Job summary
- Main area
- Social Work
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Compressed hours
- Job ref
- 363-BED7208127-A
- Employer
- East London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Grove View
- Town
- Dunstable
- Salary
- £46,148 - £52,809 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 24/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Senior Social Worker
Band 7
ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Community Mental Health Teams provide compassionate person-centred interventions to people experiencing mental ill-health in the Towns of Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.
All Social Workers in the mental health teams have access to a host of brand new facilities at the newly opened Grove View Health and care hub!
The new hub strengthens ELFT’s award winning social care presence and ethos.
Main duties of the job
As a Senior Social Worker, you will act as the champion and leader of social care and safeguarding in the Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Mental Health Teams.
You will be expected to give robust, consistent, and expert social care practice advice in partnership with specialist senior social care and health colleagues. You will promote high quality, recovery-focused and cost-effective social care services to service users and their carers, focused on the principles of choice, control and independence, as well as ensuring safety.
Working for our organisation
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Click on the link below to see our exciting new base for South Bedfordshire Social Workers!
At the Hub the team Senior Social Worker provides intensive support to ensure that bespoke professional supervision is readily available for all our social workers.
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 also available as part of your yearly appraisal.
In short; now is a good time to be working as a social worker for ELFT in South Bedfordshire!
Person specification
essential
Essential criteria
- • An appropriate social work qualification
essential
Essential criteria
- • Registration with Social Work England
essential
Essential criteria
- • Master’s degree or equivalent post-qualifying training
essential
Desirable criteria
- • Other relevant post-qualification training (e.g .CBT, family therapy, Best Interest Assessor training
essential
Essential criteria
- • Approved Mental Health Professional training and qualification (or prepared to undertake training within a year of appointment to role)
essential
Essential criteria
- • Relevant post-qualifying training for social workers
essential
Essential criteria
- Substantial post-qualification experience with demonstrable evidence of excellent practice at advanced level
essential
Essential criteria
- Extensive knowledge of legislation, statutory guidance, theory, and policy in relation to adult and children’s social care
essential
Essential criteria
- Experience of undertaking assessment focused on personalisation, choice and control, and care planning
essential
Essential criteria
- Understanding of and experience of use of personal budgets and direct payments
- Experience of supervising and mentoring others
- Evidence of multidisciplinary and collaborative working
- Evidence of partnership working with service users and carers, demonstrating dignity and respect, particularly in very challenging situations
- Excellent ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders, including service users and carers, other professionals and colleagues, members of other organisations and locally communities – verbally and in writing
- Evidence of successful management of challenging meetings
- Experience of using electronic record systems and ability to produce accurate, appropriate, and timely reports
- Ability to analyse service user and carer information
- Experience of undertaking small scale audits and surveys
- Understanding of basic research methods
- Demonstrable ability to working sensitively with diverse needs and environments
- Commitment to anti-discriminatory practice
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mark Shields
- Job title
- Social Care Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07435733580
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