Job Title: South Southwark Social Prescribing Link Worker

Interviews will be held on: Wednesday 7th June via MS Teams

• Salary: £27,000: Depending on experience
• Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week
• Full-Time Contract: Permanent
• Responsible to: Primary Care Network
• Accountable to: Improving Health (IHL)

Background

The NHS Long Term Plan describes the prominent role Primary Care Networks will play in delivering proactive, personalised and more integrated health and social care for their local populations. This will require collaborative working between organisations including GP practices, acute and community health, social care organisations and the voluntary and community sector.

Our South Southwark PCN was established in 2019/20 and is made up of all GP Practices in Camberwell, Peckham, and Dulwich, approximately 150,000 patients, supported by their GP Federation, Improving Health (IHL). Following the success of our Social Prescribing service set up in March 2020, we are looking to expand our team and seeking Social Prescribing Link Workers to work across our network providing dedicated support to our local population working closely with general practice.

Job summary

This is an exciting role directed and supported by the South Southwark Primary Care Network (PCN) to coordinate and facilitate the provision of personalised support to individuals identified as having complex needs. The link worker will work as part and within a multidisciplinary health and care team to provide 1:1 support with individuals, their families and carers who are referred to them by general practices in the PCN.

A key part of the role will be developing relationships with each patient and spending time to understand what matters to them, then supporting the process of connecting people to community groups and statutory services for on-going practical and emotional support.

This role will be patient-facing; both in general practice and out in the community, proactively supporting a cohort of people to develop/input into a holistic package of care working with existing multidisciplinary teams within the PCN. You will ensure referrals from primary care are followed-up and the outcome is reported back; helping to improve communication and liaison between general practice and other organisations as well as realise impact and outcomes. The role will involve working remotely

Social prescribing is an area that has developed rapidly over the last few years, in recognition of the positive impact it has in empowering and supporting people with wide ranging needs. As part of your role, you would contribute to shaping and developing the service to best respond to local needs. but is not limited to, providing data and progress updates, and sharing insights into how the PCN could better support and care for its population.

There will be a hybrid working arrangement, as the role can involve a large element of remote working, but you will also be working within practice and community based settings in multiple Southwark locations.

Key responsibilities

The 12 Link workers across South Southwark will work closely together and with the PCN Clinical Directors and Overseeing Group. The responsibilities outlined below will be further defined when further national guidance is available and with input from PCN Clinical Directors, local partners, and patients.

Key responsibilities of this role are to: Deliver personalised 1:1 support

• Provide personalised support to patients with complex needs: the nature of patient needs will vary
• Take a holistic approach, based on the service user’s priorities and the wider determinants of health to make a personalised support plan together in order to improve health and wellbeing.
• Manage and prioritise a network caseload (caseload number to be determined) working with the network team, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload.
• Working with PCN to develop a system of managing a caseload, to enable a sufficient level of intervention with a practical caseload of service users.
• Ensure care and support received within the neighbourhood is recorded and shared (with patient consent) with all appropriate health and care providers.
• Introduce or reconnect people to community groups and statutory services, for longer term provision of support, as required.

Key Tasks Include:

• Meeting people on a one-to-one basis; giving people time to tell their stories and focus on ‘what matters to me,’ developing/inputting into a personalised support plan together.
• Making home visits, where appropriate, within organisations’ policies and procedures.
• Help people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.
• Work with the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing.
• 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.
• Help service users maintain or regain independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
• Once the appropriate support is in place, passing the management of the service user to those with whom they are engaged. This will be done in a planned manner, with the option of further engagement with the link worker, if required

Build relationships with, and good knowledge of, Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) organisations and community groups supporting our local model of social prescribing

• Draw on the strengths and capacities of our local communities, enabling local VCS organisations and community groups to receive social prescribing referrals.
• Work with the VCS to ensure the basic safeguarding processes for vulnerable individuals are in place and can provide opportunities for the service user to develop friendships, a sense of belonging, and to build knowledge, skills, and confidence.
• Work with local partners to support local VCS organisations and ensure that community assets are nurtured. For example, by making them aware of small grants, identifying and providing support to set up local events, community groups and services where gaps are identified in local provision.
• Support the ongoing development of a comprehensive Directory of Services, which enables a rich understanding of the resources and services available for local residents.

Key Tasks include:

• Forging strong links with local VCS organisations, community, and neighbourhood level groups.
• Develop supportive relationships with local VCS organisations, community groups and statutory services, to make timely, appropriate, and supported referrals for the service user being introduced.
• Ensure that local community groups and VCS 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.
• Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS, and that the person’s use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical commissioning group (CCG).
• Research local organisations and services providing support for residents, ensure information held is accurate and update the Directory of services regularly

Set up, establish role, embed within, and receive referrals from the Network/Neighbourhood

• Forge working relationships with PCN staff
• Establish connections and relationships with local health and care provider organisations to understand landscape, ethos, ways of working and how you will work with a multidisciplinary team.
• Build an understanding of local processes, referral pathways and reporting mechanisms to understand how your role can support communication of patient progress and outcomes across systems/providers.
• If required, help colleagues in the PCN to identify the patient cohort and to test out an initial approach. Share the learning that you gain from best practice, appropriate guidance, and local exemplars.

Key Tasks Include:

• Building relationships with key staff in GP practices and within the wider PCN.
• Attend relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on social prescribing.
• Be proactive in developing strong links and working in partnership with local agencies to encourage referrals and support care together, recognising what they need to be confident in the service to make appropriate referrals.
• Seek regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescription for referral agencies.
• Be proactive in encouraging people to self-refer and connect with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.
• Feedback to services and organisations about how you have engaged with each patient following a referral and whether any follow-up is required.
• Be proactive and enthusiastic in delivering outreach projects that strengthen the ethos and remit of the Social Prescribing Service

Duties may vary from time to time, without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.

Person Specification - Criteria: Essential

Criteria Qualifications and Training

• Educated to minimum of NVQ Level 3, advanced Level or equivalent qualifications or working towards.
• Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development of themselves and colleagues.
• Experience At least 2 years’ experience of providing one-to-one support to vulnerable people, including those with physical and mental health issues (including unpaid work).
• Experience of working closely with a wide range of stakeholders across organisations and sectors, especially with NHS/ healthcare professionals.
• Experience of working in an open, community setting/ environment including in outreach venues, in a highly flexible manner (including unpaid roles).
• Knowledge and/or experience of working with a variety of social issues, e.g., housing, benefits, carers, etc.
• Experience of signposting to other organisations sensibly and practically, to ensure that patients are navigated through the system.

Personal Qualities and Attributes

• Organised and able to manage conflicting priorities but not restricted by this.
• Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person- centered support in in a non-judgmental way.
• Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles, and diversity.
• Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential.
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals.
• Have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other professionals/agencies, when what the person needs is beyond the scope of the link worker – e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner.
• Commitment to collaborative working with all stakeholders (including VCS organisations and community groups).
• Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure.
• Ability to organise, plan, and priorities on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines
• Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative.
• Understanding of the needs of small volunteer-led community groups
• Knowledge of and ability to work with policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.

Skills and Knowledge

• Self-starter - comfortable working autonomously in the community and feeding back to the necessary organisations, as appropriate.
• Ability to problem-solve when researching the best potential options for support/services.
• Ability to work well in a team – working with a variety of different service providers across the neighbourhood to contribute to social prescribing goals – support and coaching other volunteers/navigators.
• Able to establish positive boundaries with patients.
• Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic, and environmental factors and their impact on communities.
• Knowledge of community development approaches.
• Knowledge of IT systems including ability to use word processing tools, emails and the internet to create simple plans and report.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required, to meet work demands.
• Ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including visiting people in their own homes.

Desirable:

Qualifications and Training

• Training in motivational coaching and interviewing, or equivalent experience.

Experience

• Experience of delivering lifestyle changes interventions
• Experience of leading and developing service improvements with complex scope and tight timescales with minimal guidance.
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations.
• Experience in outreach, developing projects with communities
• Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services and assist staff development.

Skills and Knowledge

• Knowledge of the personalised care approaches.
• Knowledge of VCS and community services in the locality.

Equality and Diversity

• Recognising the rights of patients, carers, relatives, and colleagues and respecting their needs, beliefs, privacy, and dignity.
• Not discriminating against patients, carers, relatives, or colleagues on the grounds of any of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 (or its amendments or later legislation).
• Respecting the rights of patients to accept or refuse treatment or a care provider.

Personal/Professional Development

• Participate in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development,
• Participate in any training programme implemented by the PCN,
• Continuing Professional Development in line with professional registration and identified within Personal Development Plan,

Confidentiality
Confidentiality in relation to patient data must be maintained at all times. In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with or allow us to gather sensitive information relating to their health or 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 may have access to information relating to patients and/or their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. The post holder may also have access to information relating to the Practice. All such information from any source 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 Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety:
The post holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others’ health, safety and security as defined in the organisations Health and Safety policy, including use of personal security systems within the workplace, according to organisation guidelines, identifying risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in such a way as to manage those risks, making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, using appropriate infection control procedures and maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards and reporting potential risks when identified.

DBS Disclosure
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. You must therefore disclose all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warnings. If you are offered the post, we will need to obtain a satisfactory DBS disclosure for you.

The main duties and responsibilities shown above are not exhaustive but should merely be regarded as a guide. The post-holder will be expected to conduct any reasonable activities according to the business needs at that time. These will be subject to periodic review and may be amended to meet the challenging needs of the business. The post-holder will be expected to participate in this process and the company would aim to reach agreement to changes.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £27,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Experience:

• providing one to one support to vulnerable people: 2 years (required)

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 29/05/2023
Reference ID: PCN :SPLW

Please Note :
siennaramirez.com is the go-to platform for job seekers looking for the best job postings from around the web. With a focus on quality, the platform guarantees that all job postings are from reliable sources and are up-to-date. It also offers a variety of tools to help users find the perfect job for them, such as searching by location and filtering by industry. Furthermore, siennaramirez.com provides helpful resources like resume tips and career advice to give job seekers an edge in their search. With its commitment to quality and user-friendliness, Site.com is the ideal place to find your next job.