Job summary
The Social Prescriber Link worker will be part of the Primary Care Network well-being team. The Social Prescriber will receive referrals from GP practices, primary care Mental Health team and our new PCN Health Hub.
Social prescribing empowers people to take control of their health and wellbeing through referral to non-medical link workers. They give time, focus on what matters to me and take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. Link workers support existing community groups to be accessible and sustainable and help people to start new community groups, working collaboratively with all local partners.
The role requires a highly competent, proficient practitioner, who is able to work autonomously & creatively in a busy and demanding environment.
Main duties of the job
As the population expands, the demand for primary care is increasing beyond the capacity that is available, and with increasing cost of living concerns and post pandemic mental health decline, there are several areas of increasing health inequalities. We are looking for a social prescribing link worker to work alongside our current social prescribers and with our wider team to support those in the community who have for example, long term chronic health conditions with complex social needs. We are in the process of working alongside Test Valley Borough Council on a project which replicates a successful model in Brazil. The model utilises community health and wellbeing workers as integrated members of the community, providing social support and addressing healthcare needs whilst promoting healthier lifestyles.
Social prescribing can help to strengthen communityand personal resilience and reduce health inequalities by addressing the widerdeterminants of health, such as debt, poor housing, and physical inactivity, byincreasing peoples active involvement with their local communities. It particularlyworks for people with long-term conditions (including support for mentalhealth). for people who are lonely or isolated or have complex social needswhich affect their wellbeing.
This post holder will work with patients on anumber of issues relating to both physical and mental wellbeing
About us
Primary Care Networks bring general practices together to provide a wider range of services to support patients. Additionally, by decreasing the workload on general practice teams, they improve overall access to primary care services for patients.
Andover Primary Care Network is a collaborative project involving the following GP Surgeries: Adelaide Medical Centre, Andover Health Centre Medical Practice, Charlton Hill Surgery, Shepherds Spring Medical Centre and St Marys Surgery.Working in partnership with thecommunity, we support our network of General Practices in a sustainable way topositively impact the health and wellbeing of patients in our local community.
Working in partnership with the community, we support our network ofGeneral Practices in a sustainableway to positively impact the health and wellbeing of patients in our localcommunity.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities
1. Promotingsocial prescribing, its role in self-management, and the wider determinants ofhealth
2. Buildrelationships with key staff in GP practices within the local Primary CareNetwork (PCN), attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider networkteam, giving information and feedback on social prescribing and the referralprocess.
3. Beproactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encouragereferrals, recognising what they need to be confident in the service to makeappropriate referrals.
4. Providean advice and signposting service for service users, carers, and professionals
5. Workin partnership with all local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribingand how partnership working can reduce pressure on statutory services, improvehealth outcomes and enable a holistic approach to care.
6. Bean active part of the town wide network focusing on persons mental health
7. Providereferral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing, includingtraining for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriatereferrals.
8. Seekregular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribingon referral agencies.
9. Beproactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all localcommunities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may findhard to reach.
10. Regularparticipation in MDT discussions to benefit patient outcomes and followappropriate safeguarding procedures.
11. Proactivelyplan new projects and identify how best to evaluate outcomes.
12. Growingand establishing the service.
13. Flexibilityto work in new ways
Providepersonalised support
14. Meetpeople on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate withinorganisations policies and procedures. Give people time to tell their storiesand focus on what matters to me. Build trust with the person, providingnon-judgemental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. Work froma strength-based approach focusing on a persons assets.
15. Bea friendly source of information about wellbeing and prevention approaches.
16. Helppeople identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing,such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caringresponsibilities.
17. Workwith the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all besupported through social prescribing.
18. Helppeople maintain or regain independence through living skills, adaptations,enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
19. Workwith individuals to co-produce a simple personalised support plan based onthe persons priorities, interests, values, and motivations including whatthey can expect from the groups, activities, and services they are beingconnected to and what the person can do for themselves to improve their healthand wellbeing.
20. Workwith people a range of needs, dealing with issues ranging from social isolationand keeping people engaged in their community, to prevent unnecessary admissionto hospital or care homes.
21. Whereappropriate, physically introduce people to community groups, activities, andstatutory services, ensuring they are comfortable. Follow up to ensure they arehappy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.
22. Wherepeople may be eligible for a personal health budget, help them to explore this optionas a way of providing funded, personalised support to be independent, includinghelping people to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.
23. Assistpeople to access an assessment for Adult Social Care where appropriate, and toprovide information in connection with personal budgets.
24. Makefollow up visits to patients and their carers to support them, facilitate theimplementation of holistic care action plans and the coordination with otherservices.
25. Ensurereferrals are recorded within GP clinical systems using the new national SNOMEDcodes
Supportcommunity groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals
26. Forgestrong links with local VCSE organisations, community, and neighbourhood levelgroups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available tocreate a map or menu of community groups and assets. Use these opportunities topromote micro-commissioning or small grants if available.
27. Developsupportive relationships with local VCSE organisations, community groups andstatutory services, to make timely, appropriate and supported referrals for theperson being introduced.
28. Ensurethat local community groups and VCSE organisations being referred to have basicprocedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safe and,where there are safeguarding concerns, work with all partners to dealappropriately with issues. Where such policies and procedures are not in place,support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.
29. Checkthat community groups and VCSE organisations meet in insured premises and thathealth and safety requirements are in place. Where such policies and proceduresare not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referralsare made to them.
30. Supportlocal groups to act in accordance with information governance policies andprocedures, ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act.
Workcollectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong andsustainable
31. Workwith commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within thecommunity and gaps in community provision.
32. Supportlocal partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services whereneeded, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning anddevelopment support.
33. Encouragepeople who have been connected to community support through social prescribingto volunteer and give their time freely to others, in order to build theirskills and confidence, and strengthen community resilience.
34. Developa team of volunteers within your service to provide buddying support forpeople, starting new groups and finding creative community solutions to localissues.
35. Encouragepeople, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do thingstogether, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.
36. Providea regular confidence survey to community groups receiving referrals, toensure that they are strong, sustained and have the support they need to bepart of social prescribing.
Datacapture
37. Worksensitively with people, their families and carers to capture key information,enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health andwellbeing.
38. Encouragepeople, their families and carers to provide feedback and to share theirstories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives.
39. Supportreferral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they arereferring. Use the case management system to track the persons progress.Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people theyreferred.
40. Workclosely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that social prescribingreferral codes are inputted to EMIS and that the persons use of the NHS can betracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreementswith the clinical commissioning group (CCG).
Education and Training
41. To undertake training for Social Prescribing LinkWorkers as set out by the Personalised Care Institute.
42. To maintain your own continuing professionaldevelopment, keeping up to date with developments around Mental Health andWell-Being.
43. To work to attain whatever quality assurancestandards are required within both the employing organisation and within thePrimary Care Mental Health Service.
Information management
44. To maintain appropriate confidentiality ofinformation relating to the organisation and its staff and maintain compliancewith the Data Protection Act.
45. To be responsible for maintaining theconfidentiality of all patient and staff records
46. Support good integrated governance andinformation governance practice within the practice
47. Report any concerns or incidents as per policy
This jobdescription is a summary of the main duties of the post and is, therefore, notexhaustive. This post will evolve overtime and the job description may be amended accordingly.
The duties ofthe post will be reviewed regularly in conjunction with the post holder
Health& Safety
It is theresponsibility of all employees to work with managers to achieve a healthy andsafe environment, and to take reasonable care of themselves and others. Specific individual responsibilities forHealth & Safety will be outlined under key responsibilities for the post.
Equality& Diversity
It is theresponsibility of all employees to support Mid Hampshire Healthcares vision ofpromoting a positive approach to diversity and equality of opportunity, toeliminate discrimination and disadvantage in service delivery and employment,and to manage, support or comply through the implementation of the MidHampshire Healthcares Equality & Diversity Strategies and Policies.
InformationGovernance
As anemployee you will have access to information that is sensitive to either anindividual or to the organisation and you are reminded that in accordance withthe requirements of Information Governance, NHS Code of Confidentiality, DataProtection Act 2018 and also the terms and conditions in your contract ofemployment, you have a duty to process this information judiciously andlawfully; failure to do so may result in disciplinary action.
PLEASE NOTE: we reserve the right to interview throughout the duration of theadvertising period, and if a suitable candidate is found we may withdraw theadvertprior to the published close date.
Person Specification
Personal Qualities & Attributes
Essential
48. Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way
49. Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversities
50. Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities
51. Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential
52. Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with people, their families, carers, community groups, partner agencies and stakeholders
53. Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
54. 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 when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner
55. Able to work from an asset-based approach, building on existing community and personal assets
56. Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks
57. Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues
58. 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
59. Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure
60. Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines
61. High level of written and oral communication skills
62. Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative
Desirable
63. Understanding of the needs of small volunteer-led community groups and ability to support their development
64. Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety
Experience
Essential
65. Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health, and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work)
66. Experience of supporting patients with healthy weight management
67. Experience of supporting people, their families, and carers in a related role (including unpaid work)
Desirable
68. Experience of supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity
69. Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups
70. Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services
71. Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations
Qualifications
Essential
72. Educated to GCSE level or equivalent including Mathematics and English
73. Obtained relevant qualifications set out by the Personalised Care Institute or willing to study for these.
74. Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development
Desirable
75. Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
76. Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities
77. Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports
Desirable
78. Knowledge of the personalised care approach
79. Knowledge of community development approaches
80. Knowledge of motivational coaching and interview skills
81. Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality
Other
Essential
82. Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions
83. Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes
Desirable
84. Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands