Norfolk County Council
Practice Consultant - Occupational Therapist (11325)
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Practice Consultant – Occupational Therapist | 11325 | Permanent Contract | 18.5 hours per week | £22,634 to £24,909 per annum | (Grade K) | Norwich
We offer a £2000 welcome payment for qualified and experienced Social Workers/Occupational Therapists (grade J and above), Practice Consultants and Team Managers new to Norfolk County Council. Amount to be repaid in full should you leave within two years of employment.
It’s an exciting time to join the Social Care Community Engagement Team (SCCE). We have bold changes happening in Norfolk and we want to find the very best social care professionals to be part of our future. We are looking for a Social Work and Occupational Therapy Practice Consultant who can bring strong professional leadership across social work and occupational therapy practice, supporting high-quality, strengths-based and preventative interventions at the Adult Social Care front door.
Our Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Assistant Practitioners work collaboratively within SCCE to provide timely, proportionate and person-centred responses for people contacting Adult Social Services. We are looking to strengthen our practice leadership so that social work and occupational therapy expertise are embedded at the earliest point of contact.
You will be responsible for providing professional oversight, case consultation, practice guidance and quality assurance across complex and emerging front door activity. You will support practitioners to work with people, families, carers and partner agencies to promote independence, manage risk proportionately, prevent escalation and reduce or delay the need for formal commissioned services wherever appropriate.
You will be confident in applying professional judgement, working with complexity and ambiguity, and supporting reflective practice within a fast-paced front door environment. You will be keen to work innovatively, strive for continuous improvement, and contribute to SCCE’s change agenda, particularly in shaping integrated, relational and preventative front door services for the future.
Who are we?
SCCE brings together Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Assistant Practitioners and managers to provide the first point of contact for many Norfolk residents, carers, professionals and partner organisations seeking adult social care advice, information, intervention or support.
Our team doesn’t ask the people we work with, ‘what’s the matter with you?’ instead we ask, ‘what matters to you?’ We actively listen to people to find out what will motivate them to enhance and maximise their independence. We focus on what a person can do and the strengths they have either personally or with support from family or community resources.
Social work and occupational therapy practice sit alongside each other within SCCE, supporting holistic assessment, professional curiosity, functional analysis, safeguarding awareness, proportionate decision-making and creative use of family, community and system resources.
Practice Consultants play a key role in supporting safe and consistent decision-making across the service. They provide consultation and professional guidance to practitioners, support escalation where required, and help ensure that practice is defensible, legally literate, strengths-based and aligned with SCCE’s preventative operating model.
We are committed to working in an integrated manner with colleagues across Adult Social Services, the NHS, housing, community services and the voluntary sector. The Practice Consultant role will help strengthen these pathways by supporting practitioners to identify the right response at the right time, reduce unnecessary handoffs, and promote independence through early help, prevention, reablement and community-led solutions.
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Norfolk County Council is developing social work and occupational therapy practice in line with Human Learning Systems, relationship-based practice and a preventative approach to Adult Social Care. This role will contribute to practice development, learning, quality assurance and service improvement across SCCE, supporting staff to reflect on what is working well, what needs to change, and how professional judgement can be used to achieve better outcomes for people.
The Practice Consultant role
As a Social Work and Occupational Therapy Practice Consultant within SCCE, you will support practitioners with complex case discussions, risk analysis, safeguarding considerations, Care Act decision-making, occupational therapy reasoning where relevant, and the development of proportionate next steps. You will help create a learning culture where staff feel supported to use professional judgement, remain curious, and focus on what matters to the person.
You will also contribute to audit, quality assurance, practice development, coaching and the implementation of new approaches within SCCE. This includes supporting consistency of practice across social work and occupational therapy pathways, strengthening recording standards, and promoting evidence-based, legally defensible decision-making.
Key responsibilities
- Provide professional consultation, advice and challenge on complex front door cases, including risk, safeguarding, eligibility, proportionality and pathway decisions.
- Support Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Assistant Practitioners to apply strengths-based, person-centred and preventative practice.
- Promote high-quality recording that clearly evidences rationale, professional judgement, legal literacy and agreed actions.
- Contribute to practice audits, reflective learning, supervision support and service improvement activity.
- Work collaboratively with managers and partner agencies to resolve practice issues, improve pathways and support integrated working.
- Champion Human Learning Systems principles by supporting curiosity, reflection, learning and adaptation across the service.
What we offer
At Norfolk County Council we are committed to our employees’ learning and development. We offer all Social Workers and Occupational Therapists a protected half day per month for continuing professional development and training.
We want our people to be inspired and motivated to work well together, make the most of our workspaces, enjoy a healthy work-life balance, and deliver excellent services to Norfolk and its people. Flexibility is built into the way we work, with hybrid working a key feature for many roles. Our technology platform and equipment are first class, enabling you to connect and collaborate remotely. We ask that you have in place good Broadband connectivity.
Adult Social Services in Norfolk is on an ambitious, exciting transformation journey. We're redesigning how we work to create a system that is flexible, human, and focused on better outcomes. As part of this journey, you'll contribute to an environment where learning is continuous, insight is shared, and innovation is encouraged. We support flexible and hybrid working, with a minimum expectation of two days per week spent in a community or office setting, helping you stay connected with colleagues, communities and the people we support.
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Before you apply, we recommend reading the full Job Description and Person Specification to help you demonstrate you meet the criteria. You can also find information on our Terms and Conditions here.
Please ensure you include a statement in your application to demonstrate why you feel you meet the person specification and job description for this post. CVs submitted without a supporting statement about this post may not be accepted. You need to be registered with Social Work England/the HCPC as a practising Social Worker/Occupational Therapist.
Applications will be reviewed as and when received, you do not need to wait until the closing date.
We operate a talent pool scheme whereby candidates who are not successful on this occasion may be considered for a period of up to 3 months for equal positions.
Norwich is the county capital of Norfolk, 120 miles from London and 60 miles from Cambridge. It’s on the edge of the Broads National Park, and a 40-minute drive to the seaside. Norwich is a superb city. It effortlessly mixes outstanding heritage through the ages with modern shopping centres, excellent restaurants, hundreds of cafés and pubs, a superb arts and theatre scene with huge parks and green spaces, canoeing, rowing and sailing.
By train, Norwich to London takes 90 minutes and Cambridge less than an hour. There are also direct train links to the Midlands. Norwich International Airport [http://norwichairport.co.uk./] has regular flights to Schiphol, Amsterdam and from there on to the rest of the world, plus daily internal flights to Scotland, Manchester, Exeter and Dublin.
These are some benefits you can enjoy by working for Norfolk County Council:
- Competitive salary
- Generous holiday entitlement
- Health and Wellbeing services including fast-track physiotherapy and a free counselling service
- Flexible working opportunities including flexi-time, part time, remote and hybrid working – dependant on your job role and business need.
- Financial benefits such as:
- ‘Norfolk Rewards’ our employee discounts programme which helps you save money on almost anything, from everyday groceries and clothes, to holidays, new technology, gym membership, trips to the cinema and days out. [https://norfolk.rewardgateway.co.uk/Authentication/Start]
- A Blue Light card [https://www.bluelightcard.co.uk/] for Fire Service and Social Care Workers
- Relocation expenses (where applicable)
- An advance of your expenses if you travel for work
- Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution, life assurance, death in service payments and dependants’ pensions.
- Tax efficient ways of getting extra pension and new bikes
- Access to our tax efficient car lease scheme for greener travel enabling you to lease a brand new, ultra-low emission vehicle (subject to eligibility)
- A payment if you refer someone you know to a hard to fill job
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