Senior Practitioner Vision Rehabilitation Specialist

Our Senior Practitioner Vision Rehabilitation Specialists are an integral part of the countywide team also made up of Social Workers for deaf people, Vision Rehabilitation Specialists and Assistant Care Managers for deaf and hard and hearing and visually impaired people. The Senior Practitioner Vision Rehabilitation Specialists work directly with people with a visual impairment from the office base however you will be regularly traveling to clients across the county including areas that are not easily accessible by public transport. Due to the amount of equipment (of a moderate weight) you are required to transport to appointments, including mobility aids and equipment for independent living, you will need to be a car driver. As a Senior Practitioner Vision Rehabilitation Specialist you'll be utilising your skills and knowledge to develop and implement a plan of support aimed at improving wellbeing and delivering positive outcomes for people who are blind (severely sight impaired) or partially sighted (sight impaired), deaf and deafblind. You will manage a busy and varied caseload by providing a statutory accountable social care service to those people who access or need the service. You will be undertaking high quality assessments and reviews as well as contribute to mental capacity act assessments and to safeguarding enquiries. A great part of this role is working alongside local voluntary organisations and building up good working relationships with them. The team have great links with the local eye clinic liaison officers and work together to benefit the people we work with, good relationship management skills will help you to succeed as a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist. As Senior Practitioner, you will work closely with the Team Manager and act as the lead professional for the Vision Rehabilitation team, providing clinical expertise to team members, colleagues, and partner organisations. You will provide professional supervision to staff ensuring competency, performance, and team development. A key part of this role is taking responsibility for new referrals and the waiting list for the team. The Senior Practitioner Vision Rehabilitation Specialist carries out dual sensory loss level 3 assessments and assesses and meets complex needs. Please note that we can only consider people who have a relevant qualification for this role e.g., foundation degree in Rehabilitation Work (Visual Impairment) / Certificate of Orientation and Mobility/ Technical Officer: Visual Impairment.

The following criteria needs to be covered, with examples where possible, within your application form:

• Degree in professional qualification, e.g. foundation degree in Rehabilitation Work (Visual Impairment) / Certificate of Orientation and Mobility/ Technical Officer: Visual Impairment.
• Significant post qualifying experience at a senior level with examples of applying Visual Impairment practice to complex issues.
• Registration with the RWPN and responsibility for maintaining registration with that body (Desirable)
• Solution focussed with the ability to analyse complex situations and provide forward thinking strategies that consider a variety of possible strength-based solutions, balancing risks, resources, and desired outcomes.
• Ability to work proactively as a member of the team to complete strengths-based assessments and negotiate and implement effective plans to achieve the required outcomes.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively with a range of stakeholders to provide clear advice, guidance, and clinical interventions in complex cases, including the ability to use a variety of
information technologies.
• Ability to think creatively, innovatively, and laterally to adapt to changing situations in a measured and flexible manner to tailor the advice.
• Expertise in applying a risk enablement approach using evidence-based
• Excellent supervision, coaching and mentoring skills to provide development opportunities and direction to team members and to ensure agreed performance expectations are met.
Further Information We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. Our Sensory Services team have a unique focus, supporting adults born with sensory impairments, or acquired at any age. Many of the people the team work with also have lifelong physical disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, and brain injuries acquired at an early age. We also work with adults with sensory impairments acquired at any age (people who are Deaf, Deafblind, or who are visually impaired). The team offers a dedicated, strengths-based approach to disability that we know makes a positive difference. Whether we are engaging with people seeking advice, providing equipment or skills training, or starting a journey with people that may lead to a personal budget to meet complex needs, we are always looking to deliver the best outcomes. We believe the best staff get the best outcomes. This is a rare opportunity for you to join our wonderful Sensory Services Team as a Senior Practitioner Vision Rehabilitation Specialist. This team rarely need to recruit as once people join the team they don't want to leave.