Social Prescribing Link Worker

Job responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the SPLW. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent on factors such as workload and staffing levels.

Referrals

a. Take referrals from a wide range of agencies; be proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, provide updates and offer training where required.

b. Build relationships with key staff in GP practices within the local PCN, attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on social prescribing.

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

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

e. Manage and prioritise your own workload.

Provide personalized support.

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

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

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

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

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

k. Work with individuals to co-produce a simple personalized 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.

l. 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.

m. Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, help them to explore this option as a way of providing funded, personalized support to be independent, including helping people to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.

Support community groups and VCSE organizations to receive referrals.

n. Forge strong links with local VCSE organizations, community and neighborhood level groups, utilizing their networks and building on whats already available to create a map of menu of community groups and assets. Use these opportunities to promote micro-commissioning or small grants if available.

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

p. Ensure that local community groups and VCSE organizations 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.

q. Check that community groups and VCSE organizations meet in insured premises and that health and safety requirements are in place. Where such policies and procedures are not in place, support groups to work towards this standard before referrals are made to them.

r. Support local groups to act in accordance with information governance policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018

Work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable.

s. Work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision.

t. Support local partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services where needed, through small grants for community groups, micro-commissioning and development support.

u. Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing to volunteer and give their time freely to others, in order to build their skills and confidence, and strengthen community resilience.

v. Develop a team of volunteers within your service to provide buddying support for people, starting new groups and finding creative community solutions to local issues.

w. Encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.

x. Provide a regular confidence survey to community groups receiving referrals, to ensure that they are strong, sustained and have the support they need to be part of social prescribing.

Data capture

y. 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.

z. Encourage people, their families, and carers to provide feedback and to share their stories about the impact of social prescribing on their lives.

aa. Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they are referring. Use the case management system to track the persons progress. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred.

bb. Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS/SystmOne and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Training and development

a. Undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes. Be involved in actively seeking training that would benefit the role and remain in communication with line manager regarding areas of interest for personal development and training opportunities.

b. Attend a formal appraisal with their manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed.

Safeguarding

a. Identify and escalate Safeguarding concerns as appropriate to both Adult Social Service sand NGPS line management.

b. Report all incidents relating to work to line management regarding patient or staff safety or anything that classes as a significant event.

Manage sickness and holiday absence in line with your patient calendar and referral stream. Keep practices informed of any absence as well as NGPS line management with as much advance notice as possible for the smooth running of the service.

Skills

Essential

• Skills and ability to manage complex cases to best meet service user need
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and show initiative
• Excellent organisation and time management skills, with a proven ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to network and build collaborative relationships
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of Microsoft Office packages e.g. Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Excellent organisation and time management skills
• Keen attention to detail and ability to produce work to a high standard
• Forward thinker with a solutions-focused approach to problem-solving
• Personable and approachable
• Commitment to continuous service improvement
• Self-motivated and confident able to work with minimal direction
• Adaptable and innovative
• Enthusiasm, with energy and drive
• Hard working, reliable and resourceful
• Ability to work flexibly, and outside of core hours where required
• Considered, steady approach
• Diplomacy

Experience

Essential

• Experience as a social prescriber
• Experience of signposting to and navigating complex service users' needs
• Experience of working in a demanding environment with competing priorities
• Experience of handling confidential information and an up-to-date knowledge of data protection legislation
• Experience of team working and versatility to take on a variety of tasks
• Experience of managing your own workload and independently manage your time
• Experience in communicating with others, including via phone, email and face to face and experience of working with patients directly in patient facing roles
• Experience of working with service users, and excellent customer service skills
• Experience and understanding of Safeguarding; legislation, policies, and escalation

Desirable

• Experience in healthcare (specifically General Practice)
• Experience working with GP clinical systems
• Experience in supporting and developing others
• Experience of working within a budget
• Experience of support patients with long term needs over an extended time frame

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to GCSE or equivalent experience gained through employment, with evidence of effective numeracy, literacy and word processing skills
• Training relevant to social prescribing, such as mental health first aid or counselling qualifications
• Evidence of a commitment to continuing professional development

Desirable

• Degree level study
• Social prescribing qualification
• HR qualification, training or equivalent experience

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).