Assessment and Placement Practitioner

About Unicare

Unicare Complex Care Specialist Ltd is a nurse-led, CQC-registered provider of supported living and complex care. We support adults with autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, mental health needs and complex behaviours across nine supported living services in Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire and South London. Our community outreach service delivers care to adults and children in their own homes, and our complex care division provides nurse-led and nurse-delegated clinical care under our registration for the treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

We employ over 170 people.

We take referrals that other providers decline. That is only a safe commitment if we are rigorous at the front door and disciplined about how a new package is built and embedded.

The role

Most providers separate assessment from mobilisation, and placements fail in the gap between the two. This role closes that gap. You will assess the referral, build the package alongside the Registered Manager, and stay with it until the person has settled and you are satisfied it works — and only then sign it off.

You will report to the Clinical Director and work across three phases on every referral.

Phase one: assessment

* Receive and triage new referrals from local authorities, integrated care boards, hospital discharge teams and other providers, assessing urgency and suitability against our registration and capability.

* Carry out face-to-face assessments wherever the person is — in hospital, a current placement, the family home, or a secure or inpatient setting. You will assess the mental health, autism and ADHD presentation, including behaviours of concern, communication and sensory needs, capacity and consent, and any restrictive practice in place, drawing on records, MDT input, behaviour support plans and family perspectives.

Where the referral carries clinical or nursing needs, you will assess these too or work with our clinical team to do so.

* Produce clear, evidence-based assessment reports setting out the proposed staffing model, skill mix, environmental requirements, clinical input and identified risks, and give honest advice on whether Unicare should accept the referral — including recommending that we decline where we cannot meet needs safely.

Phase two: setting up the package

* Work jointly with the designated Registered Manager to turn your assessment into a working package — staffing rota, skill mix, recruitment or redeployment needs, training requirements and the physical environment.

* Ensure the support plan, positive behaviour support plan and risk assessments are in place, personalised and understood by the staff team before the person moves in. Brief and prepare the team on who the person is, what matters to them, what their behaviour is communicating and what to do when things go wrong, commissioning or delivering bespoke training where the package needs it.

* Coordinate the clinical elements with our nursing team, including nurse-delegated tasks, competency sign-off for support staff and clinical oversight arrangements, and coordinate the transition itself with the commissioner, family, discharging team and current provider so the move is planned rather than rushed.

Phase three: settling in and sign-off

* Stay actively involved through the first weeks, visiting in person, observing practice and checking that what was assessed is what is being delivered. Review and adjust the package where reality differs from the assessment, escalating promptly where staffing, funding or the environment needs to change.

* Gather feedback from the person, their family and the staff team, and act on what they tell you.

* Formally sign off and hand over the placement to the Registered Manager only when the person has settled, the plan is embedded, risks are being managed and the team is competent and confident — then feed what you learn back into how we assess, price, design and train, so each placement makes the next one better.

About you

Essential

* A registered professional qualification with current registration — RMN, RNLD, RGN, Social Worker (Social Work England), Occupational Therapist or Psychologist.

* Substantial post-qualifying…