Social Prescribing Link Worker

Job responsibilities

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. To provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes

1. To develop trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to me

1. To manage and prioritise your own caseload in accordance with the needs, Teldoc priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload

1. To 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

1. To 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

1. 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

1. To build relationships with key staff in GP practices within the local Primary Care Network (PCN), attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on social prescribing

1. To ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS system and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the CCG

1. To liaise with the practices and, where practicable, to standardise the social prescribing process across the PCN

1. 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

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

1. To meet 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 matters to me and building trust with the person, providing non-judgemental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. The role requires working from a strength-based approach focusing on a persons assets

1. To be a friendly source of information about wellbeing and prevention approaches

1. To help people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and well-being such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities

1. To help people maintain or regain independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards

1. To participate in the management of patient complaints when requested to do so and participate in the identification of any necessary learning brought about through incidents and near-miss events

1. To work with individuals to co-produce a simple personalised support plan s. Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, to 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

1. To forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available

1. To work with your line manager to undertake continual personal and professional development, taking an active part in reviewing and developing the roles and responsibilities

1. To work with your line manager to access regular clinical supervision, to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that people present

1. To undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes

Confidentiality:

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & safety:

The post-holder will oversee a full range of promotion and management their own and others health and safety and infection control, as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines
• Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes
• Monitoring practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that provision of hand-cleansing facilities, wipes etc. are sufficient to ensure a good clinical working environment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate.
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector ...