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Position: Community Mental Health Social Worker
Job Type: Full Time
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year Per Annum (pro rata if Part Time)
Location: Biggleswade Bedfordshire
Employer: East London NHS Foundation Trust
Application Deadline: August 30th, 2026
Job summary
Biggleswade CMHT provides compassionate person-centred interventions to people experiencing mental ill-health in Central Bedfordshire.
The team is a multi-disciplinary team, with a strong social care presence and ethos.
You will be given expert support and advice from the team Senior Social Worker. The Senior Social Worker and Team Leader provide intensive support to ensure that bespoke professional supervision is readily available for all our social workers.
ELFT has a dedicated Social Care Lead locally in Central Bedfordshire. The Social Care Lead offers regular reflective practice sessions, bespoke advice and CPD opportunities.
The excellent work of the Social Work Learning and Development Project Lead ensures that continuous learning is at the heart of Social Work in Bedfordshire.
The Trust offers an established ASYE programme for newly qualified social workers. CPD pathways beyond the ASYE include AMHP/Leadership Academy/AMCP/Practice Educator/ASYE Assessor training structures. Bespoke training opportunities are available as part of your yearly appraisal.
In short; now is a good time to be working as a social worker for ELFT in Central Bedfordshire!
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Social Worker to work as part of our team. You will be registered with Social Work England and ideally have one year of post qualifying experience in a relevant health or social care setting; however with our new ASYE programme we would be happy to work with a newly qualified social worker who is able to demonstrate how their pre-qualifying experience and value base would benefit our team.
As a Social Worker, you will work as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, providing high quality social care services to adults experiencing mental ill-health. The core functions of the role will be to provide assessment, care planning and coordination of care from a social perspective to adults accessing the service.
You will hold a caseload of adults experiencing a wide range of mental health and social care needs. You will ensure that you maintain constant reflection and development of your practice and will ensure your continuing professional development in line with the standards set out by the professional regulator, Social Work England.
About us
We have Social Workers who are also Practice Educators and ASYE assessors and are currently promoting this training. ELFT are currently part of a pilot programme for ASYE training of newly qualified social workers. ELFT and Central Bedfordshire Council offer training opportunities to support Social Workers to maintain their professional registration with Social Work England. We believe the natural progression for a Social Worker within Mental Health Services is to strive towards completing their Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) training and this is something that we will expect and you will be supported to do.
We are proud to work with the diverse communities of Bedfordshire and want our workforce to reflect this diversity, which we believe is beneficial for our employees, the organisation and the communities we serve. It is an exciting time to be joining Mental Health Services as a Social Worker in ELFT and the Social Care Management team are committed to supporting your continued development
Job description
Job responsibilities
In the role, you will liaise with acute inpatient units, the Crisis Team, Primary Care services, the Voluntary and Private Sector and contribute to providing a recovery focused model of care. You will play an active role in the discharge of our service users from hospital and will commission health and social care services as required. Partnership working is a key component of this post and you will need to be innovative in ensuring that there is a range of appropriate services locally to support individual recovery journeys.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary environment/community experience.
Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary environment/community experience.
Experience of attending funding panels and commissioning care packages
Experience of working within an NHS/Local Authority environment and an understanding of the issues/ policies/ practice within these environments.
Desirable criteria
Post-qualification experience within mental health services Previous appointment as an AMHP /Best Interest Assessor (BIA).
Social Workers are expected to train and practise as AMHPs
Knowledge/Skills
Essential criteria
To undertake comprehensive Care Act assessments and reviews, for people who may present with complex Health and Social Care needs, ensuring people are assessed appropriately against social care eligibility criteria asdefined by The Care Act 2014.
To take a lead in the promotion of adult safeguarding practice and undertake safeguarding enquires and contribute to the provision of care plans that protect both adults and children from abuse.
To ensure that appropriate health and social care services are commissioned with and on behalf of service users.
To promote the use of Direct Payments in the commissioning of service user and carer care and support plans.
To undertake regular risk assessments and ensure that vulnerable people are kept safe from harm.
To ensure accurate records of all work undertaken are kept up to date on the service users Electronic Patient Record.
To attend reflective practice sessions and access post qualifying and other appropriate training to ensure high standards of practice and continuation of your registration with Social Work England.
To provide both management and reflective supervision to newly qualified Social Workers and Support Workers.
To support newly qualified social workers through the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE), with opportunities to train as an ASYE assessor.
To undertake duties as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) or be willing to undertake AMHP training.
To participate in your own regular supervision and ensure regular reflection on your own practice as both a social worker and AMHP.
To undertake other tasks and duties which form part of the delegated social care responsibilities accepted by the Trust on behalf of Central Bedfordshire Council.
To adhere to Trust policies and procedures.
To undertake additional training as required.
To carry out any other duties as appropriately identified by your line manager.
Desirable criteria
A thorough working knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983 and subsequent amendments
Additional Requirements
Essential criteria
Car driver essential and be able to travel between Trust sites throughout the County Full driving licence Flexible working according to the needs of the service and to support work/life balance and improving working lives.
Educational/ Qualification
Essential criteria
Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England
Desirable criteria
Educated to Degree Level Relevant specialist post qualifying/post graduate training
Personal Qualities
Essential
criteria
Team player, able to negotiate and lead other professionals whilst considering competing views and agendas Able to work independently, with initiative, but to seek appropriate guidance and supervision when required. Self-motivated, committed and open to new ideas and experiences Committed to equal opportunities, and equality and diversity issues Anti-discriminatory & ant oppressive practice Committed to core social work values, able to recognise that protection is sometimes required and should be carried out in the least restrictive manner observing the human and civil rights of the individual A commitment to leadership & change management
Person Specification
Educational/ Qualification
Essential
- Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England (SWE)
Desirable
- Educated to Degree Level
- Relevant specialist post qualifying/post graduate training
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary environment/community experience.
- Experience of attending funding panel and care commissioning
- Experience of working within an NHS/Local Authority environment and an understanding of the issues/ policies/ practice within these environments.
Desirable
- Post qualification experience within mental health services
- Previous appointment as an AMHP /Best Interest asAssessor (BIA) NB Social Workers are expected to train and practise as AMHP’s
Knowledge/Skills
Essential
- Understanding a range of models of mental disorder and the treatment options.
- Comprehensive understanding of the social determinants of mental illness and interventions to support recovery.
- Ability to conduct safeguarding enquiries and investigations when required
- Working knowledge of the NHS & Community Care Act, The Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and other social care & mental health legislation, policy & guidance
- Ability to assess manage complex and high risk situations effectively service users and carers
- Good report writing skills and ability to compile complex case recording ad report presentation, including legal documents i.e. social circumstances reports, court reports etc.
- Ability to manage and coordinate professionals, teams and services and mobilise provision where appropriate.
- Assessment skills and the ability to compile care plans in partnership with service users, carers and others
- Knowledge of relevant safeguarding legislation, statutory guidance and procedures
- Assertiveness and engagement with other professionals, able to make reasoned arguments and represent own professional views and perspectives.
- Decision -making and problem solving, able to adopt creative and flexible approaches to meet the needs of service users.
- Highly developed organisational skills, able to prioritise workload and delegate effectively.
- Well -developed communication skills, able to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences
- Mental Health Practice Skills and an understanding of CPA and the NSF standards.
- IT skills, experience of working with service user data systems
Desirable
- A thorough working knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983 and subsequent amendments
Additional information
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.
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