Band 4 Frailty Social Prescriber

The introduction of the Frailty virtual ward has provided an exciting opportunity to expand the services available to people living with Frailty within Birmingham.

The Frailty Social Prescriber Link Worker (FSPLW) will work alongside the Frailty team to provide individualised support to people living with frailty to build wrap around care and well-being service provision for people in their own homes.

A referral to a FSPLW is designed to support patients in being able to take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.

Social prescribing can help to strengthen community resilience and personal resilience whilst reducing health inequalities by addressing the wider determinants of health such as cost of living assistance, social needs, form completion and health and well-being supervision.

The post holder will be part of Birmingham Community Health Care Trusts Frailty team
- a team dedicated to supporting people living with frailty across Birmingham. A key component of the programme is the implementation of care at home with the support of the Frailty Virtual ward. They will act as an advocate for adults and their families, building a trusting relationship and support the activities of patient experience, outreach, to listen to, and feedback the views of our frail population.

IMPORTANT
- Please ensure you check your Trac account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you during the shortlisting and selection process.

You will have responsibility for managing a caseload, dealing with referrals, signposting, or referring people to specialist services, connecting people with community services to sustain seamless frailty care, providing continuity for their healthcare and wellbeing needs.

Your role involves working with people who might be experiencing issues with access to services connected to complex issues, so you will need good listening and communication skills and be able to build effective partnerships with a wide range of organisations and community groups. Being proactive forming a network with other Frailty co-link workers and primary care network Link Workers to navigate the person living with frailty to the right help/service.

To work together with all local partners to collectively ensure that local VCSE organisations and community groups are sustainable and that community assets are nurtured.

To build relationships within the virtual wards, attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on social prescribing.

To ensure that documentation is contemporaneous and accurate as within trust policy.

To 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 outcomes and enable a holistic approach to care.

To provide referral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing including training for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.

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

To meet with people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations’ policies and procedures giving people time to tell their stories and focus on what is important to them and building trust with the person, providing non-judgmental support, respecting diversity, and lifestyle choices