I am an experienced and confident practitioner having qualified as a Social Worker with a Degree from the University of Huddersfield in 2010.   Since qualification I continue to be committed to ongoing training, holding an Advanced Certificates in Systemic Practice with Children and Families and Couples and with Families in a Safeguarding Context. 

Since qualification I have worked with Local Authorities in Calderdale, Cheshire West and Chester and latterly Derbyshire County Council – working in frontline Child Protection, with Children in Care and also Adult Services - including Social Work within a Health or Hospital setting and also within Field Work Teams.

I progressed as a Social Worker to the role of Senior Practitioner on the Hospital Discharge Team, and at the Point of becoming an Independent Social Worker.  The duties included:

• Being Practice Educator and Work Based Supervisor for Students on Placement from University within our Team. 
• In depth Mental Capacity Assessments and Risk Assessments . 
• Formulation of strengths based Care Plans and Safety Plans – from a solution focused approach and being systemic in nature. 
• Attendance at Meetings representing the service that focused on performance and service delivery. 
• Regular and extensive engagement with professionals from other disciplines, voluntary agencies and other Local Authorities to name but a few.
• Chairing Best Interest Meetings, Multi-Disciplinary Meetings and Discharge Planning Meetings. 
• Mentoring Colleagues, including Newly Qualified Workers and those newly joining our team following employment and/or restructure. 
• Providing advice support, guidance, training, shadowing and development opportunities to colleagues where appropriate.  Both virtually and face to face. 
• Identifying barriers in service provision, issues within the team and learning needs to ensure continuous service development and smart ways of working.
• Representing our Service through attendance at Meetings and Focus Groups at strategic level to develop service delivery.
• Leading on Peer Group Discussions.
• Completing the Supervision of colleagues and providing one to one sessions to support colleagues based on their individual learning needs.
• Being a lead on professional practice, ensuring I am up to date with research, changes in policy and service delivery so I can, in turn, support colleagues when required.
• Interviewing applicants for roles within the Service

In my other roles within Derbyshire and in the previous Local Authorities I have worked with involving Children, I have completed the following:

• Working with families within the Public Law Outline process 
• Completion of Single Assessments both under S.17 and S.47
• S.47 Safeguarding Investigations
• Attendance at Strategy Meetings, Child Protection Conferences and MAPPA Meetings 
• Attending Looked After Reviews and completing LAC visits to children being cared for by the Local Authority 
• Working with children who are being Fostered and Adopted 
• Completion of Family History Work 
• Extensive Direct Work with Children 
• Formulation of documentation to issue Care Proceedings and Care Plans, Contact Plans and Agreements 
• Court Attendance including the submission of Oral Evidence 

Please refer to the Services Provided Section of this website which gives particular information on the Assessments I have experience of completing and those which I complete as an Independent Social Worker. 

Prior to becoming a Social Worker my background was within the legal profession.  This has provided me with invaluable experience in understanding Court processes, of being familiar and comfortable within the Court Area and with the submission of Oral Evidence.  It has also given me extensive experience in preparing Court documentation and the importance of ensuring all paperwork is completed to a high standard and submitted on time to the often tight timescales.

The strengths in my practice are the relationships I can form with both the families and the professionals I work alongside, in my strong communication skills, in the experience and knowledge base I can draw upon due to being a longstanding practitioner, and the desire I have to keep up to date with training opportunities and developments within the profession and a desire to achieve the best outcomes for the clients I work with.