Social Worker Senior Medical

Purpose of the Post

· To provide a quality Social Work service to St Columille’s Hospital patients and families

· The post holder will provide a service to patients and families as directed by the Principal Social Worker

· To work as part of the multi-disciplinary team and with the Principal SW to develop the role of social work and meet the objectives of the service and the organisation as a whole.

· To contribute to research and development in the field of social work with clients in collaboration with the MDT and the Principal social worker.

· To undertake direct work with patients and their families. Providing emotional support and expert social work interventions.

· To provide family support and interventions

· To act as an advocate with community and state services.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Professional / Clinical

· Provide a comprehensive social work service to patients and their families.

· Be responsible for the delivery of social work services appropriate to the post in line with best practice guidelines.

· Provide assessment and intervention as appropriate.

· Take direct responsibility for a defined caseload.

· Provide family based interventions when appropriate.

· Deliver a high quality service in an effective and resource efficient manner.

· Attend and participate in meetings, case discussions and case conferences as requested.

· Facilitate groups and projects in accordance with service need.

· Ensure clinical records are properly and accurately maintained and that appropriate statistical information is available as required.

· Participate in research and cooperate with internal and external audit and evaluation of the service as required.

· Ensure the promotion of the social model of care.

· Provide professional supervision to other social work staff as appropriate.

· Ensure principals of service user involvement are adhered to in all aspects of practice.

· Develop good working relationships with other members of the multi-disciplinary team, specialist services, community and voluntary organisations to provide integrated quality care to service users.

· Promote integrated models of service delivery between relevant stakeholders.

· Ensure anti-discriminatory practice and cultural competence.

· Contribute to the overall development of the social work service so as to meet current and emerging trends and unmet needs.

· Provide professional leadership at meetings, committees and/or other fora as required.

· Chair and participate in case conferences with the appropriate staff when the need arises.

· Seek advice and assistance from the Prinicpal Social Worker and / or Clinical Lead with any assigned cases or issues that prove to be beyond the scope of their professional competence

· Be professionally responsible for all aspects of the post holders own work.

· Perform any other duties that may be assigned by the Principal Social Worker

· Deputise for the Principal Social Worker as appropriate.

Education & Training

· Maintain standards of practice and levels of professional knowledge by participating in continuous professional development initiatives and attendance at courses as appropriate.

· Participate in mandatory and recommended training programmes.

· Engage in career and professional development planning.

· Act as a resource by participating in the education and training of social work colleagues and other health professionals as required.

· Manage, participate and play a key roe in the practice education of student social workers and promote and engage in the teaching / training / support of others as appropriate.

· Avail of supervision with the Principal Social Worker

· Engage in planning and performance reviews as appropriate with Principal Social Worker

Health & Safety

· Participate and cooperate with legislative, regulatory and policy requirements with regard to quality, risk and safety.

· Contribute to the development of policies, procedures, guidelines and safe professional practice as required.

· Initiate, support and implement quality improvement initiatives as required.

· Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role for example, Standards for Healthcare, National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc.

· Support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.

Management

· Take responsibility for student social work training within the service.

· Provide line management supervision to assigned staff

· Be responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of the MSW service within the Weight Management service in conjunction with the Prinicpal Social Worker

· Act as a representative of the social work profession as required.

· Take responsibility for the supervision and line management of professionally qualified social workers if required.

· Assist the Principal Social Worker in team support, supervision and development as required.

The above Job Specification is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.

Eligibility Criteria

Qualifications and/ or experience

Candidates must at the latest date of application:

1.Professional Qualifications, Experience, etc.

(i) Must be registered in the Social Workers Register maintained by the Social
Workers Registration Board at CORU

And

(ii) Maintain live annual registration on the Social Workers Register maintained by the Social Workers Registration Board at CORU

And

(iii) Have 3 years relevant post-qualification experience.

And

(iv) Must have the requisite knowledge and ability (including a high standard
of suitability, professional and managerial ability) for the proper discharge of the duties of the office.

2.Age

Age restriction shall only apply to a candidate where s/he is not classified as a new entrant (within the meaning of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004). A candidate who is not classified as a new entrant must be under 65 years of age on the first day of the month in which the latest date for receiving completed application forms for the office occurs.

3.Health

Candidates for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

4.Character

Candidates for and any person holding the office must be of good character.

Post Specific Requirements

· Knowledge and understanding of complex needs of the client group.

· Understanding of mental health as it relates to this client group including the ability to identify and assess risk

· Familiarity of conditions associated with this client goup

· Understanding of the role of MSW in behaviour management

· Knowledge and experience in counselling and advocacy as related to the role.

· Knowledge of the social issues most common to the client group and the role of MSW within this.

Other requirements specific to the post

Access to appropriate transport to fulfil the requirements of the role.

Skills, competencies and/or knowledge

Candidates must:

· Demonstrate sufficient clinical and professional knowledge to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the role.

· Demonstrate an ability to apply knowledge to best practice

· Demonstrate the capacity to manage, plan and deliver interventions in an effective and resourceful manner within a model of person-centred care.

· Demonstrate a willingness to develop suitable special interests.

· Demonstrate initiative and innovation in identifying areas for service improvement

· Demonstrate the ability to manage and develop self and others in a busy working environment.

· Demonstrate the ability to engage in supervision and reflective practice.

· Demonstrate effective supervision skills

· Demonstrate strong leadership and team skills

· Demonstrate a commitment to delivering a quality ,user-centred service

· Display awareness and appreciation of the service user as expert through experience including promoting the role of service user in care planning and decision-making and service development.

· Demonstrate the ability to empathise with and treat others with dignity and respect

· Display effective interpersonal and communication (verbal and written) skills including skills in multi-disciplinary working and the ability to collaborate with colleagues, families, etc.

· Demonstrate the ability to evaluate information, make effective decisions and solve problems.

· Demonstrate a high standard of IT skills relevant to the role

· Demonstrate commitment to continuing professional development.

Campaign Specific Selection Process

Ranking/Shortlisting / Interview

A ranking and or shortlisting exercise may be carried out on the basis of information supplied in your application form. The criteria for ranking and or shortlisting are based on the requirements of the post as outlined in the eligibility criteria and skills, competencies and/or knowledge section of this job specification. Therefore it is very important that you think about your experience in light of those requirements.

Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in you not being called forward to the next stage of the selection process.

Those successful at the ranking stage of this process (where applied) will be placed on an order of merit and will be called to interview in ‘bands’ depending on the service needs of the organisation.

Code of Practice

The Health Service Executive will run this campaign in compliance with the Code of Practice prepared by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA).

The CPSA is responsible for establishing the principles to be followed when making an appointment. These are set out in the CPSA Code of Practice. The Code outlines the standards to be adhered to at each stage of the selection process and sets out the review and appeal mechanisms open to candidates should they be unhappy with a selection process.

Read the CPSA Code of Practice.

The reform programme outlined for the Health Services may impact on this role and as structures change the job specification may be reviewed.

This job specification is a guide to the general range of duties assigned to the post holder. It is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive and is subject to periodic review with the employee concerned.

PLEASE COMPLETE AND UPLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM ATTACED TO THE JOB ADVERT. CVs WILLL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR THIS POSITION