Job overview

Our inpatient CAMHS General Adolescent Unit is a 10 bed ward. If you are a Social Worker looking to gain experience within a CAMHS setting, we would love to hear from you!

As a Social Worker you will be enthusiastic and motivated to deliver high quality care to young people aged 13-18 years old. You will have an understanding of child and adolescent mental health, experience of working within an MDT, a good understanding of complex mental health, attachment and trauma issues for children and young people. You will ensure patient safety, effective care and treatment, and be supportive in the children and young people’s development with learning opportunities.

We provide in depth on-going inductions, invest in personal training programmes, encouraging and supporting all staff throughout their career, to grow and develop. Our staff also have access to some of the leading research programmes in mental health and, whatever your role, there are opportunities to develop skills and clinical practice by being part of ground-breaking work. 

The Social Worker role is a part time post of 15 hours hours Monday to Friday.  This can be discussed at interview stage.

Employment in this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which the Trust will cover the cost of.  Applicants who subscribe to the DBS update service are able to present a valid DBS certificate instead of requiring a new check.

Main duties of the job

In Dorset, we are transforming our child and adolescent mental health service into a Family Mental Health model that embraces and adopts the Thrive framework. The inpatient service falls within the Getting More Help and Getting Risk Support quadrants of Thrive.

You will use professional skills, knowledge and experience plus a range of interpersonal and communication skills to gather information in order to make a full assessment of risk, protection and social care needs of individuals and family/carers.

You will work closely with families, some of whom will have a high level of complexity and need and/or be difficult to engage, to support engagement and relationship building, and facilitate co-ordination with external agencies where partnership working is needed.

There will be a strong sense of “team” and staff have been empowered to be innovative and implement their ideas on the ward. We have a values-based approach and welcome applications from candidates who will role model the trust’s core values.

You will be required to undertake a Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression course, and it is a condition of your employment that you successfully complete all aspects of this course; if this is not achieved you will not be able to commence working in the post.

Working for our organisation

At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here – it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you’re looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.