Mental Health Service
Our Mental Health Service provides a statutory service to all Surrey residents who meet social care eligibility criteria in line with the Care Act 2014 and the Mental Health Act 1983, in relation to their mental health needs.
The service works closely with its partners to ensure the best provision to service-users. We are leading the way in implementing new ways of working in a recovery-focused and strength-based approach. Our goal is for service-users to be able to make informed choices about the services they use, be more in control of their care, and to be active citizens within their community.
The service is made up of specialist, hospital discharge, duty, locality, and frontline teams.
Specialist teams
The Forensic Team
works with high risk cases and service users who have been detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and have been in the criminal justice system. They undertake the role of social supervisor to those who have been detained, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. The team works with service users with learning disabilities and works in partnership with Forensic Outreach Liaison Service (FOLS) and Forensic Intellectual and Neurodevelopmental Disorder Service (FIND).
The Substance Misuse Social Care Team
works with individuals with care and support needs secondary to their substance misuse from a 'recovery' ethos. The team work closely in partnership with Mental Health, Hospital and Locality Services in ensuring that a marginalised group are provided with equal access to services. The Social Care Team works with community-based groups and peer mentors in developing social learning opportunities that support service users to reintegrate into society and maximise their potential.
The Enabling Independence Team
provides a county-wide service. The service provided is community based brief intervention that aims to develop and support individuals to maximise their independence as underpinned by the Care Act 2014.
Prison Social Care Team
is a dedicated social care team comprising of occupational therapy and social care to support people who have care and support needs who are currently in prisons and approved premises based across Surrey. This is to enable individuals to promote their independence by supporting their care and support needs whilst in prison or to support people for release planning to meet their care and support needs in their home areas.
Hospital Discharge Team
This is a dedicated social care team to support people who have care and support needs, who are discharged from Working Age Adults Mental Health inpatient units and Older Adults Mental health inpatient units across Surrey. The team supports the individuals to return to the community and to promote their independence.
Mental Health Social Care Duty Team
The team provides a single gateway for both professional referrers and people with mental health needs and/or carers to access Surrey Adult Social Care Mental Health services and to ensure effective management of new referrals into the service. In addition, the team screens the Single Combined Assessment of Risk Forms (SCARF) submitted by Surrey Police. The duty team undertakes adult social care assessments and carers assessments using a strength-based approach, cases requiring on-going social work intervention are assigned to the Mental Health Locality Teams and those who Universal services can adequately meet their assessed needs are signposted by the duty team.
Mental Health Locality teams
The locality teams across Surrey work closely with the community. The teams are responsible for undertaking section 42 safeguarding enquires, contacting service users, carers and establishing support needs. Social Workers and AMHPs in community teams carry a caseload. They complete adult social care assessments by applying a strength-based approach to support planning, complete reviews of existing packages of care, complete joint section 117 after care planning and work with partner agencies, including Community Mental Health Recovery Services (CMHRS).
Frontline Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) teams
The frontline Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) teams are comprised of AMHPs. The teams are responsible for undertaking statutory duties as laid out in the Mental Health Act 1983, the Care Act 2014 and as part of the AMHP service. AMHPs in frontline teams are permanently on the AMHP rota. They undertake pure AMHP assessments and act as best interest assessor (BIA) in the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards' assessments (DoLS) if applicable.
Hear from our AMHPs!
In the video below, some of our AMHPs have given an insight into what is it like to be working at Surrey County Council.
Our roles
Listed below are some of the key roles in our Mental Health Service, current vacancies can be found by visiting our search for adult social care jobs webpage.
Roles requiring a professional Social Work membership
Social workers, senior social workers, mental health social workers, occupational therapist, senior occupational therapists, approved mental health professionals, assistant team managers and team managers.
Roles not requiring a professional Social Work membership
Carers practice advisors, social care assistants, senior social care assistants, support time recovery workers, enabling independence team workers and enabling independence team leaders.
Take a look at our career pathway for the Mental Health Service (PDF) to learn more about the roles available.
Training and development
Our dedicated training and development page contains information about our graduate trainee schemes and sponsored qualifications which you can access while in employment with us and subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.
We regularly support newly qualified social workers in their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE). Additionally, the Mental health service offer internal training opportunities such as approved mental health practice. The following video tells us about the AMHP role and the training pathway to become an approved mental health professional.
How to become an AMHP
Contact us
If you would like to talk to us regarding roles in the Mental Health Service, please send us a brief email telling us what roles you are interested in, to the MH recruitment team: awhpworkforce@surreycc.gov.uk