Senior Practitioner – Emergency Duty Service

Overview

In this role you support urgent, out-of-hours social work across Essex, providing assessments and crisis support as an AMHP. You work within a multi-disciplinary out-of-hours team to stabilise crisis situations and advise other professionals. You will travel across the county to respond where needed and contribute to safeguarding vulnerable children and adults. This appointment offers a meaningful chance to impact services during high-pressure times and shape out-of-hours practice.

Pay / Benefits

• 15% flat rate allowance based on basic salary
• £2,400 AMHP payment
• flexible working arrangements
• job share options
• Disability Confident Leader status
• support for unpaid carers

Responsibilities

• Respond to emergency social work requests out of hours and coordinate immediate assessments
• Work as an Approved Mental Health Professional under the Mental Health Act to support urgent cases
• Engage with children, families, and vulnerable adults, including child protection investigations when relevant
• Contribute to duty team operations, ensuring smooth handovers and effective multi-agency collaboration
• Travel across the county to meet service needs and maintain accessibility of out-of-hours services
• Communicate clearly in writing and orally, providing guidance and documentation for decisions
• Empower service users and carers to participate in planning and care decisions
• Support cross-team liaison and knowledge sharing to improve out-of-hours crisis response

Key requirements

• Social Work Degree or equivalent and Social Work England registration
• Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) under the 1983 Mental Health Act (as amended)
• Direct work experience with children and families, preferably with child protection investigations
• Experience with vulnerable adults and working in a Duty Team
• Ability to work under pressure and organise workload
• Effective written and verbal communication
• Ability to empower children and carers to participate in work
• Knowledge of Community Care practice and multi-agency assessment and care management for older people and vulnerable adults
• Understanding of relevant policy and current research across client specialisms
• Commitment to anti-oppressive practice and collaborative teamwork
• Flexibility and openness to different work settings and shared responsibilities
• Driving licence and mobility to travel across Essex or meet mobility requirements

• resilience under pressure
• clear and empathetic communication
• team collaboration
• knowledge of Mental Health Act procedures
• familiarity with multi-agency systems of assessment and care management
• awareness of current community care policy and research

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