Senior Practitioner (Assessment and Discharge Team)

 Join the Assessment and Discharge Team in Adult Social Care 

We’re recruiting a Senior Practitioner 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 supporting the team with supervisions, complex case work, mental capacity assessment and best interest decisions. The role involves some travel to other sites and offers hybrid working to meet service needs.

What we expect from our applicants: 

• Be a registered Social Worker


• 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: 


• 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 


• Electric/Plug-in Hybrid vehicle salary sacrifice scheme


• Discounts at selected county leisure centres 


• and much more…… 

Provisional interview date: Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th April 2026.

If you would like any further information about the role or an informal conversation, please contact sian.paddon@derbyshire.gov.uk