Job Role: Practice Lead  (Two full time positions available)

Service:   Adult Social Care and Housing

Main purpose of the role To promote and drive high quality, integrated adult social care practice in Herefordshire.

To drive the ongoing development and delivery of the Social Care Strengths-based Practice Framework and associated Quality Assurance Framework in adult social care.

  Key relationships/Functional links with:

Internal:  Staff at all levels within the directorate, including Corporate Director, Service Directors, Heads of Service and team managers.  Staff within other directorates, including L&OD team, and Hoople.

External:  WM ADASS, other local authorities, universities, research bodies

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The jobholder will be expected to complete the responsibilities / accountabilities effectively in order to deliver the key objectives of the organisation

Frequency of Task

• To develop, update and maintain service standards, practice, policies and procedures. In doing so this will inform the development of directorate policy to deliver the standards against the social care strengths based framework
• Working with the Principal Social Worker, to identify social care workforce development needs and co-create or commission appropriate training and development resources to meet those needs.
• To develop and deliver training and workforce development programmes as required.
• To carry out case file audits in line with the agreed programme, identifying areas of good practice as well as areas for further development feeding these through into the social care workforce development plan.
• To provide reports and disseminate learning from quality assurance activity such as audits to ensure a focus on continual improvement.
• To support the Principal Social Worker in the production of audits and reports as required for the Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board, including in relation to Safeguarding Adult Reviews.
• To promote excellent, strengths-based front line practice in line with the agreed Social Care Practice Framework.
• To carry out case file audits to identify areas of good practice, areas of learning, and areas for further development.
• Work with individual practitioners and teams to improve practice standards and ways of working.
• To produce reports as required for the directorate and Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board, on behalf of the Principal Social Worker and Safeguarding Lead.
• To identify training and development needs of practitioners and managers and design appropriate training and development programmes to meet those needs.
• To support the ongoing development of the social care workforce’s career development framework
• To provide technical advice and support for the ongoing development of reflective supervision practices and peer mentoring across the social care workforce.
• Interpret and communicate changes in local and national policy, legislation and guidance

 

Person Specification

Requirements

Essential or   Desirable

Identified by

 Application I – Interview

Qualifications and Training

including professional qualifications

• Professionally Qualified  with  Social care expertise

IT systems knowledge of Mosaic  

• Post qualification professional experience with evidence of CPD and HCPC (or equivalent) registration

Formal coaching, mentoring or training qualifications A, I

• Substantial experience in front line adult social care practice.

Auditing ISO9001 or equivalent A, I

Experience & Knowledge

• Significant knowledge of adult social care, national policy and trends and appropriate legislation.

A, I, S

• Thorough understanding of what good, strengths-based adult social care practice looks like.

A, I, S

• Experience in implementing practice frameworks.

A, I, S

• Experience in implementing quality assurance frameworks

A, I, S

- Experience of designing and delivering training programmes.

A, I, S

Skills and Abilities

Including personal attributes

• Good interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with staff at all levels within the directorate, Council and partner agencies.

A, I, S

- Excellent frontline practice skills.

 A, I, S

- Ability to collaborate, influence and challenge, with excellent verbal and written skills.

A, I, S

-Ability to analyse complex information and use this to support improvement in practice.

A, I, S

- Ability to produce high quality, accurate work to tight deadlines.

A, I, S

- Excellent customer service skills.

A, I, S

- Ability to organise own workload

A, I, S

- Self-motivated and ability to use own initiative.

A, I, S

-Personal drive and delivery focused whilst maintaining high quality

A, I, S

- Excellent research skills ensuring innovation and best practice is embedded within the directorate

  Other Factors    e.g. ability to work shifts, physical requirements (with adaptations where appropriate), ability to drive, agility to travel around county etc.

• Flexible approach to work and hours to satisfy the needs of the business.

A, I

• Commitment to fairness and equality.

A, I

 

  All council staff have a duty to promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults with care   and support needs at risk of abuse and neglect who cannot take steps to protect themselves. Ensuring you attend mandated safeguarding children and safeguarding adults training to enable you to recognise the concerning behaviour, know how to talk about it, and consent/duty to share information effectively. You will also learn about the legalities and procedures the social care staff can take.

Our Values and Behaviours The council’s THRIVE core values are our guiding principles and beliefs that shape our culture and behaviour within the council. ​ They help us to achieve our Council Plan vision “do our best for Herefordshire” acting as our DNA and the “way that we do things around here”.  We expect all colleagues to act as a role model by living our values and setting an example for others.  ​ Our values strive to promote a thriving workforce by fostering a culture of trust, being honest and responsible, inclusive, valuing people and resources and leading with empathy.  

Trust - Developing and maintaining relationships based on a culture of transparency and open communication. Supported by integrity and the confidence that you are reliable and fulfil commitments.

Honesty - Demonstrating truthfulness, integrity, and transparency in all communications, decisions, and relationships. Being trustworthy, reliable, and accountable for your actions. Acting with sincerity and fairness, even in challenging situations.

Responsibility - Taking ownership of individual and collective actions, decisions, and delivering on commitments. Being reliable, fulfilling obligations and being accountable for outcomes and results. Proactively contributing to the achievement of your own, the team and council goals.

Inclusivity - Embracing diversity, equity and inclusion by recognising and valuing the unique perspectives, backgrounds and experiences of our staff, customers and residents. Creating an environment where every individual is valued, respected and can belong.

Value - Upholding high standards, ethics and integrity to guide our actions and decisions. Demonstrating commitment to creating and delivering value in our work by recognising and appreciating each other, our resources, processes, customers, community and environment.

Empathy - Demonstrating a genuine and caring understanding of others' feelings, perspectives, and experiences. Listening attentively, acting with compassion, supporting with respect and kindness and considering the impact of our actions on others.