Rate: £25,584 per year pro rata based on 15 hours per week
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Take referrals from a wide range of agencies, including PCNs' GP practices and multi-disciplinary team. Priority must be given to patients identified in core practice as having high need.
2. Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their health and wellbeing, live independently and improve their health access and outcomes, as a key member of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. Develop trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on 'what matters to me'. Take a holistic approach, based on the person's priorities and the wider determinants of health. Co-produce a simple personalised care and support plan to improve health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting people to appropriate community groups and statutory services. The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload. It is vital that you 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's needs are beyond the scope of the link worker role – e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner.
3. Work with a diverse range of people and communities, to draw on and increase the strengths and capacities of local communities, VCFS organisations and community groups to receive social prescribing referrals.
4. Alongside other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team, work collaboratively with all local diverse partners to contribute towards supporting the local VCFS organisations and community groups to become sustainable and that community assets are nurtured, through sharing intelligence regarding any gaps or problems identified in local provision and having an input around the distribution of grants to local groups and VCFS organisations. Work with any existing health and wellbeing teams and wider teams to ensure a collaborative and complementary approach to support people.
5. Social prescribing link workers will have a role in educating non-clinical and clinical staff within their PCN multi-disciplinary teams on what other services are available within the community and how and when patients can access them. This may include verbal or written advice and guidance.
Key Tasks
Referrals
* Promote social prescribing, its role in self-management, addressing health inequalities and the wider determinants of health.
* Build relationships with staff in GP practices within the local PCN, attending relevant meetings, providing information and feedback on social prescribing.
* Make use of the FYi directory and promote it as a tool for identifying referral pathways.
* Work with staff in the organisation to encourage individuals to volunteer and give their time.
* Develop and support volunteers to provide buddying support for people starting new groups and finding creative solutions to local issues.
* Work in partnership with all local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribing and how partnership working can reduce pressure on statutory services, improve health access and outcomes and enable a holistic approach to care.
* Provide referral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing, including training for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.
* Seek regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies.
* Be proactive in encouraging equality and inclusion, through self-referrals and connecting with all diverse local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.
Provide personalised support
* Meet people on a one-to-one basis, making 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 and respect with the person, providing non-judgemental and non-discriminatory support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. Work from a strength-based approach focusing on a person's assets.
* Be a friendly and engaging source of information about health, 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 responsibilities.
* Work with the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing.
* Help people maintain or regain independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
* Where appropriate, physically introduce people to community groups, activities and statutory services, ensuring they are comfortable, feel valued and respected. Follow up to ensure they are happy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.
* Seek advice and support from a Clinical supervisor (includes clinician within the GP Practice or local Safeguarding Team) to discuss patient-related concerns (e.g. abuse, domestic violence and support with mental health), referring the patient back to the GP or other suitable health professional if required.
Work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable
Working in conjunction with the staff and volunteers from host organisations:
* Develop strong, supportive working relationships amongst local VCFS organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups. This will enable partners to maintain existing network and build on what's already available to create a menu of diverse community groups and assets, who promote diversity and inclusion.
* Develop an up to date, working knowledge of the responsiveness of local groups to accept referrals and report any blockages/gaps to the host organisation.
* Work with local partners to identify unmet diverse needs within the community and gaps in community provision.
* Work with the host organisation to undertake a regular 'confidence/satisfaction survey' with community groups receiving referrals; to ensure that they are strong, sustained and have the support they need to be part of social prescribing.
* Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing to volunteer and give their time freely to others, building their skills and confidence and strengthening community resilience.
* Encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.
General tasks
Data capture
* 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. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.
Professional development
* Work with your line manager at the host organisation to undertake continual personal and professional development, taking an active part in reviewing and developing the roles and responsibilities.
* Adhere to organisational policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, equality, diversity and inclusion training and health and safety.
* Access support via the patients GP practice, to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that people present.
* Support the implementation of Personal Health Budgets, wherever appropriate.
Job Type: Part-time
Contract length: 7 months
Pay: £25,584.00 per year
Expected hours: 15 per week
Education:
* GCSE or equivalent (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
* Driving Licence (required)
Willingness to travel:
* 25% (required)
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 01/09/2025
Reference ID: SPLW-VCBWF