Teesdale PCN Social Prescribing Link Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Build a robust knowledge of health, social and third sector provision available within the Durham Dales and surrounding areas

Promote social prescribing, its role in self-management, and the wider determinants of health.

Act as an advocate for patients and service users of the health and social care system.

Build relationships with key staff in GP practices within the local Primary Care Network (PCN). Attend relevant meetings and integrate as part of the wider network team, providing information and feedback on social prescribing matters.

Work proactively to develop strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, to recognise their requirements and enable confident approach to making referrals.

Work in partnership with all local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribing and demonstrate how partnership working can reduce pressure on statutory services, improve health outcomes and enable a holistic approach to care.

Provide referral agencies with regular updates relating to social prescribing, and include training for their staff to promote effective access to information and encourage appropriate referrals.

Work proactively in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.

The Social Prescribing Link Worker will have the capability of performing minor clinical skills such as Basic Monitoring and Recording of Vital Signs, Blood Pressure Monitoring, ECGs on behalf of the DDHF and GP practices. These skills may be carried out in GP Practice, hub setting or the community.

To support patients on discharge from hospital admission.

Build relationships with patients, their families and carers and carry out regular telephone consultations and reviews within the GP practice or community setting.

Meet people on a one-to-one basis, undertaking home visits where appropriate within organisations policies and procedures. Give people time to tell their stories and focus on what matters to me.

Build trust with the person, providing non-judgmental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. Work from a strength-based approach focusing on a persons assets.

Anticipate barriers to communication.

Be a friendly source of information about 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.

Communicate effectively with patients, families and carers recognising the need for alternative communication methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating.

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; 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. Provide follow-up to ensure that they are happy, engaged, included and receiving good support.

Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, assist 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. Support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals.

Forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighborhood to promote micro-commissioning or small grants if available.

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

Ensure that local community groups and VCSE organisations being referred to have basic procedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safe and, where there are safeguarding concerns, work with all partners to deal appropriately with issues. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, support groups, to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.

Check that community groups and VCSE organisations meet in insured premises and that health and safety requirements are in place. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, support groups, to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.

Support local groups to act in accordance with information governance policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable

Work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision.

Support local partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services where needed, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning and development support.

Work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision.

Support local partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services where needed, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning and development support.

Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing

to volunteer and give their time freely to others, in order to build their skills and confidence, and strengthen community resilience.

Data capture

Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient contact, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.

Work sensitively and effectively with people, their families and carers to capture key information, enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.

Build relationships with patients, their families and carers and carry out regular telephone consultations and reviews within the GP practice or community setting.

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 to. 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 the clinical system 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).

Seek regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies.

Understand and apply legal issues that support the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients health procedures and local guidance.

Develop a team of volunteers to provide buddying support for people, starting new groups and finding creative community solutions to local Issues.

Encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.

Provide a regular confidence survey to community groups receiving referrals, to ensure that they are strong, sustained and have the support they need to be part of social prescribing.

Person Specification

Skills

Essential

• Ability to manage and prioritise a caseload
• Ability to work flexibly and
• enthusiastically within a team or
• on own initiative
• Communication skills, both written and verbal
• Build relationships with patients, their families and carers
• Ability to provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers
• Ability to listen and empathise with people in a non-judgmental way
• Able to provide leadership and
• complete tasks in a timely
• manner
• Able to maintain effective
• working relationships and
• promote collaborative working

Desirable

• Experience of performing minor clinical observations such as basic monitoring of vital signs (blood pressure, temperature and oxygen saturations)
• Communication of difficult
• messages to patients and families
• Experience of using clinical
• systems such as SystmOne / EMIS Web

Other

Essential

• Full UK driving licence
• Meet DBS reference standards
• Highly motivated
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands
• Able to demonstrate good time
• management skills
• Undertake additional training relevant to the role

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSE Grade C or above in Maths and English, or equivalent qualification

Desirable

• Qualification in a health or social care
• Formal safeguarding qualification

Experience

Essential

• Knowledge of the needs of vulnerable adults, safeguarding and the associated legal framework
• Knowledge of local health and
• social care provision
• Knowledge of funding systems in social care
• Experience of working in a similar role
• Experience of working with vulnerable people
• Experience of working in health and social care
• Experience of coordinating services from diverse providers

Desirable

• Knowledge of public health
• issues
• Familiarity with information systems used in clinical practice
• Basic knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology
• Understanding of health
• and social care
• Terminology
• Experience of working in liaison capacity with social care
• Experience of seeing patients and carers in a practice based setting or in their own home

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

Durham Dales Health Federation

Address

Unit 51 Innovation Hse, Longfield Rd

South Church Enterprise Park

Bishop Auckland

Durham

DL14 6XB

Employer's website

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