Social workers are an important part of the multidisciplinary team approach across the hospital’s clinic areas.
These clinic areas include the maternity service, and speciality areas, such as the Women with Individual Needs (WIN) Clinic, Fetal Medicine Unit and the Young Mum's Program, as well as the neonatal, gynaecology and oncology services.
Social work is committed to providing patient centred care and engages in research and teaching of social work students on field placements.
Specialities
- Counselling
- Advocacy
- Discharge planning
- Bereavement support and care
- Risk and psychosocial assessments
- Child protection
- Provision of counselling and other support services for women who have been assaulted.
Social Work is responsible for co-ordinating and managing all child protection issues. Social workers are experienced and trained in conducting a risk assessment and triaging the referral to either a Child FIRST service or a report to child protection where there is significant and immediate risk.
The social work department hosts Inner Melbourne Legal (IMCL) to assist women in accessing information in relation to their legal rights. IMCL assists women in providing information around the following matters:
- Intervention Orders
- Housing / Tenancy Issues
Clinical inclusion
- Internal referrals
- Only current patients of the Women’s are eligible to see a social worker
Frequency
The Social Work Department operates Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm.
Weekend On Call
The Social Work department provides an On Call service which operates weekends and public holidays from 9am–5pm for immediate crisis situations, such as family violence, children at risk and bereavement care.
Internal referrals to the social worker may include the following:
- Parenting concerns
- Pregnancy or child at risk (child protection matters)
- Risk issues for a woman or her pregnancy
- Family violence
- Women with cancer
- Bereavement care
- Concealed pregnancy
- Adoption
- Advocacy and discharge planning