Job summary
We seek a Bilingual Healthcare Advocate to join our Advocacy and Interpreting Service.
We are a service that works with people from the ethnic minority communities and vulnerable groups in Tower Hamlets to help them access the services provided by GP Care Group through local General Practice (GPs), Community Nursing and Pharmacies. As part of Tower Hamlets GP Care Group, we work to improve positive consultation outcomes for patients, through acting as a bridge between patients who don't speak English and vulnerable groups and the services that provide primary health care.
We are particularly interested in receiving applications from applicants who can speak and write fluently in both English and Bengali/Sylheti.
This is an initial 12 month fixed term contract with the possibility of being extended further.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we
receive sufficient applications for the role.
Main duties of the job
The postholder willadvise patients on the availability of Health
Care Services and how to access them. and tointerpret accurately during consultations
between Health Professionals and patients.To identify issues with the health
care professional, where it may be difficult for the patient to comply with
advice because of their religious beliefs or culture, e.g. need to fast, use of
alternative remedies.
About us
Tower Hamlets GP Care Group (The Care Group) was incorporated as a community interest company limited by shares in September 2014. Every general practice in Tower Hamlets owns one share of £1. The Care Group was formed to manage borough level contracts on behalf of the practices, deliver primary care led services and support general practices, and to be the provider voice of primary care in the wider health and social care system.
Read up more about Tower Hamlets GP Care Group, click here: https://www.gpcaregroup.org/
The Care Group is also a member of Tower Hamlets Together, a place-based integrated partnership, which includes Bart's Health, East London NHS Foundation Trust, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the Council for Voluntary Services.
Click here to know more about Tower Hamlets Together partnership- https://www.towerhamletstogether.com/
The key priorities for the Care Group are:
Innovation and support for primary care
Being a great place to work
Integrating primary and community care
Providing of high-quality cost-effective care to local people
Influencing improvements in health outcomes
Job description
Job responsibilities
Advocate
- To ask for relevant information from the client
before and during the consultation, to enable the Health Care Professional to
make a full assessment of the clients health and social needs
- To relay to
the Health Professionals any other issues raised by the client during the
consultation, ensuring that the client receives the required support and is
assisted in accessing other appropriate services, if necessary, via referral.
- To represent and interpret for patients in
accordance with their needs and to contact the Health Professional on behalf of
the client if necessary.
- To respond directly to clients queries, seeking
out appropriate information for them from the appropriate agencies.
- To undertake joint home visits with Health Care Professionals
to advocate for the client and to facilitate the consultation.
- To carry
out brief written translation, when it is part of communication with patients
assisting the Health Professional.
- To advise Health
Professionals about relevant community and cultural support groups this may be
appropriate for the patient.
- To liaise
with other services to ensure that patients attend their appointments.
- To empower patients to articulate their health
needs in relation to health services explaining rights and entitlements.
Advocates should provide information and respect patient choices, as well as
sign posting clients who wish to learn English to access language classes.
- To challenge discriminatory behaviour towards
patients, communities and staff in a professional manner, informing the manager
about any issues of concern and seeking advice about how to resolve them. If
required, assist patients to raise their concerns and provide information about
the complaints process.
- To initiate
contact with local community groups to build links with communities and
their representatives. To provide information sessions for these groups about
the availability of, and access to, health services.
- To assist with recruitment of bilingual workers
in the services, testing language skills, as required.
- 1.15 To identify
and refer to the Health Professionals any concerns arising from clinic sessions
or home visits.
Health promotion and clinical
- To organise and facilitate or assist other
Health professionals in the setting up and facilitating health promotion events
with community groups, e.g. Diabetes awareness, Weaning, prevention obesity
etc.
- To
participate in Health Clinics, advising clients on aspects of childcare and
child health under the supervision of the health visitor and School Health
Nurses, following specific training.
- To contribute to the development of health
promotion material that is evidence based and culturally appropriate, in
collaboration with other colleagues. To review health promotion literature and
audio-visual material for its appropriateness to the Tower Hamlets and Waltham
Forest communities.
- To disseminate educational materials and resources (e.g.
videos, leaflets and posters) ensuring that all resources are accessible to
local needs.
- To identify
and refer to relevant parties any concerns arising from clinical settings and
home visits such as adult or child protection or other health concerns.
- To provide advice to Health Care Professionals
in relation to relevant communities and their cultural issues.
- To participate in house training sessions for Health
Professionals providing a perspective on working with particular cultural
groups.
- To provide support for health screening and
health protection campaigns, giving accurate information to clients, e.g.
regarding breast and cervical screening, immunisation programmes, control of
infectious diseases.
- To assist
health care professionals with
development, facilitation and provision of health education sessions for community groups.
- To
ensure that Advocates have the
most recent health promotion and service information available during their
contact with clients.
- To
organise and run specific health promotion events at the request of Health Professionals
and as guided by them.
- To
undertake specific project work in relation to Health Care, in conjunction with
the manager and health professionals.
Clinical governance
- To
have an awareness of identification of vulnerable children and adults who may
be Subject to abuse, and to follow GP Care Group Child and Adult Protection
procedures and guidelines, referring any concerns to the health care professional.
- To participate in quality improvement e.g.
through use of Essence of Care quality benchmarking and standards.
- To contribute to the provision of regular
reports on the service, including activity, audit and evaluation.
- To report all untoward accidents or incidents
promptly and, when necessary, co-operate with any investigation undertaken. To
consider clinical and non-clinical risk management in all day-to-day work,
adhering to policies aimed at minimising risks.
- To have responsibility for the health, safety
and welfare of self and others and to comply at all times with individual
responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act. This includes
identifying and reporting any potential hazards in the environment.
- To maintain accurate records of work with
individual clients, in accordance with GP Care Group guidelines and standards
for records and record keeping.
- To participate in the GP Care Group appraisal
process and the development of a personal development plan and take
responsibility for ensuring own professional development.
- To undertake relevant training, and ensure own
skills and knowledge are up to date.
- To participate in regular one-to-one supervision
with manager.
- To work at all times within the policies,
procedures and guidelines of the GP Care Group.
Communication
- To interact sensitively with Clients of
different ages in an empathetic manner. To use listening skills, to develop a
trusting relationship with clients, to enable them to feel confident in their
consultations with Health Professionals.
- To provide
an effective interpreting service for clients.
- To provide
written translations of simple information when required.
- To
communicate effectively with Health Care Professionals, local Voluntary Organisations
and groups. To develop good working relationships with GPs and other Health
Professionals and to improve the quality of existing and new health services
for patients/communities by sharing cultural information.
- To work as a
member of the Tower Hamlets Advocacy & Interpreting team, promoting
effective communication within the team and contribute to the daily running of
the team.
- To provide
regular feedback to health care professionals, following contact with
individual clients and groups, and inform them of any problems or difficulties
encountered during contact with clients. To communicate about contacts using
phone, Teams, letters and email.
- To use computer
systems, including Word and E-mail, MS Teams and Sesui for effective
communication of information.
- To highlight and share areas of good practice in
relation to Service user engagement and community participation with colleagues
across the health economy.
- To attend regular meetings to keep up to date
with service and organisation changes, including individual meetings with Service
Manager and Team Meetings.
Information
- To share information with Health Professionals about clients
requirements so that health needs can be identified and appropriate changes
made in order to provide a more responsive and effective service.
- To respect patient confidentiality
and, in particular, the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data
in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.
- To
provide activity information as required for service performance monitoring and
evaluation.
- To
provide a quarterly summary of activities and issues arising in own work, in
order to assist with service planning and monitoring.
- To
participate in project evaluation activities and data collection.
- To
participate in and support health surveys and profiling of health needs with
minority ethnic communities.
- To provide
assistance in research projects through interpreting or checking
questionnaires.
Effort
- To maintain a high level of mental focus
during individual or group consultations and case conferences as an
interpreter.
- To
be able to manage in situations where a family member may become verbally or
physically aggressive. To ensure staff and patient safety and to comply with
relevant GPCG policies. To assess risk and act appropriately.
- To interact sensitively with clients, who
may be distressed, or having to deal with difficult information, e.g. relating
to a childs diagnosis, palliative care, domestic violence etc.
- To be able to
travel between base and homes, surgeries, clinics and schools as required. As
well as flexible home working.
- To be able to
travel between base and homes, surgeries, clinics and schools as required. As
well as flexible home working.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Advocate
- To ask for relevant information from the client
before and during the consultation, to enable the Health Care Professional to
make a full assessment of the clients health and social needs
- To relay to
the Health Professionals any other issues raised by the client during the
consultation, ensuring that the client receives the required support and is
assisted in accessing other appropriate services, if necessary, via referral.
- To represent and interpret for patients in
accordance with their needs and to contact the Health Professional on behalf of
the client if necessary.
- To respond directly to clients queries, seeking
out appropriate information for them from the appropriate agencies.
- To undertake joint home visits with Health Care Professionals
to advocate for the client and to facilitate the consultation.
- To carry
out brief written translation, when it is part of communication with patients
assisting the Health Professional.
- To advise Health
Professionals about relevant community and cultural support groups this may be
appropriate for the patient.
- To liaise
with other services to ensure that patients attend their appointments.
- To empower patients to articulate their health
needs in relation to health services explaining rights and entitlements.
Advocates should provide information and respect patient choices, as well as
sign posting clients who wish to learn English to access language classes.
- To challenge discriminatory behaviour towards
patients, communities and staff in a professional manner, informing the manager
about any issues of concern and seeking advice about how to resolve them. If
required, assist patients to raise their concerns and provide information about
the complaints process.
- To initiate
contact with local community groups to build links with communities and
their representatives. To provide information sessions for these groups about
the availability of, and access to, health services.
- To assist with recruitment of bilingual workers
in the services, testing language skills, as required.
- 1.15 To identify
and refer to the Health Professionals any concerns arising from clinic sessions
or home visits.
Health promotion and clinical
- To organise and facilitate or assist other
Health professionals in the setting up and facilitating health promotion events
with community groups, e.g. Diabetes awareness, Weaning, prevention obesity
etc.
- To
participate in Health Clinics, advising clients on aspects of childcare and
child health under the supervision of the health visitor and School Health
Nurses, following specific training.
- To contribute to the development of health
promotion material that is evidence based and culturally appropriate, in
collaboration with other colleagues. To review health promotion literature and
audio-visual material for its appropriateness to the Tower Hamlets and Waltham
Forest communities.
- To disseminate educational materials and resources (e.g.
videos, leaflets and posters) ensuring that all resources are accessible to
local needs.
- To identify
and refer to relevant parties any concerns arising from clinical settings and
home visits such as adult or child protection or other health concerns.
- To provide advice to Health Care Professionals
in relation to relevant communities and their cultural issues.
- To participate in house training sessions for Health
Professionals providing a perspective on working with particular cultural
groups.
- To provide support for health screening and
health protection campaigns, giving accurate information to clients, e.g.
regarding breast and cervical screening, immunisation programmes, control of
infectious diseases.
- To assist
health care professionals with
development, facilitation and provision of health education sessions for community groups.
- To
ensure that Advocates have the
most recent health promotion and service information available during their
contact with clients.
- To
organise and run specific health promotion events at the request of Health Professionals
and as guided by them.
- To
undertake specific project work in relation to Health Care, in conjunction with
the manager and health professionals.
Clinical governance
- To
have an awareness of identification of vulnerable children and adults who may
be Subject to abuse, and to follow GP Care Group Child and Adult Protection
procedures and guidelines, referring any concerns to the health care professional.
- To participate in quality improvement e.g.
through use of Essence of Care quality benchmarking and standards.
- To contribute to the provision of regular
reports on the service, including activity, audit and evaluation.
- To report all untoward accidents or incidents
promptly and, when necessary, co-operate with any investigation undertaken. To
consider clinical and non-clinical risk management in all day-to-day work,
adhering to policies aimed at minimising risks.
- To have responsibility for the health, safety
and welfare of self and others and to comply at all times with individual
responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act. This includes
identifying and reporting any potential hazards in the environment.
- To maintain accurate records of work with
individual clients, in accordance with GP Care Group guidelines and standards
for records and record keeping.
- To participate in the GP Care Group appraisal
process and the development of a personal development plan and take
responsibility for ensuring own professional development.
- To undertake relevant training, and ensure own
skills and knowledge are up to date.
- To participate in regular one-to-one supervision
with manager.
- To work at all times within the policies,
procedures and guidelines of the GP Care Group.
Communication
- To interact sensitively with Clients of
different ages in an empathetic manner. To use listening skills, to develop a
trusting relationship with clients, to enable them to feel confident in their
consultations with Health Professionals.
- To provide
an effective interpreting service for clients.
- To provide
written translations of simple information when required.
- To
communicate effectively with Health Care Professionals, local Voluntary Organisations
and groups. To develop good working relationships with GPs and other Health
Professionals and to improve the quality of existing and new health services
for patients/communities by sharing cultural information.
- To work as a
member of the Tower Hamlets Advocacy & Interpreting team, promoting
effective communication within the team and contribute to the daily running of
the team.
- To provide
regular feedback to health care professionals, following contact with
individual clients and groups, and inform them of any problems or difficulties
encountered during contact with clients. To communicate about contacts using
phone, Teams, letters and email.
- To use computer
systems, including Word and E-mail, MS Teams and Sesui for effective
communication of information.
- To highlight and share areas of good practice in
relation to Service user engagement and community participation with colleagues
across the health economy.
- To attend regular meetings to keep up to date
with service and organisation changes, including individual meetings with Service
Manager and Team Meetings.
Information
- To share information with Health Professionals about clients
requirements so that health needs can be identified and appropriate changes
made in order to provide a more responsive and effective service.
- To respect patient confidentiality
and, in particular, the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data
in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.
- To
provide activity information as required for service performance monitoring and
evaluation.
- To
provide a quarterly summary of activities and issues arising in own work, in
order to assist with service planning and monitoring.
- To
participate in project evaluation activities and data collection.
- To
participate in and support health surveys and profiling of health needs with
minority ethnic communities.
- To provide
assistance in research projects through interpreting or checking
questionnaires.
Effort
- To maintain a high level of mental focus
during individual or group consultations and case conferences as an
interpreter.
- To
be able to manage in situations where a family member may become verbally or
physically aggressive. To ensure staff and patient safety and to comply with
relevant GPCG policies. To assess risk and act appropriately.
- To interact sensitively with clients, who
may be distressed, or having to deal with difficult information, e.g. relating
to a childs diagnosis, palliative care, domestic violence etc.
- To be able to
travel between base and homes, surgeries, clinics and schools as required. As
well as flexible home working.
- To be able to
travel between base and homes, surgeries, clinics and schools as required. As
well as flexible home working.
Person Specification
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Good written and verbal communication skills in English.
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to GCSE level, including English and a community langage.
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Competent IT and keyboard skills - able to use email, clinical databases, word processing, or willing to learn.
Qualifications
Essential
- Completion of an interpreting course.
Experience
Essential
- Experience in paid or unpaid community/advocacy work, preferably in the health and social fields.
Person Specification
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Good written and verbal communication skills in English.
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to GCSE level, including English and a community langage.
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Competent IT and keyboard skills - able to use email, clinical databases, word processing, or willing to learn.
Qualifications
Essential
- Completion of an interpreting course.
Experience
Essential
- Experience in paid or unpaid community/advocacy work, preferably in the health and social fields.
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.
