative, creative and enthusiastic individual to the post of Senior Practitioner within the Social Work Contact Centre. This role will involve primarily telephone-based communication with service users across Adult and Older People Services.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute to the operational management of the service in support of the Team Manager. To operate at a Senior level, with complex cases, providing an expert professional service to service users, their families and carers. Promoting good working and respectful practices between the staff team, service users, parents, carers and other professionals who work within the Health and Social Care Partnership and partner agencies.

The team undertake a wide variety of work including the provision of advice, sign posting to appropriate local services, assessments of care needs and risk in line with the current eligibility criteria and Adult Protection work. The Social Work Contact Centre is a fast-paced working environment and requires team members to be able to make swift and confident decisions while ensuring that the best outcomes for services users are identified. Due to the volume and types of referrals received, team members are required to stay abreast of legislation, policy, guidance and research in order to promote best outcomes. You will work to adhere to the statutory obligations of the LA Authority, including but not exclusively, Adult Protection, Adults with Incapacity and Mental Health legislation.

The team are supported to do this through regular in-team training sessions and are expected to contribute with creative ideas and proposals as to how best to serve the Fife Wide community. You will work in a team that are dedicated, hard-working, supportive and cohesive. We promote mutual respect, kindness and support in our daily practice, towards each other, service users and multi-agency partners.

Integral to this position is the ability to embrace technology and information for the maintenance of sound administrative systems, including service user’s records. You will also contribute to the review of Procedures and support the development and implementation of Strategies and Policies determined both locally and nationally which contribute to the development of service provision within Health and Social Care. You will be expected to undertake and maintain mandatory training in relation to Adult and Child Protection Legislation Procedures, in addition to other training which supports your ongoing professional development and the aims and objectives of the service.

Any other duties as required by the Director of Health and Social Care and allocated by the Team Manager.

A link to the role profile is included at the bottom of the advert. You will find out more about the job and the type of person we are looking for.

The Person

Applicants must have attained a Degree or Diploma in Social Work or equivalent, in addition to an accredited post-qualifying award (e.g. Certificate in Child Protection Studies, Mental Health Officer Accreditation, Practice Teacher Award, etc.). Registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) membership are also essential.

The successful candidate will have significant post-qualifying experience in providing statutory social work services and a working knowledge and ability to competently implement Child and Adult legislation, policies and information sharing protocols.

The position requires exceptional organisational skills and the ability to manage prioritise a demanding workload. You will be skilled in assessing and analysing situations to make clear and sound decisions to prioritise needs and manage risk. You will also be a clear and concise communicator with the ability to network effectively with partners to represent service users and the service at multi-disciplinary meetings and other forums and in producing reports as required.

As Senior Practitioner, you will also provide direct support and mentoring to Team colleagues.

Further Information

• Role Profile - When preparing your supporting statement, review the role profile and think about how you meet the essential criteria Role Profile
• How We Work Matters - Our employees are expected to display and promote certain behaviours in the workplace. See our How We Work Matters behaviour framework for more information.
• Employee Benefits - Employees have access to a benefits package that offers discounts on a wide range of products and services.
• Directorate Information - Council Department information
• Social Media - Search for more 'Fife Council Jobs' on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @FCJobsOfficial.

We are currently shaping our future workstyles with homeworking continuing until September 2021. Beyond that we are working to introduce a blended approach that will include office access days each week with homeworking for the remainder of your working time.

For further information please contact: Diane Biddle, Diane.Biddle@fife.gov.uk