Job summary
2 Posts both 37.5 hours
p/w, part time may be considered
Salary AFC Band 5 dependant on experience
The Cancer Specialist
will be responsible for working within the Ainsdale & Birkdale or Formby
practices and The Southport Cancer Information and Support Centre in order to
support and respond to the needs of cancer patients.
Social prescribing empowers people to take control of their health and wellbeing
through referral to link workers who give time, focus on what matters to me
and take a holistic approach to an individuals health and wellbeing,
connecting people to diverse community groups and statutory services for
practical and emotional support.
The role will comprise of carrying out holistic needs assessments for cancer
patients, signposting to any service/support required and supporting practices
with data quality. The role will also support the cancer champions within
practices to help strengthen the knowledge and links in regards to cancer.
Main duties of the job
This role is about supporting people affected by cancer to work on their
wider health and wellbeing. You must be a good listener, have time for people and be committed to
supporting local communities. You should have experience of working positively
with people facing complex social and emotional challenges. You will have great
interpersonal skills in supporting people, community groups and local
organisations.
The post holder will work with a range of people from different cultural and
social backgrounds. The ability to work confidently and effectively in
challenging environment is essential.
About us
The Social
prescribing link workers will work as a key part of the Formby or Ainsdale
& Birkdale primary care network (PCN) multi-disciplinary teams. The post
holders will be based at and managed by the Southport Cancer Information and
Support Centre in partnership with the two PCN Clinical Cancer Leads and the
PCN Manager. These roles will
evolve over time as the PCN Direct Enhanced Service (DES) develops; the needs
of individual practices and patients will differ, sometimes significantly, and
a flexible tailored response will be required.
The roles will be based both within the Centre and the GP Practices in
each PCN.
The Centre
has been providing support to people affected by cancer since 2012 and welcomes
the opportunity to work with the local PCNs to provide the best possible care
to people
Please note in the event that a large number of applications is received we
reserve the right to close the vacancy early.
Interview date: either 9th or 11th September 2020 to
be confirmed.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Working with Primary Care colleagues
-
Work with practices to identify and support
cancer patients who would benefit from social
- prescribing
support. The Cancer Specialist will work within the practices to establish
patient cohort.
- Build relationships with key practice staff, to
proactively benefit the patient cohort.
- Work closely with the identified leads for
specification delivery and the cancer champions within practices.
- Be an active member of the multidisciplinary
team within the PCN, attending a range of meetings (in practice and system
wide) to offer input around cancer specialist social prescribing.
- As a representative for the PCN, be proactive in
developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage confidence in
service and effective partnership working.
- Support practices with targeted patient support
to improve compliance with two-week referral and screening programme
compliance.
Providing individualised care to members of the community
-
Provide personalised support to individuals,
their families, and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live
independently and improve their health outcomes. Develop trusting relationships
by giving people time and the opportunity to reflect on what matters to me.
-
Undertake electronic holistic needs assessments
(e-HNAs) and produce high quality care plans with people living with cancer
who are referred into the service; some
newly diagnosed patients and some previously diagnosed, assessing
emotional, spiritual, practical, physical
and, social needs enabling and supporting them to address the identified needs,
issues and concerns in a timely manner.
-
Meeting people on a one to one basis, including
home visits where necessary, to provide non-judgemental support and information
respecting choice and diversity and giving people the time to build trust with
the link worker.
-
Working with a strength-based approach focusing
on the persons assets, co-produce a personalised support plan to improve
health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting people to community groups
and statutory services.
-
Empower individuals to have more confidence in
dealing with their treatment and enable them to understand the lifestyle
changes they could make to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
-
Managing and prioritising a caseload including
competing demands from a range of practices.
-
Maintain 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.
-
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.
Supporting an increase in community resilience
-
Be the key link to share expertise to enable
ongoing support, such as eHNAs and care planning for people living with and
beyond cancer.
-
Be responsible for the smooth pathway between
secondary care and the patient and community providers brokering access to a
wide range of local services including dietary, emotional, therapeutic,
Macmillan hubs and benefits to support the individual through treatment and
recovery and deliver desired outcomes.
-
Be an active member of the Centre MDT
ensuring that support delivered to people affected by Cancer is provided at the
appropriate place and time by the person(s) with the most relevant skillset.
-
Play an active role on the Centre
Steering group and assist with data collection for the PCNs, Macmillan and the
Centre itself.
-
Plan, support and attend community cancer events
when required, including Health and Wellbeing sessions, Macmillan Events, and
wider educational events where appropriate.
-
Work with
volunteers and support the development of volunteer roles within the community.
-
Understand the principles of lifestyle
optimisation for cancer patients and actively encourage and support patients to
engage with relevant services/programmes to improve their quality of life and
reduce risk of cancer recurrence.
-
Maintain a thorough awareness of the community
assets available in the network area.
-
Distribute and collect materials to PCNs, GP
surgeries and Hospitals.
-
As a representative of the PCN, the link worker
should develop good working relationships with community groups and organisations
within the PCN footprint and across the borough, maintaining high levels of
professionalism at all times.
-
Work to ensure that groups receiving referrals
are safe and quality assured and able to meet the needs of the clients
referred.
-
Ensure that groups and organisations are not
negatively impacted by receiving social prescribing referrals by ensuring all
referrals are appropriate and that they have the capacity to support those
referred.
-
Work with members of the community and partner
agencies to identify gaps in provision and work collaboratively and creatively
to address unmet needs including supporting groups and individuals to develop
new projects and access available funding.
-
The post holder will liaise with the Lead Cancer
Nurse and the Clinical Nurse Specialists when required.
Data Capture and Evaluation
-
Support practices with data quality audits and
monitoring for referrals and signposting of patients with suspected cancer.
-
Use clinical and non-clinical information
systems to record information about patients ensuring compliance with
information governance at all times.
-
Work
sensitively with people, their families
and carers to capture key information, enabling
tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.
-
Encourage people,
their families and carers
to provide feedback and to share their
stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives.
-
Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they are referring. Use the case management system to track the persons progress. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.
-
Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure
that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS
and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical
commissioning group (CCG).
-
Undertake
service evaluation in the practice, community or during home visits, using
agreed tools e.g. the ONS4 Wellbeing and Patient Activation Measure (PAM)
questionnaires pre- and post- interventions to assess the impact on the service
user wellbeing.
General
- Working with the line
manager of the post to identify training needs and undertake continuing
professional development, taking an active part
in reviewing and
developing the roles and responsibilities.
- Work as part of
the team to seek feedback, continually improve the service and
contribute to business planning.
-
Adhere to organisational policies and
procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information
governance, and health and safety.
-
Attend mandatory training in undertaking,
delivering and reviewing Holistic Needs Assessments and Care Plans for those
affected by cancer in line with the national programme; and undertake personal
and professional development linked to the role and Macmillan requirements.
-
Work with your line manager to access regular
supervision, to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that
people present.
-
Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of
the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely
and effective manner.
Duties may vary from time to time, without changing
the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Working with Primary Care colleagues
-
Work with practices to identify and support
cancer patients who would benefit from social
- prescribing
support. The Cancer Specialist will work within the practices to establish
patient cohort.
- Build relationships with key practice staff, to
proactively benefit the patient cohort.
- Work closely with the identified leads for
specification delivery and the cancer champions within practices.
- Be an active member of the multidisciplinary
team within the PCN, attending a range of meetings (in practice and system
wide) to offer input around cancer specialist social prescribing.
- As a representative for the PCN, be proactive in
developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage confidence in
service and effective partnership working.
- Support practices with targeted patient support
to improve compliance with two-week referral and screening programme
compliance.
Providing individualised care to members of the community
-
Provide personalised support to individuals,
their families, and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live
independently and improve their health outcomes. Develop trusting relationships
by giving people time and the opportunity to reflect on what matters to me.
-
Undertake electronic holistic needs assessments
(e-HNAs) and produce high quality care plans with people living with cancer
who are referred into the service; some
newly diagnosed patients and some previously diagnosed, assessing
emotional, spiritual, practical, physical
and, social needs enabling and supporting them to address the identified needs,
issues and concerns in a timely manner.
-
Meeting people on a one to one basis, including
home visits where necessary, to provide non-judgemental support and information
respecting choice and diversity and giving people the time to build trust with
the link worker.
-
Working with a strength-based approach focusing
on the persons assets, co-produce a personalised support plan to improve
health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting people to community groups
and statutory services.
-
Empower individuals to have more confidence in
dealing with their treatment and enable them to understand the lifestyle
changes they could make to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
-
Managing and prioritising a caseload including
competing demands from a range of practices.
-
Maintain 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.
-
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.
Supporting an increase in community resilience
-
Be the key link to share expertise to enable
ongoing support, such as eHNAs and care planning for people living with and
beyond cancer.
-
Be responsible for the smooth pathway between
secondary care and the patient and community providers brokering access to a
wide range of local services including dietary, emotional, therapeutic,
Macmillan hubs and benefits to support the individual through treatment and
recovery and deliver desired outcomes.
-
Be an active member of the Centre MDT
ensuring that support delivered to people affected by Cancer is provided at the
appropriate place and time by the person(s) with the most relevant skillset.
-
Play an active role on the Centre
Steering group and assist with data collection for the PCNs, Macmillan and the
Centre itself.
-
Plan, support and attend community cancer events
when required, including Health and Wellbeing sessions, Macmillan Events, and
wider educational events where appropriate.
-
Work with
volunteers and support the development of volunteer roles within the community.
-
Understand the principles of lifestyle
optimisation for cancer patients and actively encourage and support patients to
engage with relevant services/programmes to improve their quality of life and
reduce risk of cancer recurrence.
-
Maintain a thorough awareness of the community
assets available in the network area.
-
Distribute and collect materials to PCNs, GP
surgeries and Hospitals.
-
As a representative of the PCN, the link worker
should develop good working relationships with community groups and organisations
within the PCN footprint and across the borough, maintaining high levels of
professionalism at all times.
-
Work to ensure that groups receiving referrals
are safe and quality assured and able to meet the needs of the clients
referred.
-
Ensure that groups and organisations are not
negatively impacted by receiving social prescribing referrals by ensuring all
referrals are appropriate and that they have the capacity to support those
referred.
-
Work with members of the community and partner
agencies to identify gaps in provision and work collaboratively and creatively
to address unmet needs including supporting groups and individuals to develop
new projects and access available funding.
-
The post holder will liaise with the Lead Cancer
Nurse and the Clinical Nurse Specialists when required.
Data Capture and Evaluation
-
Support practices with data quality audits and
monitoring for referrals and signposting of patients with suspected cancer.
-
Use clinical and non-clinical information
systems to record information about patients ensuring compliance with
information governance at all times.
-
Work
sensitively with people, their families
and carers to capture key information, enabling
tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.
-
Encourage people,
their families and carers
to provide feedback and to share their
stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives.
-
Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they are referring. Use the case management system to track the persons progress. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.
-
Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure
that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS
and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical
commissioning group (CCG).
-
Undertake
service evaluation in the practice, community or during home visits, using
agreed tools e.g. the ONS4 Wellbeing and Patient Activation Measure (PAM)
questionnaires pre- and post- interventions to assess the impact on the service
user wellbeing.
General
- Working with the line
manager of the post to identify training needs and undertake continuing
professional development, taking an active part
in reviewing and
developing the roles and responsibilities.
- Work as part of
the team to seek feedback, continually improve the service and
contribute to business planning.
-
Adhere to organisational policies and
procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information
governance, and health and safety.
-
Attend mandatory training in undertaking,
delivering and reviewing Holistic Needs Assessments and Care Plans for those
affected by cancer in line with the national programme; and undertake personal
and professional development linked to the role and Macmillan requirements.
-
Work with your line manager to access regular
supervision, to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that
people present.
-
Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of
the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely
and effective manner.
Duties may vary from time to time, without changing
the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- City & Guilds Health Trainer (7562) or educated to NVQ Level 3 in health care or equivalent experience.
- Qualification in/or equivalent experience with word processing, Microsoft Word, Excel or equivalent.
Skills
Essential
- Ability to prioritise and organise own work load.
- Able to work to deadlines whilst maintaining data protection and confidentiality.
- Ability to evaluate and implement appropriate service developments.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work under pressure and with flexibility.
- Ability to remain calm in difficult situations.
Knowledge
Essential
- Understanding of the needs and challenges facing people affected by cancer.
- A clear understanding of the principles of health and the wider determinants of health and the field of public health and wellbeing
- Able to demonstrate commitment and understanding of confidentiality in relation to the post.
- Can demonstrate commitment to equality and diversity.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support, social housing, welfare rights, money advice and information services or public health/health improvement
- Administration and clerical experience.
- Using spreadsheets and databases.
- Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services.
- Experience of working within a team.
- Previous experience of using Health Care IT systems preferably EMIS
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- City & Guilds Health Trainer (7562) or educated to NVQ Level 3 in health care or equivalent experience.
- Qualification in/or equivalent experience with word processing, Microsoft Word, Excel or equivalent.
Skills
Essential
- Ability to prioritise and organise own work load.
- Able to work to deadlines whilst maintaining data protection and confidentiality.
- Ability to evaluate and implement appropriate service developments.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work under pressure and with flexibility.
- Ability to remain calm in difficult situations.
Knowledge
Essential
- Understanding of the needs and challenges facing people affected by cancer.
- A clear understanding of the principles of health and the wider determinants of health and the field of public health and wellbeing
- Able to demonstrate commitment and understanding of confidentiality in relation to the post.
- Can demonstrate commitment to equality and diversity.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support, social housing, welfare rights, money advice and information services or public health/health improvement
- Administration and clerical experience.
- Using spreadsheets and databases.
- Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services.
- Experience of working within a team.
- Previous experience of using Health Care IT systems preferably EMIS