Social Worker - Aquarius Ward | South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

This is a specialist professional leadership post offering social work leadership across the CAMHS service line, with a unique opportunity to strengthen social work practice within a mental health trust.

The successful candidate will be confident, skilled, and highly knowledgeable in both child and family social work and children and young people’s mental health. A strong understanding and practical application of the law as it pertains to children and young people, including Mental Health Act 1983, is essential. The postholder will be required to provide expert professional advice, often in complex and high-pressure situations.

The role bridges operational delivery and strategic leadership, providing visible and effective social work leadership across the CAMHS service line. You will ensure the provision of an efficient, effective, and high-quality professional service that meets all statutory, regulatory, and NHS requirements relating to social work practice with children and young people.

Working collaboratively with senior leaders and multi-agency partners, the postholder will ensure social work practice aligns with wider organisational objectives and maintains the highest professional standards.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced social work leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children, young people, and families within mental health services.

The post will provide advice and guidance across the CAMHS Park to the social work staff

The post holder will have a primary practitioner role servicing the social work function on Aquarius ward.

The post holder will be expected to deputise for the CAHMS Social Worker Team Manager when unavailable

The post holder will be a highly experienced social worker who has a sound knowledge of Mental health Legislation and Children’s inter-related children’s legislation

The post holder will be expected to provide advice on child safeguarding processes and ensure Trust safeguarding policies and procedures are followed

The post holder will provide clinical practice input across the Park in an advisory capacity and provide cover when required, but will have a primary commitment to Aquarius Ward.

The post holder can provide professional supervision for social workers in CAMHS and related services.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together.We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

About our location

This post will be based at Springfield Hospital

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

To liaise and interface with multidisciplinary staff within service area.

To liaise and work with external agencies, in particular Local Authority Children’s Services and CAMHS Community Services (Tier 3).

To be responsible for investigating and advising with regard to complex and highly sensitive and often confidential information, relating to safeguarding cases and other cases where there are high risk

social factors.

To provide written reports for a variety of purposes and audiences including social circumstances reports for Mental Health Tribunals and Managers’ Hearings; safeguarding investigation reports;

social work reports for use within the Service and for communication with external health and social care organisations and possibly for the Courts; periodic audits and evaluations of aspects of service;

periodic analytical reports on social work and social care practices and issues within the service area for the Directorate and/or for the Head of Social Work.

To develop and provide consultation to other services and agencies. This may include consulting to individual clinicians or to multi-disciplinary teams, comprising the full range of mental health professionals, including Social Services, Health Services, Educational Services, Housing, Police and CJS and voluntary and other statutory agencies.

To supervise less experienced social workers in day-to-day clinicalpractice

To maintain up-to-date and detailed knowledge and awareness of relevant legislation (including its application to unusual circumstances that occur in specialist mental health services), guidance and Trust policies and procedures, and to work within these.

To maintain high standards of professional practice, working at all times in the best interests of service users and carers,

To contribute to the assessment of young people and their families admitted to the ward in such a way as to ensure safe discharge planning

To work closely with all members of relevant service to achieve the best possible outcomes

To promote the interests and welfare of all patients and their families with particular reference to the Human Rights Act 1998 and all relevant policy and legislation (e.g. Children’s Act 1989, NHS and

Community Care Act 1990, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) and the Mental Health Act 1983)

To lead on adult and child safeguarding within service area and to act as a key point of liaison for the team between the Service and local and regional statutory children’s and adults safeguarding and child protection services within Local Authorities and other partner agencies.

This advert closes on Sunday 24 May 2026