PCN Children & Adults Social Prescribing Link Worker

Job responsibilities

The post holder will promote social prescribing, its role in self-management, and the wider determinants of health and be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach. This will include helping people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities; and helping people maintain or regain independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards. The post holder will encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.

The post holder will manage and prioritise their own caseload, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals. The post holder must have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health professionals / agencies when the persons needs are beyond the scope of the link worker role e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner.

Collaboration

The post holder will build relationships with key staff in GP practices within the PCN, attend relevant meetings, and become part of the wider network team. The post holder will 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. This will include working 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. The post holder will seek regular feedback about the quality of

service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies and will provide referral agencies with regular updates about social prescribing, including training for their staff and how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.

Personalised support

The post holder will meet people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations policies and procedures and give people time to tell their story and focus on what matters to me. This will include building trust with the person, providing non-judgmental support and respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. The post holder will work with individuals to co-produce a simple personalised support plan based on the persons priorities, interests, values and motivations including what they can expect from the groups, activities and services they are being connected to and what the person can do for themselves to improve their health and wellbeing. Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, the Social Prescribing Link Worker will help them to explore this option as a way of providing funded, personalised support to be independent, including helping people to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.

Community groups and VCSE organisations

The post holder will support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals, forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighborhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available to create a map of community groups and assets. This will include ensuring that local community groups and VCSE organisations being referred to have basic procedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safe, that they meet in insured premises and that health and safety requirements are in place and that they act in accordance with information governance policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, the post holder will support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them. The post holder will work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable and work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision. This will include supporting local partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services where needed, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning and development support.

Data Capture

The post holder will 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 and encourage individuals to provide feedback and to share their stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives. This will include undertaking client needs assessments using the ONS4 Wellbeing and Patient Activation Measure (PAM) questionnaires pre- and post-interventions to assess the

impact on the clients wellbeing. The post holder will use the case management system to track the persons progress and provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.

Communication

Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment.

Recognise the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating.

Delivering a quality service

Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and ...