Social Prescribing Link Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

1. Working with direct supervision by a GP, take referrals from a wide range of agencies, including PCNs, GP practices and multi-disciplinary team, pharmacies, wider multi-disciplinary teams, hospital discharge teams, allied health professionals, fire service, police, job centres, social care services, housing associations, and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations (list not exhaustive).

2. Provide personalised support to individuals, their families, and carers to take control of their health and wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes, as a key member of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. Develop trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to me. Take a holistic approach, based on the persons priorities and the wider determinants of health. Co-produce a simple personalised care and support plan to improve health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting people to community groups and statutory services. The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload. It is vital that you have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health professionals/agencies, when the person's needs are beyond the scope of the link worker role e.g., when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner.

3. Contribute to projects undertaken by the PCN and other organisations to draw on and increase the strengths and capacities of local communities, enabling local organisations and community groups to receive social prescribing referrals.

4. Alongside other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team, work collaboratively with all local partners to contribute towards supporting the local organisations and community groups to become sustainable and that community assets are nurtured, through sharing intelligence regarding any gaps or problems identified in local provision with commissioners and local authorities

5. Social prescribing link workers will have a role in educating non-clinical and clinical staff within their PCN multi-disciplinary teams on what other services are available within the community and how and when patients can access them. This may include verbal or written advice and guidance.

6. Social prescribing link workers will work with the PCNs, practices and local population to develop and maintain a volunteer pool, health champions and expert patients. They will work collaboratively with these individuals to utilise community assets and run groups / programmes that alleviate pressure off primary care and deliver health and wellbeing benefits to the local population.

Key Tasks

1. Promote social prescribing within Networks

Use materials, approaches, and systems to promote social prescribing within the PCN, its role in self-management, and the wider determinants of health.

As part of the PCN multi-disciplinary team, build relationships with staff in GP practices within the local PCN, attending relevant MDT meetings, giving information and feedback on social prescribing.

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.

Support PCN efforts 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.

Provide a distribution channel to referral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing, including links training for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.

Contribute to programmes gaining regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies.

Utilise systems and technology to proactively encourage self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.

2. Provide personalised support

Use resources, technology, and materials effectively and efficiently to meet wider populations Social Prescribing Needs.

Be a friendly source of information about health, wellbeing, and prevention approaches.

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 independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.

Work with individuals to co-produce a simple personalised support plan to address the persons health and wellbeing needs 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, ensuring they are comfortable. Follow up 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.

Seek advice and support from the GP supervisor and/or identified individual(s) to discuss patient-related concerns (e.g., abuse, domestic violence, and support with mental health), referring the patient back to the GP or other suitable health professional if required.

3. Support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals

Work with PCN to forge strong links with VCSE organisations, community, and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available to create a menu of community groups and assets.

Develop effective and supportive working relationships with local VCSE organisations, community groups and statutory services, to make timely, appropriate, and supported referrals for the person being introduced.

4. Support collective work with local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable

Contribute information to help PCN, commissioners and local partners identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level 3, Advanced level or equivalent qualifications or working towards. Consideration will also be given to candidates without Level 3 but with demonstrable work experience in this area
• Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development

Desirable

• Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience

Experience

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
• Experience of supporting people, their families and carers in a related role (including unpaid work)

Desirable

• 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
• 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 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

• Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities
• Competency with Microsoft Office programmes and knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports.
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes when required

Desirable

• Knowledge of the personalised care approach
• Knowledge of motivational coaching and interview skills
• Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality
• Experience of working with clinical system (Systm One)
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands

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

Bovey Tracey & Chudleigh Practice

Address

Riverside Surgery

Le Molay-littry Way

Bovey Tracey

Newton Abbot

Devon

TQ13 9QP

Employer's website

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