The National Deaf Adult Services based at Springfield Hospital are looking for an experienced social worker. The role will be at Band 7 AfC , five days a week, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

It is desirable that applicants are either native BSL sign language users or have a fluency in British sign language or have a minimum of a BSL certified qualification at Level 3 in BSL together with a clear experience and understanding of deaf cultural issues and a background in working with or as part of a Team who has experience working with deaf clients and professionals.

You must have a registered qualification in social work and it would be desirable if you also had qualification or experiences in mental health social working. Also, if you have AMHP status then this will also be desirable but not essential.

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation in the Deaf community and working with Deaf service users. Our service is a national tertiary/third tier service across the south of England and we also provide a full range of specialist support and collaboration to local mental health services across London. We liaise with a wide range of services within the secondary care sectors-  CMHT/IRH services, forensic deaf services, EIT, HTT, external inpatient units and outreach services, deaf adult placements, social services and sensory services .

The Community Services role is collaborative and to educate, guide, signpost and support local services in the assessment and treatment options for deaf adults. We do not lead on care and the expectation is for the secondary care services to lead.

The Inpatient Services role is to assess and treat Deaf adults who present with severe mental illness which can be co-morbid with cognitive and neurological deficits, learning difficulties, emotional and behavioural dysregulation, language deprivation and associated traumas. The inpatient unit works with British Sign Language as a first language and fifty percent of the staff group are deaf.

Both the Community and inpatient services work closely together to ensure appropriate admissions and to support timely and clear recovery and discharge pathways.

Our commitment therefore is to provide specialist high quality integrated health care support to deaf people together with their local mental health team

South West London Mental health NHS Trust is rated as GOOD with the Care Quality Commission.

Our Values

Our Trust and Service values are to be consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open and our mission is “making life better together”.

When you join us, you’ll be part of something special – an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK for Deaf Adults.

As a Trust, we are happy to discuss flexible working.

Your Role

Your role will work across both the specialist inpatient unit which provides fourteen national referral only beds and the community services which works with a caseload of over one hundred clients across the south of England. As a senior staff member you will be expected to lead on safeguarding and DOLS and to provide relevant assessment reports including social circumstances reporting for Tribunals and Hospital Managers meetings. To support this you will have a clear understanding of the mental health act and the Mental Capacity Act and be able to support, specifically in the inpatient area, visiting clinicians in working through mental health act and Capacity act needs with Deaf adults.

You will be expected to support the admission and discharge pathways for clients , to develop clear liaison with external services to plan and deliver these robust ways of working.

Within the Community your role will encompass specialist social work liaison working with external services and to provide specialist signposting to relevant deaf support agencies. There will be an element of travel required across the south of England.

Team working is vital and it will be expected that you have a good background in inter-team communications with both deaf and hearing professionals as well as the ability to work with external stakeholders who may never have worked with a deaf client before. You will also need to deliver supportive engagement with families and carers.

If you fit into these requirements and this role is of interest to you then we welcome your application.

For further discussion please contact Mike Tart, Community Manager, initially on [email protected] and we can arrange a Teams call.

Application route is via the NHS Jobs link only.