Social Prescriber

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Title: PCN Social Prescriber

Location: Whiteparish Surgery

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:

Social prescribing empowers people to take control of their health and wellbeing through referral to non-medical link workers who give time, focus on what matters to me and take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. Link workers support existing groups to be accessible and sustainable and help people to start new community groups, working collaboratively with all local partners.

Social prescribing can help to strengthen community resilience and personal resilience, and reduces health inequalities by addressing the wider determinants of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical inactivity, by increasing peoples active involvement with their local communities. It particularly works for people with long-term conditions (including support for mental health), for people who are lonely or isolated, or have complex social needs which affect their wellbeing.

JOB SUMMARY:

Working within an integrated model of care to support the health and wellbeing of patients working closely with GPs and multi-agency teams to achieve:

• Holistic care planning, how needs can be met by services and other opportunities available in the community and the co-ordination of input

• Information/advice about a range of services to promote health and wellbeing and maintain independence within communities

• Reducing demand on statutory services and to combat unnecessary GP appointments

  KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

• The relevant GP surgery for day-to-day operational work

• Staff and patients of the practices in the Primary Care Network, local government, voluntary and private organisations, suppliers of goods and services, the general public.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Enabling access to local services, including personalisation support:

• Take referrals from GPs and a wide range of agencies including pharmacies; hospital discharge teams; police; social care services; housing associations and allied health professionals.

• Develop knowledge of local services to enable the individual to access a range of services to meet their needs and ensure individuals are engaged and connected with their local community and other organisations to make best use of resources.

• Assess how a patients health and wellbeing needs can be met by services and other opportunities that are available in the community.
• Produce a simple personalised care plan to address the patients health and wellbeing needs by introducing or reconnecting people to community groups or statutory services.
• Evaluate how actions in the care and support plan are meeting the individuals health and wellbeing needs.
• Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their health and wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes.
• Develop trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to them
• Take a holistic approach based on the persons priorities and the wider determinants of health.
• Need to manage and prioritise their own caseload in accordance with the health and wellbeing needs of their population and refer people back to other health professionals within the PCN.
• Increase the strengths and capacities of local communities, enabling local voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSE) and community groups to receive social prescribing referrals.
• Work collaboratively with all local partners to contribute towards supporting local VCSE organisations and community groups to become sustainable through sharing intelligence regarding any gaps or problems identified in local provision with commissioners and local authorities.
• Inform and advise GPs and primary care staff, either written or verbally, about what services are available within the community and how and when patients can access them.

2) Co-ordination and integration:

• Liaise with a range of multi-disciplinary professionals who are involved in a patients care, ensuring a smooth and coordinated approach, especially where multiple agencies are involved.
• Support the companys agenda in the management of care and support and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, residential care placements and unnecessary GP referrals.
• Actively participate in practice level multi-disciplinary team meetings.
• Identify when there is a need for urgent action or for a step-up in care and alert the relevant professional(s) and alert the relevant professional(s)

3) Record keeping and project evaluation:

• Keep accurate and up-to-date records of client contact, including the use of GP databases (relevant training will be provided)
• Record and collate information, including case studies and reports, to demonstrate the impact of the service. Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the service on wider health, social and voluntary sector services
• Contribute towards the development of the project and attend meetings as requested.
• Identify opportunities and gaps in services; feeding back information to the PCN Director/s.

4) General responsibilities:

• Be a champion to promote co-ordinated care and support for all, providing regular updates to the PCN Director/s.
• Consider how to introduce best practice already being developed through other local service providers.
• Work collaboratively with the other Social Prescribers.
• Take part in Sarum South PCN events and activities as agreed.
• Establish strong links with other Sarum South PCN staff and contribute to the wider aims and objectives of the organisation.
• Work in accordance with the organisations policies and procedures.
• Attend training courses as required.
• To carry out any other duties as may be reasonably required from time to time.

5) Confidentiality:

• As per both Government legislation and Practice policies ensure that all confidentiality, data protection and information governance policies and guidelines are followed and strictly adhered to, reporting any infringements to the PCN Clinical Director/s.

6) Health & Safety:

• The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Health & Safety Policy and related Risk Assessments.

7) Equality and Diversity:

• The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues in line with Policies.

8) Research Projects:

• Co-operate and participate as required in research projects within the Sarum South PCN.

9) Professional Development:

• Maintain continued education by attendance of courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development and Sarum South PCN needs.
• Attend annual mandatory courses.

10) IT:

• Commitment to the use of IT, data entry, read coding and targets etc., as required by the Sarum SouthPCN.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ 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 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 IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports
• Knowledge of motivational coaching and interview skills
• Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality

Desirable

• 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
• Knowledge of the personalised care approach

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 to visit people in their own homes

Personal Qualities and Attributes

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
• 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

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

Whiteparish Surgery

Address

Common Road

Whiteparish

Salisbury

SP5 2SU

Employer's website

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