Perinatal Social Worker

Job responsibilities

• Embedding as a specialist social worker within the community maternity services to perform multiagency liaison work, offering easy-to-access expert advice.
• Working closely with Childrens Centres, charities and other third sector organisations to educate, improve access and outreach to local communities. This would include increased home visiting and the establishment of community satellite clinics and a move away from hospital-based services where possible.
• Regular targeted training programmes which will be disseminated and evaluated for a range of professionals.
• Direct work in complex cases with women booked for delivery at the local maternity hospital, providing comprehensive assessment, treatment, planning and review.
• Attendances at perinatal CPA meetings, to advise and ensure procedures are implemented.
• Supporting the establishment of peer support groups in the local community
• Supporting local antenatal classes to educate and promote positive mental health.
• Setting up a virtual perinatal team of champions/named professionals, using existing staff within CMHTs, Psychology/IAPT services, Midwifery teams, Health Visitor teams, CAMHs, Children & Families Social Services and GP services. This will raise awareness and improve the knowledge and skills of staff locally who work closely with this group of women, thus improving safety and quality of the care provided.

• Working closely with the existing Liaison Psychiatry Services and Mother and Baby Unit.

• Contributing to the development and dissemination of robust integrated CNWL /local Maternity Hospital perinatal care pathways and policies.
• Contributing to the on-going development and establishment of Community Perinatal Mental Health Services
• Attend and contribute specialist mental health knowledge at Child Protection Conferences, psychosocial meetings and birth planning meetings.

Education and qualifications

Essential

• Registered Social work qualification and evidence of current registration on Social Work England register
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Desirable

• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Dual qualified as AMHP or Best interest assessor or Practice educator
• Specialist Training in perinatal & infant mental health
• Recent experience of perinatal mental health practice and/or safeguarding children and Adult practice
• Qualifications / training in specialist skills e.g. Family therapy/interventions/ psychological interventions

Experience

Essential

• oProfessional knowledge acquired through degree /diploma
• oSignificant post-qualification experience
• oSignificant post-qualification experience working with women with serious mental illness in a secondary mental health setting either community or impatient
• Experience of managing a caseload of service users with evidence of completing high quality assessments
• Experience of working in a complex multi-disciplinary / multi-agency context
• Experience of formal child protection processes and inter-agency work with families
• Experience of formal Adult Safeguarding processes and inter-agency work with families
• Experience of undertaking complex social needs, mental state, risk and needs assessments
• Experience of working in a multi-racial/cultural community and of working with interpreters

Desirable

• Experience of multi-agency pre-birth planning (CPA) for women with serious mental illness
• Evidence of networking within the Perinatal Psychitatry Specialty
• Experience of working in obstetrics and gynaecology
• Experience of planning and delivery of training in response to identified needs
• Experience of contributing to policies and procedures
• Experience of supervising mental health / non mental health professionals

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Sufficient clinical knowledge to be able to make autonomous decisions, based on analysis of complex presenting problems and judgement about available options
• Team/self management and organisational skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken, revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the service.
• Ability to contribute to and facilitate effective multidisciplinary/multi-agency working
• Ability to implement evidence-based practice
• Ability to liaise and offer highly specialist consultation to other agencies effectively
• Ability to provide highly specialist therapeutic assessments and a range of therapeutic interventions
• Ability to effectively manage own clinical and administrative caseload and work under pressure at times of change
• Ability to identify, recognise and understand safeguarding children and adult issues and refer appropriately
• Ability to develop and deliver training on perinatal mental health and associated issues such as safeguarding children, domestic violence
• Ability to provide supervision to staff within own and other disciplines and to use supervision effectively
• Ability to work flexibly across service boundaries and with professionals from health care settings such as maternity services
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both oral and written
• Ability to work effectively with women from diverse minority ethnic and cultural backgrounds and with families with a high level of deprivation, social isolation, exclusion and stigma.
• Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary and 'virtual' team

Desirable

• Computer literate to an intermediate/ advanced level

Knowledge and Understanding

Essential

• Up to date knowledge of evidence based practice and current developments in perinatal psychiatry
• Knowledge about mental illness in the perinatal period
• Up to date knowledge of the Children Act 1989 and associated legislation and government policy and its implications for mental health services
• Up to date knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and associated legislation and government policy and its implications for mental health services
• Knowledge and understanding of diversity and equality issues and their application in perinatal psychiatry services
• Knowledge & understanding of contributions of other disciplines and professionals to a multi-agency service
• Understanding of clinical governance and audit issues
• Understanding of issues around information-sharing in relation to Child Protection and Children in Need
• Knowledge of relevant Perinatal service models
• Knowledge of relevant legislation e.g. MHA, MCA

Desirable

• Experience of conducting clinical audits

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).