Somerset Council
Adult Social Care Practitioner - Health Interface Service (Adults)
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Closing date: 05/08/2026
Transform lives, champion rights & support adults to achieve their full potential.
Location: Taunton, Musgrove Park Hospital
Starting salary £28,598 rising annually, currently up to £32,061 (pending pay award)
Full time, 37 hours per week
Ideal opportunity to join the pathway to become a fully qualified social worker
28 days annual leave entitlement
Role Purpose
As an Adult Social Care Practitioner within the Health Interface Service (HIS), you will support adults and carers to live as independently as possible through strengths-based, outcome-focused practice. Working under the supervision of a Locality Manager, you will assess needs, review care arrangements and ensure appropriate support is in place in line with the Care Act 2014.
Within HIS, you will work alongside health and social care colleagues to support people throughout their hospital journey, including admission avoidance, hospital stays, timely discharge planning and transitions from hospital into the community.
You will play an important role in helping people make informed choices, access the right support at the right time, and return home wherever possible with safe, proportionate and sustainable support in place.
Key Responsibilities
- Working alongside Health and Social Care colleagues to achieve the best outcomes, including close partnership working with Intermediate Care teams to support Discharge to Assess (D2A) pathways and timely transitions from hospital into the community.
- Inform, advise and support adults and carers to access community-based services, including health, housing, welfare benefits, voluntary and user-led organisations.
- Deliver agreed assessment and review processes, ensuring statutory duties under the Care Act 2014 are met.
- Apply a strengths-based approach, gathering and analysing information to identify sustainable solutions and achieve agreed outcomes.
- Manage an agreed caseload with appropriate autonomy, prioritising work according to risk and need.
- Co-produce personalised, outcome-focused support plans with adults and carers, including arranging direct payments and commissioned services where appropriate.
- Monitor and manage risks, escalating concerns and working alongside partners where shared accountability is required. Identify and involve Social Workers, Occupational Therapists or other specialists where additional professional input is required. Safeguard adults at risk, working in line with statutory safeguarding duties.
- Maintain accurate, timely records and contribute to audits, peer forums and service improvement activity.
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What We’re Looking For – Essential Skills/Experience
We’re looking for compassionate, resilient practitioners with a commitment to person-centred practice. You will bring:
- Experience working in a caring or supportive role, paid or unpaid.
- An understanding of the rights of adults and carers and the ability to advocate on their behalf.
- The ability to work independently, using initiative and sound judgement.
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to adapt communication methods to meet individual needs.
- A positive attitude to using IT systems and maintaining accurate records.
- The ability to balance competing priorities and contribute effectively within multi-disciplinary environments.
About the Team/Service
The Health Interface Service is a vital part of Somerset’s integrated health and social care system, supporting people throughout their hospital journey – from admission avoidance and assessment through to discharge planning and recovery.
At the heart of HIS is our philosophy of hopeful social work. We challenge pessimism, advocate for the people we support and ask, “Why not home?” We believe in possibility, independence and helping people achieve the best outcomes by remaining connected to their communities wherever possible.
HIS works at the Front Door as part of an integrated team of health and social care professionals, helping people who do not need admission to return home as quickly and safely as possible.
During a person’s hospital stay, HIS helps to ensure people are discharged at the right time, with the right support, to the right place, so their discharge can be successful.
The service works closely with health colleagues, community partners and intermediate care services, supporting D2A pathways, Home First approaches and timely transitions from hospital into the community.
Joining HIS means becoming part of a motivated, collaborative and values-driven team that makes a tangible difference to Somerset residents every day.
Additional Information
This is a hospital-based role and you will be expected to work onsite within the hospital setting. The role also includes weekend working on a rotational basis.
Please Note: We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role as it does not meet Home Office requirements.
Due to the nature of the role and the geographical area of the service across Somerset, which is a largely rural county, with limitations around public transport the ability to be able to travel to any location is essential. Therefore, applicants must have full access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes.
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We recognise and welcome applications from disabled individuals who may require reasonable adjustments to meet this requirement, and we’re happy to discuss this from the first point of contact with the recruitment team.
If you have any queries, please contact recruitment@somerset.gov.uk quoting the reference number 1157/FG.
Please note we reserve the right to close this advert early if we have received a sufficient number of applications, so don't delay, apply today! (If you are an internal applicant, please apply on the internal careers site)
A full job description can be found here: Adult Social Care Practitioner - Job Description - AG1045
Person Specification
| Criteria | Essential | Desirable |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness and understanding of rights of service users and carers and ability to advocate on their behalf. | ✓ | |
| Working knowledge of Social Care Service. | ✓ | |
| Awareness of relevant legislation. Knowledge of services relevant to needs and circumstances of service users and carers. | ✓ | |
| Awareness and understanding of the principles of Social Work. | ✓ | |
| Experience working in a caring or supportive role, not necessarily in paid employment. | ✓ | |
| Experience in working in a care setting. | ✓ | |
| Literate and numerate to GCSE level or equivalent. | ✓ | |
| NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care or equivalent (equivalent must be health and social care related). | ✓ | |
| Manual handling certificate for staff within Day Opportunities. | ✓ | |
| Ability to speak fluent English as stated in Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016). | ✓ | |
| Positive attitude towards computers and ability to input and retrieve data and information. | ✓ | |
| Demonstrates empathy with service users and carers and understanding and respect for individual needs. | ✓ | |
| Ability to work alone and use own initiative. | ✓ | |
| Has an open and flexible manner, which elicits trust and confidence. | ✓ | |
| Takes a full and active part in own professional development, appraisal and supervision. | ✓ | |
| High level of IT literacy with; Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2003/2010, AIS (Adults Integrated Systems) or similar record keeping databases. | ✓ |
1157/FG
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