Job responsibilities
About Us
Droitwich, Ombersley & The Rurals PCN consists of 7 practices, based across South Worcestershire, serving over 54,000 patients. We aim to offer and deliver excellent, safe, co-ordinated, high quality patient care. Continuously learning, evolving and implementing new models of care, to create inclusion and reduce inequalities and improve outcomes.
We work hard to promote a culture where staff feel engaged, valued and recognised by the organisation and the others they work with.
We have an Additional Roles team of 21 healthcare professionals and are looking for individuals with a passion to deliver excellent service in General Practice and in the local communities.
Job Summary
DO&R has an exciting opportunity for two Lifestyle Advisors to join our PCN. We are looking for someone who will support patients and GP Practices to work with individuals to identify and modify health risk related lifestyle behaviour, to reduce inequalities and reduce longer term demands on care. Where appropriate set up and facilitate group support, providing participants with the opportunity to give and receive support from people facing similar problems, share successes, struggles and experiences and build confidence and self-belief.
Key Responsibilities
· To manage the referrals process encouraging and promoting referrals from a wide range of health and social care professionals as well as self-referrals to ensure broad use of the lifestyle service
· To provide personalised one to one support to individuals to take control of their health and wellbeing and improve their health outcomes
· To carry out a lifestyle assessment to establish the most significant area(s) to focus on
· To co-produce a personalised plan to improve health and wellbeing, setting achievable goals and steps to achieving the agreed outcomes
· To record and measure health behaviours and outcomes appropriate to the specific goals set, e.g. BMI, GPPAQ, AUDIT-C, WEMWEBS, smoking status
· To upskill, share knowledge and provide information and guidance regarding lifestyle behaviours including healthy eating, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking and mental wellbeing
· To facilitate group sessions and workshops enabling peer led community groups to support sustained behavioural changes
· To work closely with the social prescribing services to allow service users to be supported to address not only lifestyle behaviours but the wider determinants of health that may have led to harmful lifestyle choices
· To manage and prioritise caseload, in accordance with needs, priorities and urgent support required by individuals
· To refer people back to other health professionals/agencies where appropriate, recording and monitoring referrals to other NHS and social care services to evaluate referral routes and the effectiveness of a system wide approach
· To work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision
· To build effective relationships with key staff in GP practices, attending relevant meetings and becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on the lifestyle service
· To work in partnership with other local agencies to raise awareness of the lifestyle service and social prescribing and to promote the service and its benefits widely
· To seek regular feedback about the quality of services and the impact of the lifestyle service, preparing and providing both written and verbal feedback and reports on performance
· To work with the PCN to recruit and support volunteers to facilitate, engage and mentor individuals to access community groups and services to build independence, self-confidence and resilience in achieving and maintaining their lifestyle goals
· To use appropriate systems for data capture, case management, feedback and reporting, to include EMIS, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements
· To work as part of the team to seek feedback, continually improve the service and contribute to business planning
· To work as part of a team to tackle population health inequalities in the PCN
Other Responsibilities
· Provide mentoring on a one-to-one and group basis as required
· Work with service users’ families to provide information, advice and guidance to enable them to access other appropriate support and services
· This role will involve working in different locations and will require you to travel. The ability and means to travel independently within Worcestershire are essential.
· There may be occasional evening and weekend work which will be considered as part of your normal working hours.
· A commitment to personal, professional and organisational development
Qualifications and Experience for the Role
Essential
· Health related degree or similar qualification
· Knowledge of physiological benefits and fitness programming for a range of medical conditions
· Knowledge of nutrition and weight management principles and aware of relevant health guidelines and recommendations
· Knowledge of relevant Partner agencies and their functions
· Excellent interpersonal skills
· Ability to communicate confidently with staff at all levels
· Ability to work well across teams
· Good time management and an ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
· Ability to work on own initiative without direct supervision
· IT skills and experience in the use of Microsoft Office programmes
· 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 one to one and in groups, 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
Desirable
· Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience
· Experience of using EMIS clinical system
· Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health / health improvement (including unpaid work)
· Make Every Conversation Count (MECC), Connect 5, Mental Health First Aid Training
· Nutrition qualification
· Knowledge of running weight management courses
· Development and delivery of exercise classes for special populations
· First Aid training
Collaborative Working Relationships
· Recognises the roles of other colleagues within the organisation and their role to patient care
· Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other NHS/private organisations e.g. ICBs)
· Demonstrates ability to work as a member of a team
· Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary
· Liaises with other GP Practices and staff as needed for the collective benefit of patients
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 will 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 organisation. All such information from any source, and held in any format, 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 in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data