Are you passionate about people and want to make a real difference?
This is an exciting opportunity to join a small but busy team providing information, advice and support to people with care and support needs, and their carers.
Brighton and Hove is a vibrant and exciting place to live and work and an exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Access Point Team within Adult Social Care and Health, to support vulnerable people living in the City. The role will support people in the community to maximise independence and wellbeing. This role is central to the Care Act 2014 and has a focus on providing support which will prevent, reduce or delay the need for long term care.
Access Point is the first point of contact for Adult Social Care services in Brighton & Hove and delivers a key range of services to the general public and professionals. Access Point seeks to ensure that callers and people referred to the service are provided with the maximum information, advice, signposting and support available at this initial point of contact.
Interview date: (TBC)
About the role
As an Access Officer your key function will be to support the safe and effective triage of referrals via direct phone calls or written/emailed referrals. You will work in partnership with customers to identify their needs & preferred outcomes and agree appropriate steps to meet their needs. Accurate and relevant information, advice and signposting is critical to inform customers and identify need. Access Point Officers will provide timely and proportionate initial assessments and determine eligibility for services and equipment under The Care Act 2014.
The role is office based between 9am and 5pm.
You will need:
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To be a strong team player with excellent communication and negotiation skills (face to face, via phone and email)
- To have a flexible and collaborative approach.
- To be able to work well under pressure and be able to prioritise work
- An understanding of the needs of people with physical and mental health difficulties, and their carers
- Excellent knowledge of local support services
You will receive:
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Training to assess needs effectively and enable the identification and provision of minor aids and equipment to support safer independent living
- Regular supervision and support from Social Workers and Occupational Therapists
- In addition to working for an organisation that values the immense contribution Access Officers make and ensures effective support is always in place, we offer a package of benefits including:
- Opportunities for overtime subject to business requirements.
- a range of family-friendly policies including flexible working
- a range of exclusive benefits and discounts from a large number of the UK’s largest retailers and service providers to help your money go further
Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.
Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).
Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
- be connected
- be confident
- be innovative and creative
- be diverse and inclusive
- be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.
How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.
As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.
AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.
We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.
All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.
Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.
Please note that this post is subject to a Basic Disclosure Criminal Records Check.
We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.
