Social Prescriber Link Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

1. Take referrals from a range of staff (clinical and non-clinical) within the Multidisciplinary Team.

2. Provide personalised support to individuals, their family and carers, with a focus on what matters to me, to enable them to take control of their health and wellbeing, live independently and improve their health.

3.Take a holistic approach, based on the persons priorities and the wider determinants of health.

4. Work with individuals to co-produce a simple personalised care and support plan that will focus on improving health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting them to appropriate community groups and statutory services.

5. Manage and prioritise a caseload, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by patients who are referred to the service.

6. Where appropriate, refer the patient back to health professionals/agencies, e.g. if the persons needs are beyond the scope of social prescribing.

7. Work collaboratively with local partners and communities to identify local community assets (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations), and support them to receive social prescribing referrals, ensure they are open and welcoming, can provide opportunities for people to develop friendships and a sense of belonging, build new skills and confidence.

8. Support local groups to become sustainable, increase their capacity and and have basic safeguarding processes for vulnerable individuals.

9. Identify gaps in local community provision and contribute to developing new groups and networks to fill gaps.

Person Specification

Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person centred support in a non-judgemental way.
• Ability to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity.
• Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities.
• Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with people, their families, carers, community groups, partner agencies and stakeholders.
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals.
• Have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health professionals/agencies, when what that person needs is beyond the scope of the link worker role (e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner).
• Able to work from an asset based approach, building on existing community and personal assets.
• Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks.
• Able to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues.
• Commitment to collaborative working with all local agencies (including VCSE organisations and community groups).
• Able to work with others to reduce hierarchies and find creative solutions to community issues.
• Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure.
• Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• High level of written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative.
• Understanding of the needs of small volunteer-led community groups and ability to support their development.
• Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.

Other

Essential

• Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including visiting people in their own homes.

Qualifications

Essential

• NCQ Level 3, Advanced level or equivalent qualifications, or working towards.
• Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development.

Desirable

• Training in motivational coaching and interviewing, or equivalent experience.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work).
• Experience of supporting people, their families and carers in a related role (including unpaid work).
• Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups.
• Experiences of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations.
• Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities.
• Knowledge of community development approaches.
• Knowledge of motivational coaching and interview skills.
• Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports.

Desirable

• Experience of supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity.
• Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services.
• Knowledge of the personalised care approach.
• Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Burton Latimer Medical Centre

Address

Higham Road

Burton Latimer

Kettering

Northamptonshire

NN15 5PU

Employer's website

https://www.burtonlatimermedicalcentre.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)