Social Worker (Assessment and Discharge Team)
🌟 Join Assessment and Discharge Team in Adult Social Care 🌟
We’re recruiting a qualified social worker to work in our established Community Hospital and Community Support Bed Assessment and Discharge Team.
Our 6 Community Hospitals and 3 Community Support Beds offer short-term assessment and reablement/rehabilitation to people across Derbyshire. They help people to regain confidence and maximise their independence, in order to return home wherever possible. They are used to support people leaving hospital, requiring an urgent community response or who would benefit from reablement in a bedded care setting (this is Derbyshire’s ‘Pathway 2’/intermediate care service).
These sites are supported by skilled multi-disciplinary teams from health and social care. You would be working with a team of other professionals to contribute to goal setting and discharge planning, complete care act assessments and support plans, as well as supporting people within the Mental Capacity Act and making safeguarding personal.
The services are going through an exciting period of change over 2025-2026. We’re looking for an innovative leader who is passionate about improving services for people in Derbyshire. As part of improving integration between health and social care, we are transitioning the service to deliver support within a new partnership between Derbyshire County Council and Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS and we expect these roles transition across into this Partnership at some point in 2026.
The majority of your time will be spent working from one of our Community Support Bed or Community Hospital sites. The role also involves some travel to other sites and offers hybrid working to meet service needs. This position will primarily focus on Whitworth community hospital and the surrounding area.
What we expect from our applicants:
- Be able to provide person centred and strength-based assessments
- Someone who can provide a timely discharge planning support
- Confident in using the Care Act 2014, including a good understanding of Making Safeguarding Personal, and the Mental Capacity Act
- Someone who is a team player who is able to work closely with other disciplines and teams
- Comfortable working autonomously with a positive and can-do attitude
What you can expect from the role with Derbyshire County Council:
- Working for Derbyshire County Council really puts you at the heart of local communities, and provides great satisfaction being able to help local people.
- A welcoming and accepting team who provide regular peer support, as well as receiving professional and line management supervision.
- Rewarding work with a real variety of cases, leading to quick outcomes that make a difference to people and their lives
- Great learning and development opportunities – Derbyshire County Council want you to succeed and will provide thorough support to ensure you can achieve your goals.
- Great benefits including:
- 25-27 days of annual leave (depending on grade) plus another 5 once you reach 5 years of continuous service
- Flexi time, allowing up to an additional 2 days of leave per month
- Generous local government pension scheme
- Guaranteed incremental annual pay increases
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounts at selected county leisure centres
- and much more……
If you would like any further information about the role or an informal conversation, please contact Sian.Paddon@derbyshire.gov.uk
Provisional interview dates: 5 February 2026.
Start date for this role would be 1st April 2026
Due to this post having access to children and/or vulnerable adults, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. Click here to see our policy on criminal background checks.
The job may require unsocial hours working including weekends and Bank Holidays. Payment arrangements will be detailed in any contract offer made.
Saturday and Sunday hours will be paid at plain time where it is part of your normal working pattern unless it is between 7pm and 7am, where enhanced rates of pay apply. Enhanced pay rates are paid for Bank Holiday working.
Apply now and take the first step towards a fulfilling career with us! By joining Derbyshire County Council you will have access to a range of amazing rewards and employee benefits, including our generous annual leave scheme, excellent local government pension and fantastic employee discounts. To discover more detail about the rewards and benefits available to you, click here
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Important: Derbyshire County Council holds a sponsorship licence, but this role does not offer visa sponsorship. Please apply only if you already have the right to work in the UK without sponsorship, as applications that do not meet this requirement will be rejected.
We welcome applications from individuals who share our values — being Collaborative, Innovative, Empowered and Accountable. These values describe who we are and what we stand for as a council. They help shape our culture, encourage consistent behaviour and guide how we work together to make a positive difference for both our employees and the residents we serve.