Job responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities
The
following are the core responsibilities of the Counselling Social Prescribing
Link Worker. There may be, on occasion,
a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors
such as workload and staffing levels.
Provide one-to-one appointments to explore
what matters to patients, focusing on emotional wellbeing and mental health
needs.
Use active listening and trauma-informed
approaches to develop a person-centred support plan.
Identify and refer patients to suitable
support services, including community counselling, wellbeing activities,
self-help resources, mental health support groups, or statutory mental health
services where appropriate.
Provide short-term supportive listening for
patients experiencing distress, anxiety, grief, or social isolation.
Maintain strong relationships with local
mental health services, voluntary and community organisations, and counselling
services.
Monitor and review patients progress,
ensuring follow-up support and continuity of care.
Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
including GPs, practice staff, social prescribers, mental health practitioners,
and community workers.
Contribute to the mapping and development of
community mental health and wellbeing resources.
Maintain accurate and timely records on
patient management systems (e.g. EMIS, SystmOne).
Secondary Responsibilities
The Counselling Social Prescribing Link Worker will also be
expected to:
Manage their own workload and prioritise
effectively
Undertake relevant training, ensure continued
professional development and engage with regular appraisal and supervision
Comply with information governance and data
protection, including training on information security responsibilities,
encryption, home working and remote access where applicable, as well as records
management and information quality responsibilities.
Take responsibility for their own health and
wellbeing, promote wellbeing across the organisation, and support colleagues.
Identify, escalate and manage safeguarding
referrals
Report incidents and disseminate learning
Follow policies and processes
Support service development and continuous
improvement
Attend meetings on behalf of NGPS and the
social prescribing team
Participate in audits, collect data, and
support evaluation of the service.
Communication and relationships
The Counselling Social Prescriber should recognise the importance of effective
internal and external communication, and will strive to:
Communicate effectively with other
service/team members in a timely manner.
Communicate effectively with patients a timely
manner
Recognise peoples needs for alternative
methods of communication and respond accordingly in a timely manner, this can
be via text, email or telephone calls.
Report patients who behave in an inappropriate
manner to the practice manager or project/service manager.
Core principles
Treating others with empathy and kindness.
Accountability.
To ensure confidentiality of information
(written, oral and electronic) is always preserved whether at or away from
work.
To follow procedures to ensure compliance with
the Data Protection Act 1998.
To support and participate in initiatives to
ensure a safe and healthy environment for all practice users.
To respect, support, contribute to and take
personal responsibility for implementing commitment to Diversity and Equality
of Opportunity.
To contribute to a culture of continuous
improvement.
To demonstrate commitment to Continuing
Professional Development.
Generic responsibilities
All staff at NGPS have a duty to conform to the following:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
A good attitude and positive action towards
Equality Diversity & Inclusion creates an environment where all individuals
can achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for
three reasons it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right
thing to do, and it is required by law.
Staff have the right to be treated fairly in
recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment
where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will
not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender
reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race,
religion, or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to
ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.
Support people who need assistance in
exercising their rights and act as a role model in good practice relating to
equality and diversity. Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care
providers, participate in care and refuse care. Assist patients from
marginalised groups to access quality care.
Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)
NGPS is committed to supporting and promoting
opportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing and safety.
The post holder is to manage and assess risk
within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to
protect staff and patients and monitor work areas and practices to ensure they
are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security
legislation, policies, procedures, and guidelines.
All personnel have a duty to take reasonable
care of health and safety at work for themselves, their team, and others and to
cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety
requirements.
All personnel are to comply with the:
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Environmental Protection Act 1990
Environment Act 1995
Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999
Coronavirus Act 2020
Other statutory legislation which may be
brought to the post holders attention
Confidentiality
NGPS is committed to maintaining an
outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and
retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters
pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect
all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality.
It is essential that, if the legal
requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all
staff must protect patient information and provide a confidential service.
Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)
To preserve and improve the quality of NGPS's
outputs, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do but how
they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to
develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work.
The responsibility for this rests with
everyone working within NGPS to look for opportunities to improve quality and
share good practice and to discuss, highlight and work with the team to create
opportunities to improve patient care.
NGPS continually strives to improve work
processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of
our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where
everyone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions
to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.
Staff should interpret national strategies and
policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values
and culture of general practice.
All staff are to contribute to investigations
and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigations
and multidisciplinary case reviews.
All staff should assess their own performance
and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team
activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams
performance. Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet
patients needs.
NGPS staff should effectively manage their own
time, workload and resources.
