All of our Mental Health Social Workers are assigned to Devon Partnership Mental Health Trust, and work within well established multidisciplinary teams to provide safe, personalised, recovery focused and sustainable services. They champion the first principle that all care offered must be “good enough for my family”. In Devon, there are a vast and diverse range of people who use our services. When it comes to the Carers who are closely involved in supporting developments and assessing situations, we pride ourselves on an open, collaborative approach.
Adult Mental Health service provision works across network areas and Clinical Directorates. Most Social Workers are based in urgent and in patient care directorates, many of these specifically in the Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Service or Recovery and Independent Living teams. Working in different parts of the county, experienced Social Workers join these case carrying teams to provide support on a rota basis. They are supported by the Social Care funding team, which has a wide knowledge of resources and personalisation to assist care planning. Professional social work is also supported by The Head of Social Work and a wide network of Practice and local Senior Social workers.
In order to achieve the best care for everyone involved, Social Workers use e-learning packages provided jointly by the Trust and DCC as well as face to face learning in areas such as the Mental Capacity Act, Safeguarding and the Mental Health Act. Most Mental Health Social Workers are Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP), who are given a comprehensive, flexible package of refresher training. There is also an annual AMHP training course for those wishing to train, and other Social Workers can choose to specialise in Adult Protection and in particular Best Interest assessments. There are Post Qualifying courses to support this.