Social Prescriber

Job responsibilities

Referrals

Promoting social prescribing, its role in self-management, and the wider determinants of health.

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.

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.

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.

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

Seek regular feedback about the quality of service and impact of social prescribing on referral agencies.

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

Provide personalised support

Meet people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations policies and procedures. Give people time to tell their stories and focus on what matters to them. Build trust with the person, providing non-judgemental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. Work from a strength-based approach focusing on a person's assets.

Be a friendly source of information about wellbeing and prevention approaches.

Help people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.

Work with the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing.

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

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 signposted to and what the person can do for themselves to improve their health and wellbeing.

Evaluate how far the actions in the care and support plan are meeting the patients' health and well-being needs.

Where appropriate, physically introduce people to community groups, activities and statutory services, ensuring they are comfortable. Follow up to ensure they are happy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.

Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, 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.

Support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals

Develop supportive relationships with local VCSE organisations, community groups and statutory services, to make timely, appropriate and supported referrals for the person being introduced.

Ensure that local community groups and VCSE organisations being referred to have basic procedures in place for ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safe and, where there are safeguarding concerns, work with all partners to deal appropriately with issues. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.

Have a role in educating non-clinical and clinical staff within the PCN through verbal or written advice or guidance on what other services are available within the community and how and when patients can access them.

Undertake continual personal and professional development, taking an active part in reviewing and developing the roles and responsibilities.

Adhere to organisational policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.

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

Duties may vary from time to time, without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.

The post holder will be require to have completed the NHS England and online learning programme accessed via the Personalised Care Institute website or be enrolled in, undertaking or qualified from appropriate training including training or apprenticeships to obtain a level three occupational standard, as set out in the Workforce Development Framework for Social Prescribing Link Workers.

They will also be required to attend the peer support networks delivered at place or system by the ICS in the region in order to deliver the key responsibilities outlined above.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

Essential

• Ability to gathers information and adapt questioning style for individual needs.
• Demonstrate active listening.
• Empathise with individuals, their thoughts, feelings and actions.
• Confidently approach difficult conversations.
• Communicate according to needs and preferences.
• Undertake personalised care and support planning.
• Assess and adapt to individual levels of activation and health literacy.
• Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure.
• Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• High level of written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative.
• Adhere to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.
• Knowledge of systems for accessing support i.e. benefits, housing, local services, council tax relief etc.
• Ability to liaise with local services to facilitate ongoing and in some instances long-term support for patients.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications & Training NVQ Level 3, Advanced level or equivalent qualifications or working towards Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support, mental health or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work)

Desirable

• Completion of the NHSE/I online learning programme.
• Enrolled in or qualified in appropriate training as set out by the Personalised Care Institute for Social Prescribing Link Workers.
• Mental Health First Aid training.

Personality & Other Requirements

Essential

• Commitment to high standards
• Positive approach
• Calm under pressure
• Sense of humour
• Willingness and ability to travel independently across footprint
• Willingness to work flexibly
• Commitment to continuing personal and professional development

Experience

Essential

• Experience of dealing with people and carers, demonstrating the ability to communicate effectively and empathetically, to instil confidence in patients and carers.
• Working in a health or social care setting.

Desirable

• Experience of working in Primary Care.
• Experience working autonomously delivering one-on-one with patients
• Experience of working with mental health issues.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).