Social Care Practitioner

Make a life changing decision.

Cornwall is a fantastic place to live and work.

Adult Social Care in Cornwall is changing, and we are looking for committed and motivated Social Care Practitioners to join our Adult Safeguarding service. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in protecting adults at risk of abuse or neglect, supporting them to achieve safer outcomes while promoting independence, wellbeing and autonomy.

The Service & Team:

As a Social Care Practitioner within safeguarding, you will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside Social Workers, health colleagues, police and wider partners. You will contribute to timely and proportionate safeguarding responses, including screening and triage of concerns, gathering and analysing information, supporting safeguarding enquiries and contributing to risk assessments and protection planning. You will ensure that all work is person-centred, strengths-based and outcome-focused, keeping the adult’s views, wishes and desired outcomes at the forefront of decision-making.

You will be confident working in a fast-paced environment where demand can fluctuate, using your professional curiosity and sound judgement to help identify and respond to risk. You will also play an important role in information sharing, partnership working and supporting continuous improvement in safeguarding practice across the service.

We are looking for practitioners who are passionate about safeguarding and committed to high-quality practice. You will be resilient, organised and reflective, able to manage competing priorities while maintaining a focus on delivering positive outcomes. You will be confident communicating with a wide range of people, including adults at risk, their families and professionals, and able to contribute effectively within a team environment.

Our safeguarding service operates across a number of pathways, including countywide safeguarding teams, a triage function and the Person in Position of Trust (PIPOT) process. Working alongside our health partners and wider system colleagues, we are strengthening our multi-agency approach to safeguarding and continuously developing how we respond to risk and harm.

Cornwall’s unique geography and communities present both challenges and opportunities. You will work with people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those living in rural and coastal communities, and those experiencing complex social and economic disadvantage. This is a dynamic and rewarding area of practice where your work will make a real difference to people’s safety and quality of life.

If you are passionate about making a difference and want to develop your safeguarding practice within a supportive and forward-thinking service, we would love to hear from you.

The Role:

Under the leadership and management of the Team Manager you will work within a team of Social Workers and other Social Care Practitioners to provide a service to adults with health and social care needs achieving high quality, timely and person-centred needs assessments of individuals, planning for and working to improve outcomes and increase/maintain the independence of vulnerable adults. Within Rapid Response, the case co-ordinator will need to provide an immediate response and intervention to a social care crisis where there is risk of admission to a care setting (hospital or care home) or where a significant increase in current support is required, or a customer is at immediate risk within 48 hours.

Social Care Practitioners are required to work collaboratively with colleagues from different teams, disciplines and partner organisations in order to provide a seamless service to individuals/families/carers. They will help to protect vulnerable adults from harm or abuse and support people to optimise their choices in order to live as independently as possible. They will work with communities, individuals and families to promote their personal strengths.

This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.

This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check.

Working Pattern:

We currently have a range of permanent, full time and part time roles available throughout Cornwall. Please specify which area you are interested in when you complete an application.

What you’ll need to succeed:

The Social Care Practitioner will ensure they acquire and improve their knowledge and skills and contribute to the learning and development of other members of the team.

As representatives of Adult Social Care, behaviour and conduct should be professional at all times, reflecting the values of the department and the council.

You will have the following:

• a minimum Level 3 qualification in health, social care or relevant area or the capacity and willingness to work towards appropriate qualifications
• the ability to use effective interviewing skills to undertake assessments of need, including risks and strengths;
• demonstrable skills in analysis of information and ability to translate into a coherent plan and outcome;  
• the ability to work creatively under stressful conditions, know when and how to ask for support and to pass information and cases to more
• experienced/qualified workers, as appropriate, following negotiation with supervisor; and
• the ability to reprioritise and be flexible to respond to urgent referrals.

Please read the role profile for the full details of this role attached below in this advert

What you’ll get in return:

Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:

• a competitive salary.
• a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions
• a generous annual leave entitlement with the potential to purchase additional leave.
• a national award-winning employee health and wellbeing programme
• Employee benefits scheme giving employees access to a wide range of discounts to local and national goods and services

Additional Information:

Cornwall Council is unable to offer visa sponsorship or transfer existing sponsorship for this role.

The full role profile is attached here

We recommend saving a copy of this to refer to if you are invited to an interview

For more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Isabella Morfitt – Isabella.morfitt@cornwall.gov.uk
 

Application Process

A supporting statement or CV can be attached to your application. Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points marked as ‘Application’ on the Role Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Please note that applications cannot be edited after they have been submitted, please contact careers@cornwall.gov.uk if you have any queries or require assistance with your application.

Existing employees must apply using their Cornwall Council email address through the Opportunity Marketplace on Oracle.

Cornwall Council deliver services to more than half a million local people and over five million visitors a year. Working here - Cornwall Council

We are happy to talk about flexible working options such as part-time or compressed hours. More examples of our flexible working opportunities can be found here - flexible working options.

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g., race, disability, sex, gender reassignment status, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.