An exciting opportunity has arisen within Primary Care to work as a Social Prescribing Link Worker in our Churchill, Canbury, Orchard and Berrylands Primary Care Network (CCOB PCN). This role would be based at The Churchill Medical Centre and The Orchard Practice.
We are seeking someone to come to work with us who is interested in making a difference to the lives of our patients. The role is responsible for directing patients to services across the health sector, voluntary sector and other statutory agencies who can assist with their ongoing needs. To do this, you would need to take a holistic approach to addressing non‑medical/social issues in our patients lives, such has housing, debt or social isolation by connecting people to community groups, activities or services.
Main duties of the job
* Provide 1‑1 support to patients
* Promote social prescribing within our PCN and member practices to ensure appropriate referrals
* Provide personalised support to make effective change in our patients lives
* Work collaboratively with the community and voluntary sector
* Facilitate data capture work to capture key information, enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on patient health and wellbeing.
About us
We can offer a range of benefits to the successful candidate including six weeks annual leave, membership of the NHS Pension scheme and a competitive salary. The practices have a strong record of supporting further training and development for staff.
Job responsibilities
* Take referrals from a wide range of professionals working within primary, secondary and community care.
* Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes.
* Manage and prioritise your own caseload in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload.
* Have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health professionals or agencies, when what the person needs is beyond the scope of this SPLW role.
* Work as part of a multi‑disciplinary team in a patient‑facing role using expert knowledge within the SPLW areas and to promote social prescribing and its role in self‑management.
* Be proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, recognising what they need to be confident in the service to make appropriate referrals.
* Build relationships with key staff in GP practices within the local PCN, attending relevant meetings, particularly practice MDT meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on social prescribing.
* Update the practice clinical system with appropriate coding and activities undertaken.
* Seek out and collate regular feedback on social prescribing outcomes.
* Be proactive in encouraging self‑referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.
* Meet patients on a one‑to‑one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations policies and procedures.
* Be a friendly source of information about wellbeing and prevention approaches, helping people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and well‑being such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.
* Work with individuals to co‑produce a simple personalised support plan.
* Forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on what is already available.
* Actively signpost patients to the correct healthcare professionals, reviewing the latest guidance ensuring the practice social prescribing protocols conform to NICE, CQC etc.
* Provide targeted support and proactive reviews for vulnerable, complex patients and those at risk of admission and re‑admission to secondary care.
* Work with your line manager to access regular supervision, to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that people present.
* Support the PCN with the delivery of QOF, incentive schemes, QIPP and other quality or cost‑effectiveness initiatives.
* Work collaboratively with the PCN team.
* Participate in practice meetings, patient participation groups and other meetings to improve engagement with the role of the social prescriber.
* Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Science or equivalent.
* BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.
* Postgraduate qualifications in Pharmacy Services; BTEC.
Experience
* Experience of working in primary care, or in hospital or community pharmacy.
* Experience with EMIS Web and/or Docman.
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.
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