Community Assessment Officer Review

My role as a community assessment officer is to provide social care assessments to individuals, families and representatives who have been referred in to Adult Social Care in Salford. Discussing options of support in order to help them remain independent in their own home, signposting if necessary and making appropriate referrals.

I have learnt a considerable amount since starting my role and have been given the opportunity to be a part of the apprenticeship scheme at Manchester Metropolitan University. This course enables me to progress in my chosen career and ultimately giving me autonomy for those I support on a daily basis.

I have met some fantastic fellow students, creating new friendships, supporting one another to achieve our desired goals and attaining successful grades to help us progress. The lecturers are extremely informative and provide a wealth of knowledge and support in order to enable us to be given the best start to each assignment.

The course is excellently ran with a multi option for learning, both taught in person lectures, self directed learning and group discussion and support. The facilities and wealth of knowledge from lecturers, library and university resources are extremely helpful and insightful. Being provided with extensive assignment briefs, guidance for recommended reading is useful and helps when completing assignments.

My employer has been very supportive in my role as a student alongside full time work. I have been given a relaxed case load and also provided with a rota during the time when university was not in progress, allowing me to shadow other teams, listen to meetings and gaining a further insight to practice.

The university, from lecturers, fellow students, resources including the library and student hub has been imperative to the progression of the course. I am overwhelmed with the wealth of support and knowledge, all of which have been a great experience and guided me to achieving successful grades on my first year assignments.

Being a part of the apprenticeship scheme has enabled me to have further insight into cases and support levels for individuals, understanding theories and putting these into practice has been enjoyable. I have gained more autonomy when supporting people and their families and feel I can provide additional support that I couldn't access before.

The team in which I work has several social activities arranged, allowing us as colleagues to interact outside of the working environment. Team meetings on a regular basis allow us to discuss items as a team which inevitable helps us to achieve the best possible outcomes for all who we support.

Yes

Really supportive employer and team colleagues. My manager and advanced practitioners have been overly supportive of me developing my role and arranged for me to experience different meetings, teams, assessments and levels of support which have given me an insight into how my practice will look when I qualify from university.

There are a multitude of teams in Salford, specialisms teams and area teams across each area of the city. Salford is a great city with a vast amount of knowledge in health and social care practitioners. I would recommend learning about the Northern Care Alliance core values and what the mean to the city