Mental Health Social Worker – Assertive Outreach

Company: Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Apply for the Mental Health Social Worker – Assertive Outreach
Location: Oxford
Job Description:

Are you a qualified (or nearly) Social Worker seeking an opportunity in mental health?

Would you relish an opportunity to be part of a brand new service?

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to invite applications for a Social Worker role within our newly established Assertive Outreach Team (AOT).

This innovative service will provide high-quality, person-centred care to individuals with complex mental health needs who may struggle to engage with traditional services. Operating across the City of Oxford, the team will deliver proactive, flexible support, responding to need in a timely and coordinated manner.

Assertive Outreach is founded on active engagement rather than office-based care. Staff will work flexibly across the city, supporting individuals in community settings, their homes or Trust premises. Interventions will be tailored, relationship-focused and recovery-oriented, promoting continuity, trust and consistent engagement. Shared caseload responsibility, alongside a key worker model and regular MDT reviews, will enable rapid responses to relapse, risk and disengagement.

We are seeking motivated and compassionate professionals who are committed to supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. Successful applicants will be confident in managing complexity and dynamic risk, while working within a recovery-focused, trauma-informed framework. This is an opportunity to help shape a new service and make a meaningful difference across Oxford.

Responsibilities

  • Work independently as part of a multi-disciplinary team to assess, plan and implement person specific socially informed interventions within the community mental health framework, contributing to the continuous holistic assessment of people who use mental health services
  • Participate in and contribute to the multi-disciplinary team, articulating the social perspective of mental health and ensuring that meeting the social care needs of service users retains a high priority and profile within the functioning of the team.
  • Undertake Care Act or s.117 aftercare eligibility assessments some of which will be for people presenting with highly complex needs using your profession specific knowledge and skills.
  • Intervene and show professional leadership and skill in situations characterised by high levels of social and interpersonal complexity and risk.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.

Our services are delivered at community base, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible.

Benefits

  • Excellent opportunities for career progression
  • Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
  • 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
  • NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
  • Competitive pension scheme
  • Lease car scheme
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Mental Health First Aiders
  • Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists may apply)
  • Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Aidan Harker Job title: Service Manager Email address: aidan.harker@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk Telephone number: 07786913876

At Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust we want to employ people not just with experience, but with the aptitude and motivation to succeed and whose values resonate with our own. Therefore, if you don’t meet all the requirements of the role and are unsure about applying but are excited about the opportunity, please do get in touch. We will be happy to discuss the requirements in more detail ahead of making a written application.

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Posted: July 13th, 2026