Job responsibilities
Job Purpose:
The main purpose of this post is to deliver a
Social Prescribing Service to the patients within our Primary Care Network,
known as East Kennet PCN. To work with
the Practices within the PCN to support patients by providing holistic
assessments with the aim of improving their health and wellbeing. Social Prescribing empowers people to take
control of their health and wellbeing through referral to non-medical link
workers who can take a holistic approach to someones overall health. They connect people to community groups and
statutory services for practical and emotional support.
Social Prescribing can help to strengthen
community resilience and personal resilience, and reduces inequalities by
addressing the wider determinants of health, such as debt, poor housing and
physical activity and by increasing peoples active involvement with their
local communities. It works particularly
well 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.
This role will cover all age groups, to
include Children, Adults, Families and Carers.
Main Duties
Provide Personalised Support
Meet people on a one to one basis either within
the Practice or making home visits where appropriate within line with local
policies and procedures.
Be a friendly source of information about
wellbeing and preventative approaches.
Provide people with continuity, remaining the
point of contact throughout the social prescription.
Help people identify the wider issues that impact
on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, social isolation
or 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 independence through
living skills, adaptions, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
Work with individuals to produce a simple personal
support plan based on their priorities, interests and motivation.
Where appropriate, physically introduce people to
community groups, activities and voluntary services ensuring they are
comfortable.
Offer ongoing emotional support and signposting to
people which will include those suffering with poor mental health.
Liaise with parents of children who are experiencing
difficulties, these may be learning or social difficulties. This may require establishing and
maintaining an ongoing communication link with Schools, Social Workers,
Health Visitors and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service.
Referrals
Promoting social prescribing and its role in
self-management.
Help to develop the Practice Teams knowledge on
how to identify individuals suitable for a social prescribing referral.
Build relationships with key staff across the PCN,
attending relevant meetings and becoming part of the wider network team.
Be proactive with developing strong links with all
local agencies to encourage referrals, recognising what they need to be
confident in the service to make an appropriate referral.
Work with all local agencies to raise awareness of
social prescribing and how it can reduce pressure on statutory services,
improve health outcomes and enable a holistic approach.
Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and
connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory
agencies may find hard to reach.
Support
Community Groups and Voluntary Organisations
Forge strong links with local voluntary
organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their
networks and building on what is already available to create a map or menu of
community groups.
Develop supportive relationships with local
voluntary organisations, community groups and statutory services to make
timely, appropriate referrals.
Ensure that local voluntary organisations and
community groups have procedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable
individuals are safe and, where there are any safeguarding concerns these are
promptly escalated.
All
Post Holders are expected to:
Adhere
to Practice policies and procedures
Adhere
to data protection regulations, data sharing and respecting confidentiality of
patients, colleagues and the Primary Care Network
Undertake
a Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS) application
Be
committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people
and vulnerable adults
Maintain
personal and professional development in order to maintain their skills
Promote
equality and diversity in a non-discriminatory way.
Confidentiality:
In the course of seeking
treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive
information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right
to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
In the performance of the duties
outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to
confidential information relating to patients and their carers, Practice staff
and other Healthcare workers. They may
also have access to information relating to the Practice as a business. All such information from any source is to be
regarded as strictly confidential
Information relating to
patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the Practice
may only be divulged to authorised persons
Health
& Safety:
It
is the responsibility of all employees to ensure that they comply with the requirements
of the Health & Safety at Work Act.
Safe working practices are adhered to and any hazards are reported to
the appropriate line manager immediately.
Familiarisations with all health & safety policies within the
Practices are key.
Equality
and Diversity:
The
post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers
and colleagues, to include:
Acting in a way that recognises
the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is
consistent with policies and current legislation
Respecting the privacy, dignity,
needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
Behaving in a manner which is
welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their
circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.
Personal/Professional
development:
The
post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the Practice
as part of this employment, with such training to include:
Participation
in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for
maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
Taking
responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating
skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work
Quality:
The
post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:
Alert other team members to
issues of quality and risk
Assess own performance and take
accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
Contribute to the effectiveness
of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on
ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
Work effectively with individuals
in other agencies to meet patients needs
Effectively manage own time,
workload and resources
Data
Protection
If you are required to obtain process and/or use
information held on a computer you should do it in a fair and lawful
way. You should hold data only for the
specific registered purpose and not use or disclose it in any way incompatible
with such a purpose. Data is only to be
disclosed to authorised persons or organisations as instructed. Breaches of confidence in relation to data
will result in disciplinary action which may result in dismissal.
No
Smoking
All NHS premises are no smoking as part of its
requirements for the provision of health. Smoking is not permitted at any
Practice or within the Practice grounds.
The role is focussed on collaborative working and the
post holder will be required to work from all sites within the East Kennet
Primary Care Network as listed below:
Ramsbury
& Wanborough Surgery, Whittonditch Road, Ramsbury, Wiltshire, SN8 2QT AND
3-5 Ham Road, Wanborough, Swindon, SN4 0DF.
Kennet
& Avon Medical Partnership, George Lane, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 4BY AND High
Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire, SN8 5AQ.
The
Old School Surgery, Church Street, Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, SN8 3PF.
Burbage
Surgery, The Sprays, Burbage, Wiltshire, SN8 3TA.