Social Prescriber - Link Worker (Adults)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Description

JOB TITLE: Social Prescribing Link Worker Adults

WTE: 0.6 wte (3 days/week) including weekend availability

PAY: £29,000 pro-rata (£17,400)

ACCOUNTABLE TO: Operations Manager

BASE: Foundry Surgeries, Lewes Town Centre, East Sussex

Foundry Healthcare Lewes

Foundry is an innovative single Practice PCN serving a population of circa 28,500 patients from 4 sites across the Lewes and Ringer area of East Sussex. The Practice has received national acclaim for its multi-disciplinary, population health management approach. Our mission is to continuously improve the experience of care and outcomes for our local population.

Role Summary

At Foundry we have a team of three Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPs) each with a specific focus on our frail and elderly patients; our working age adults and our children and young people. SPs work as key and highly valued members of our extended Foundry team promoting holistic support and managing a caseload of patients. They support people and their carers/family in taking control of their own health and wellbeing, connecting them with community groups and statutory services in line with their individual needs. These roles also work collaboratively with partner agencies enabling existing or emerging groups to be more accessible and responsive to identified patient needs.

Our Social Prescriber works with people of working age from 21 years to 64 yrs as well as their carers and families where appropriate.

Main Duties Include:

Developing and strengthening connections with community groups and statutory services in the local area;

Building a directory of services and signposting patients via our web-site and other promotional material to appropriate community support;

Building trust with individual patients and their families, providing non-judgemental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices;

Working from a strength-based approach focusing on a persons assets by using health coaching techniques;

Acting as a source of information about health, wellbeing and prevention approaches;

Helping people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness, isolation and caring responsibilities;

Working with the patient to consider how they can all be supported through a social prescribing approach;

Acting as the point of contact for patients supporting their access to services where required via phone or in person and including families and carers when appropriate.

Managing a caseload of patients within agreed set of parameters around prioritisation, duration (normally 6 appointments), throughput etc;

Helping to develop a methodology and introduce a system for collating data on patient numbers and outcomes/impact, producing regular reports for the Management Committee on the above;

Working in an integrated way with the whole Social Prescribing, Mental Health and Care Co-Ordinator Teams to co-ordinate and prioritise caseloads, thereby supporting each other;

Building relationships with key staff in the Practice e.g. reception, attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback to GPs and reception on social prescribing;

Being proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies e.g. Adult Social Care to encourage referrals;

Giving patients a voice, ensuring they influence the operational and strategic direction of the Foundry and what groups might need development in the area;

Using all methods of communication, including digital media to promote and inform patients about the service;

Seeking advice and support from the GP supervisor (monthly clinical supervision meetings) and/or Operations Manager to discuss patient-related concerns (e.g. safeguarding or health concerns) referring the patient back to the GP or other suitable health professional if required.

Confidentiality:

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures.

Equality and Diversity:

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

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• 2 years experience of working in the area of community development/ health and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement;
• 2 years experience of working to support vulnerable adults, those with mental health issues or experiencing temporary challenges;
• Partnership/collaborative working and building relationships across a variety of organisations.

Desirable

• Experience gained within a PCN or General Practice environment;
• Experience of working within a social prescribing or equivalent context;
• Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups;
• Experience of completing well being scores.

Qualifications

Essential

• Evidence of literacy and numeracy gained at GSCE or higher.

Desirable

• Level 3 qualification in Social Prescribing.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Ability to prioritise workload effectively and manage caseload pro-actively;
• Competent in use of standard NHS IT packages eg Word, Powerpoint, Excel etc;
• A solid working knowledge of digital media;
• Understanding of child protection and adult safeguarding issues and procedures;
• Knowledge of mental health support services;
• Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities

Desirable

• Motivational coaching and interview skills;
• Ability to produce reports about caseload work e.g. to demonstrate how many service users have engaged with positive activities per month;
• Ability to help organise Social Prescribing information event for Foundry Patients;
• Community Development approaches;
• Personalised care approach;
• Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the Lewes/Ringmer area.

Attributes

Essential

• Kindness, empathy and understanding for people and their challenges;
• Energy, commitment and passion for this area of work and making a difference;
• Team player;
• Dynamic and proactive.

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

Foundry Healthcare Lewes

Address

School Hill Medical Practice

33 High Street

Lewes

East Sussex

BN7 2LU

Employer's website

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