Social Prescribing Link Worker

Job summary

An excitingopportunity has arisen for a self-motivated individual to join our Social Prescribing Team.This role will be primarily based at our Buttershaw surgery but will require travel toour other sites.

We are a caring and committed team whose aim is to improve thehealth of our community by delivering high quality patient care, whilstmaintaining a fulfilling working environments for all and are dedicated tomaintaining our investors in people accreditation.

At the Ridge, we have a well ingrained way of working and strongculture of teamwork to make sure that we deliver the very best care for ourpatients at all times. This is evident in the way in which everyone works andacts daily and the way we run the practice and make decisions about theservices we offer and run now and into the future.

The practice is committed to sustainable working and places highregard to our local and wider environment. We are participating in the GreenImpact Scheme and are actively looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint.

As a disability confident employer, we have acommitment to

Ensure our recruitment process is inclusive/accessible

Communicating/promoting vacancies

Offering an interview to disabled people

Anticipating and providing reasonable adjustments asrequired

Supporting existing employees who acquires adisability or long-term health condition, enabling them to stay in work

Main duties of the job

Key Responsibilities

1.Take referrals from a wide range of care and community servicesand managing caseload

2.Undertake holistic assessments and develop tailored PersonalAction Plans with individuals as appropriate, to identifying support needs toensure maximum engagement in improving their confidence, self-esteem, healthand well-being in their environments whilst recognising the boundaries of thelink worker role

3.Commitment to reducing healthinequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities

4.Develop and encourage relationships within thelocal communities and community service providers to ensure a great services toforward referrals from the social prescribing team

5.Work together with all local partners tocollectively ensure that local VCSE organisations and community groups aresustainable and that community assets are nurtured

6. Advocate for theSocial Prescribing project across a range of stakeholders including medical andcommunity groups

7. Be flexible, person-centred andembrace changing approaches to delivery at all times, in order to ensure thatthe Project is fully responsive to and accommodating of the needs, wishes andaspirations of the people who use it

8. Undertake additional duties asrequested by the Senior Social Prescriber and or Community Engagement SocialPrescribing Link Worker. The above list of main tasks in this job descriptionshould, therefore, not be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive.

About us

Whats in it for you?

Excellent annual leave entitlement which grows withservice (NHS continuous service is recognised).

Opportunity to join the NHS pension scheme.

Access to employee assistance programme 24/7 365 daysa year.

NHS staff discounts

Cycle to work scheme

Access to an onsite mental health first aider

Onsite gym equipment available for staff use

Onsite parking

Job description

Job responsibilities

Social prescribing empowers people to take control of their healthand wellbeing through referral to non-medical link & well being workerswho give time, focus on what matters to me and take a holistic approach,connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical andemotional support. Link & Well Being Worker will support existing groups to be accessible andsustainable and help people to start new community groups, workingcollaboratively with all local partners.

Social prescribing can help to strengthen community resilience andpersonal resilience and reduces health inequalities by addressing the widerdeterminants of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical inactivity, byincreasing peoples active involvement with their local communities. Itparticularly works for people with long-term conditions (including support formental health), for people who are lonely or isolated, or have complex socialneeds which affect their wellbeing.

The Social Prescribing Team work across a diverse range ofcommunity groups including Elderly, Youth and those with a Learning Disability.

Salary: Dependent onSkills and Experience

Reporting line: The role reports to the Senior Social Prescriber

Key Responsibilities

1.Take referrals from a wide range of care and community servicesand managing caseload

2.Undertake holistic assessments and develop tailored PersonalAction Plans with individuals as appropriate, to identifying support needs toensure maximum engagement in improving their confidence, self-esteem, healthand well-being in their environments whilst recognising the boundaries of thelink worker role

3.Commitment to reducing healthinequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities

4.Develop and encourage relationships within thelocal communities and community service providers to ensure a great services toforward referrals from the social prescribing team

5.Work together with all local partners tocollectively ensure that local VCSE organisations and community groups aresustainable and that community assets are nurtured

6. Advocate for theSocial Prescribing project across a range of stakeholders including medical andcommunity groups

7. Be flexible, person-centred andembrace changing approaches to delivery at all times, in order to ensure thatthe Project is fully responsive to and accommodating of the needs, wishes andaspirations of the people who use it

8. Undertake additional duties asrequested by the Senior Social Prescriber Community Engagement SocialPrescribing Link Worker. The above list of main tasks in this job descriptionshould, therefore, not be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive

Key Behaviours

Empathy

Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person- centred support in a non-judgemental way

Accuracy & Efficiency

Must be able to work efficiently with an evolving workload whilst maintaining accuracy or administrative records

Inter-Personal Skills

Must possess excellent inter-personal skills and be able to work with a number of stakeholders at all levels

Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity

Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues

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

Adaptable & Resilient

Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure

Organisation & Time Keeping

Must be able to manage own time against workload and combine regular routine activity with varying ad hoc requests

Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines

Analytical & Problem Solving

Must be able to analyse, interpret and challenge data and reports and provide suitable alternative positions that support the overall financial and commercial objectives of the organisation

Creative & Motivational

Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential

Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with people, their families, carers, community groups, partner agencies and stakeholders

Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks

Decision Making & Tact

Must be comfortable making decision at management level combined with the tact and initiative required at that level and balance with ability to communicate with all community groups and referrals within their own environments.

Risk Management

Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals

Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working 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

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NVQ Level 3, advanced level or equivalent qualifications or working towards. Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development

Desirable

Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience

Experience

Essential

Understanding of the needs of small, volunteer led community groups and ability to support their development. Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety. Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health / health improvement (including unpaid work) Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health / health improvement (including unpaid work) Experience of working in the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations 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 skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports

Desirable

Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality Knowledge of the personalised care approach Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to access the impact of services Experience of supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity

Other

Essential

Meet DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes

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