Senior SPRING Social Prescribing Occupational Therapist
General Practice Alliance Ltd
This job is now closed
Job summary
Do you want to make a positive difference?
SPRING is here.
SPRING is a partnership of General Practice Alliance and other health and social sector organisations, commissioned to improve the wellbeing of people in Northamptonshire through Social Prescribing.
You can empower people to take control of health and wellbeing and focus on what matters to me. You will take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.
The Senior SPRING SPLW will be a qualified Occupational Therapist who is HCPC registered. You will effectively lead our SPRING SPLW team by providing support, guidance and supervision. In addition, you will have a caseload of patients with complex Social Prescribing needs with whom you will work.
This role is for a fixed term of 12 months, covering an internal secondment.
To discuss further please call Helen Macmillan on 07708474664.
Interviews 19th July 2022.
Main duties of the job
You will need to be proactive with the ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way. You will have excellent leadership, organisational and planning skills and be driven to succeed.
You will be:
Taking complex referrals from and make referrals to a wide range of agencies within primary care networks, assessing risk for lone working where required.
Using specialist skills to assess social and occupational need to co-produce personalised action plans with individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes. Developing trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to me.
Working in a social model of care take a holistic approach, based on the persons priorities and the wider determinants of health.
Providing supervision and guidance to other SPLWs and training to develop volunteers.
About us
GPA is a growing organisation, at the forefront of Primary Care within Northampton. We offer a generous package of annual leave, staff pension and access to an employee assistance programme.
Our Values
INSPIRE: an open culture which is respectful and honest, leading by example and encouraging all people to have a voice.
DEVELOP: develop resilience in people, communities, and sustainable services.
INNOVATE: support service transformation seeking innovative solutions to challenges.
Please do get in touch for an informal chat about the role if you are interested in findng out more.
Date posted
13 June 2022
Pay scheme
Other
Salary
£24,907 to £37,890 a year
Contract
Fixed term
Duration
12 months
Working pattern
Full-time
Reference number
A1341-22-3655
Job locations
129 Hazeldene Road
Northampton
Northamptonshire
NN2 7PB
Job description
Job responsibilities
Primary Duties and Areas of Responsibility
Take complex referrals from and make referrals to a wide range of agencies within primary care networks, assessing risk for lone working where required
Use specialist skills to assess social and occupational need to co-produce personalised action plans with individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes. Developing trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to me.
Working in a social model of care take a holistic approach, based on the persons priorities and the wider determinants of health.
Provide supervision and guidance to other SPLWs and training to develop volunteers
Key Tasks
Referrals
Be proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, recognising what they need to be confident in the service to make appropriate referrals.
Work in partnership with all local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribing and how partnership working can reduce pressure on statutory services, improve health outcomes and enable a holistic approach to care.
Assess complexity of referrals and allocate across team. Manage and prioritise own caseload
Provide referral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing, including training for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.
Seek regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies.
Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.
Provide personalised support
Meet people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations policies and procedures, this will include assessing risk for lone working. Give people time to tell their stories and focus on what matters to me.
Help people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.
Work with the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing.
Help people maintain or regain their sense of agency and independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
Work with individuals to identify realistic goals and co-produce a personalised action plan based on the persons priorities, interests, values and motivations including what they can expect from the groups, activities and services they are being connected to and what the person can do for themselves to improve their health and wellbeing.
Where appropriate, physically introduce people to community groups, activities and statutory services, introducing befrienders as necessary and ensuring they are comfortable. Continue support to ensure they are happy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.
Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, help them to explore this option as a way of providing funded, personalised support to be independent, including helping people to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.
Contribute to the Group Consultation process providing clearly reasoned guidance from a social model of care.
Support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals
Forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available to create a map or menu of community groups and assets. Use these opportunities to promote micro-commissioning or small grants if available.
Develop supportive relationships with local VCSE organisations, community groups and statutory services, to make timely, appropriate and supported referrals for the person being introduced.
Ensure that local community groups and VCSE organisations being referred to have basic procedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safe and, where there are safeguarding concerns, work with all partners to deal appropriately with issues. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them, providing basic training as necessary.
Check that community groups and VCSE organisations meet in insured premises and that health and safety requirements are in place. Where such
policies and procedures are not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.
Support local groups to act in accordance with information governance policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with the GDPR
Work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable
Work with GPs, PCNs and wider Multi-Disciplinary teams as required.
Work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision and support development of new groups and services where needed, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning and development support.
Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing to volunteer and give their time freely to others, in order to build their skills and confidence, and strengthen community resilience.
Develop a team of volunteers within your service to provide buddying support for people, starting new groups and finding creative community solutions to local issues.
Encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.
Provide a regular confidence survey to community groups receiving referrals, to ensure that they are strong, sustained and have the support they need to be part of social prescribing.
Development
Actively engage in supervision and appraisal. Review and reflect on own practice, performance and implement changes accordingly.
Take responsibility for maintaining own registration with HCPC and comply with HCPC code of ethics. Maintain a continuing professional development portfolio to meet HCPC standards. Keep up to date with current best evidence and implement developments.
Provide supervision to junior staff
Act as a practice educator for pre-registration occupational therapy or social work students.
Data capture
Work sensitively with people, their families and carers to capture key information, enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.
Encourage people, their families and carers to provide feedback and to share their stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives.
Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they are referring. Use the case management system to track the persons progress. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.
Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS/System One and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical commissioning group (CCG).
Contribute to the development and data capture of research.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Primary Duties and Areas of Responsibility
Take complex referrals from and make referrals to a wide range of agencies within primary care networks, assessing risk for lone working where required
Use specialist skills to assess social and occupational need to co-produce personalised action plans with individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes. Developing trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to me.
Working in a social model of care take a holistic approach, based on the persons priorities and the wider determinants of health.
Provide supervision and guidance to other SPLWs and training to develop volunteers
Key Tasks
Referrals
Be proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, recognising what they need to be confident in the service to make appropriate referrals.
Work in partnership with all local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribing and how partnership working can reduce pressure on statutory services, improve health outcomes and enable a holistic approach to care.
Assess complexity of referrals and allocate across team. Manage and prioritise own caseload
Provide referral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing, including training for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.
Seek regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies.
Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.
Provide personalised support
Meet people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations policies and procedures, this will include assessing risk for lone working. Give people time to tell their stories and focus on what matters to me.
Help people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.
Work with the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing.
Help people maintain or regain their sense of agency and independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
Work with individuals to identify realistic goals and co-produce a personalised action plan based on the persons priorities, interests, values and motivations including what they can expect from the groups, activities and services they are being connected to and what the person can do for themselves to improve their health and wellbeing.
Where appropriate, physically introduce people to community groups, activities and statutory services, introducing befrienders as necessary and ensuring they are comfortable. Continue support to ensure they are happy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.
Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, help them to explore this option as a way of providing funded, personalised support to be independent, including helping people to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.
Contribute to the Group Consultation process providing clearly reasoned guidance from a social model of care.
Support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals
Forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available to create a map or menu of community groups and assets. Use these opportunities to promote micro-commissioning or small grants if available.
Develop supportive relationships with local VCSE organisations, community groups and statutory services, to make timely, appropriate and supported referrals for the person being introduced.
Ensure that local community groups and VCSE organisations being referred to have basic procedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safe and, where there are safeguarding concerns, work with all partners to deal appropriately with issues. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them, providing basic training as necessary.
Check that community groups and VCSE organisations meet in insured premises and that health and safety requirements are in place. Where such
policies and procedures are not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.
Support local groups to act in accordance with information governance policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with the GDPR
Work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable
Work with GPs, PCNs and wider Multi-Disciplinary teams as required.
Work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision and support development of new groups and services where needed, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning and development support.
Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing to volunteer and give their time freely to others, in order to build their skills and confidence, and strengthen community resilience.
Develop a team of volunteers within your service to provide buddying support for people, starting new groups and finding creative community solutions to local issues.
Encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.
Provide a regular confidence survey to community groups receiving referrals, to ensure that they are strong, sustained and have the support they need to be part of social prescribing.
Development
Actively engage in supervision and appraisal. Review and reflect on own practice, performance and implement changes accordingly.
Take responsibility for maintaining own registration with HCPC and comply with HCPC code of ethics. Maintain a continuing professional development portfolio to meet HCPC standards. Keep up to date with current best evidence and implement developments.
Provide supervision to junior staff
Act as a practice educator for pre-registration occupational therapy or social work students.
Data capture
Work sensitively with people, their families and carers to capture key information, enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.
Encourage people, their families and carers to provide feedback and to share their stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives.
Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they are referring. Use the case management system to track the persons progress. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.
Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS/System One and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical commissioning group (CCG).
Contribute to the development and data capture of research.
Person Specification
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 supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity.
- Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups.
- Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services.
- Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations.
Skills and Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge of the personalised care approach.
- 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 IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet.
Desirable
- Knowledge of SystmOne clinical system.
- Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way.
- Able 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 the 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.
- Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues.
- 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.
- 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.
Desirable
- Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes.
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Occupational Therapy
- State Registration with the HCPC
- Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development.
Desirable
- Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience.
Person Specification
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 supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity.
- Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups.
- Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services.
- Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations.
Skills and Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge of the personalised care approach.
- 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 IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet.
Desirable
- Knowledge of SystmOne clinical system.
- Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way.
- Able 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 the 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.
- Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues.
- 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.
- 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.
Desirable
- Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes.
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Occupational Therapy
- State Registration with the HCPC
- Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development.
Desirable
- Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience.
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details
Employer name
General Practice Alliance Ltd
Address
129 Hazeldene Road
Northampton
Northamptonshire
NN2 7PB
Employer's website
Employer details
Employer name
General Practice Alliance Ltd
Address
129 Hazeldene Road
Northampton
Northamptonshire
NN2 7PB
Employer's website
For questions about the job, contact:
Date posted
13 June 2022
Pay scheme
Other
Salary
£24,907 to £37,890 a year
Contract
Fixed term
Duration
12 months
Working pattern
Full-time
Reference number
A1341-22-3655
Job locations
129 Hazeldene Road
Northampton
Northamptonshire
NN2 7PB
Supporting documents
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