Nick Bashford

Contact Assessment Officer at Kent County Council

Collier Street, England, United Kingdom

About

Experience

  • Kent County Council (Full-time · 14 yrs 4 mos)
    • Contact Assessment Officer
      Mar 2022 - Present · 4 yrs 4 mos

      I am a highly experienced and passionate Contact Assessment Officer working within the West Kent Area Referral Management Service for Kent Adult Social Services. I strive to provide an empathetic and person-centred focus, drawing on my ten-plus years customer service experience and my knowledge of social care policy and procedures. My principal duty in the role, is to complete an initial and proportionate assessment in order to support the public, individuals and families to the relevant parts of Adult Social Care arrangements appropriate to their needs, whether through Social Services (minor/major adaptation, further assessment from Older People, Learning Disability and Mental Health team), Health or with provider services for relevant information they need to make informed decisions to find the best solutions to meet their needs. My secondary duty is to ensure all information systems and person records are effectively maintained, up to date and accurate. I am responsible for managing and monitoring the workloads of myself and my colleagues and working flexibly when required. I have been fortunate to have worked outside the normal scope of the role, participating operationally in pilot projects providing knowledge and experience to help shape the service during significant restructures of the service.

    • Senior Contact Assessment Officer
      Mar 2020 - Feb 2022 · 2 yrs

      I proudly worked as a Senior Contact Assessment Officer, both Countywide and for the West Kent Area Referral Management Service (ARMS). During my time in the role my principal responsibility was deliver comprehensive screening of all referrals into Adult Social Care at pace to determine any potential safeguarding need, establish priority and appropriate action for the Contact Assessment Officers to understand the appearance of eligible needs under the Care Act and identify the appropriate team with Adult Social Care including, Older People, Mental Health Social Work, Learning Disability, Autism and Sensory teams. I was able to build relationships with internal and external services and partners including Practice Advisors, Team and Servicer Manages to determine appropriate outcomes for the people being supported, though regular communication and team meetings. My secondary responsibilities were to provide line management to a small team of Contact Assessment Officers, to ensure they were meeting their key performance indicators, identifying training objectives and provide support with their general wellbeing. I participated in regular team catch ups and through supervisions. I was able to further my project management skills, by being the link between the referral service and the admin teams providing support. I engaged the required stakeholders in regular meeting to develop a process guide for the admin to follow. Ongoing meetings ensure any issues and updates to processes where filtered down and ironed out.

    • Contact Assessment Officer
      Feb 2013 - Mar 2020 · 7 yrs 2 mos

  • KENT TOP TEMPS LTD (Temporary · 8 mos)
    • Administrative Officer
      Mar 2012 - Sep 2012 · 7 mos

      During my time as Administration Officer, I was responsible for supporting the day-to-day clerical functions around the officer supporting the South West Kent Assessment and Enablement Team, include Care Managers and Occupational Therapists. With my role, my duties included but were not limited to: • Answering calls, addressing enquires and taking messages. • Archiving, filing paperwork and recording on relevant spreadsheets and databases. • Allocating or closing work to Care Managers and Occupational Therapist using the appropriate system. • Adding and making changes to client records, their service provisions, and correcting data quality issues on the relevant database. • General Office duties, such as photocopying, letter writing, managing incoming and outgoing post.

    • Post Room Assistant
      Feb 2012 - Mar 2012 · 2 mos

      Providing Support with post room at Gibson Drive, franking and sorting post.

  • Customer Service Assistant at Sainsbury's
    Oct 2001 - Oct 2011 · 10 yrs 1 mo

    Working Checkouts - Two Spells of Employment October 2001 to April 2011 and June 2011 to October 2011 Role required working as part of a busy team, often under pressure, to provide a good quality of service to customers. I have also had experience working behind the Customer Service Desk, requiring me to deal with customer requests and complaints (in person or on the phone), sometimes experiencing high pressure situations where dealing with customers sensitively is required in order to help them with their requests.

  • Claims Advisor at Sims Claims Limited
    Apr 2011 - Jul 2011 · 4 mos

  • Electrical Labourer at Treadwell Electrical Ltd.
    Oct 2009 - Apr 2011 · 1 yr 7 mos