Refugee and Asylum Seeker Service (RASS) Social Prescriber

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key responsibilities

Use social prescribing to empower refugees and asylum seekers in local hotels to take control of their health and wellbeing.

Spend time with service users to help them to focus on what matters to them and connect them to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.

Manage a caseload of service users through assessment to onward-referral, working with individuals in the RASS, as well as through outreach to local support services.

Promoting social prescribing while maintaining a focus on equity, and being proactive in developing strong links with local agencies.

Provide Personalised Support

Speak to people on a one-to-one basis, using interpreting services as required, giving service users 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 approached focusing on a persons assets.

Provide ongoing support for an allocated but short-term timeframe to promote engagement with identified services and achievement of goals

Be a friendly source of information about well-being and prevention approaches.

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

Where appropriate, physically introduce people to community groups, activities, and statutory services, ensuring they are comfortable.

The role is not intended to support individuals on a long term basis, but to help them to understand how they can support themselves better. It is not a crisis service but will be responsive to those who may present in crisis.

Support community groups and VCSE organisations to receive referrals

Forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available to create a map or menu of community groups and assets for the service users.

Develop supportive relationships with local VCSE organisations, local GP practices where refugees are registered, ABCs RASS, primary care network, social prescribers, community groups and statutory services, to make timely, appropriate and supported referrals for the person.

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.

Support local partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services where needed.

Other Key Tasks

Contribute to the development of the service and participate in support, supervision and training as required. The role is a non-clinical role, however the post holder will receive support from a GP clinical mentor within the team and supervision from a dedicated specialist trainer.

Attend meetings as appropriate and supporting any necessary project reporting.

Maintain standards and practice in relation to professional records/ record keeping.

Highlight any safeguarding concerns as a priority to the RASS clinical lead.

Adhere to all professional and clinical policies within ABC.

Be prepared to work flexibly and to travel across defined number of hotels in Sussex to deliver this service

Please see Job Description attached for full role responsibilities.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care, or equivalent qualifications or working towards.
• Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development

Desirable

• Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work)
• Experience of working with asylum seekers, refugees, homeless and/or other vulnerable groups
• Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations

Desirable

• Experience of trauma informed care/approach
• Experience of supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity
• Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services

Personal Qualities & Attributes

Essential

• Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way
• Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity
• Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities
• Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with people, their families, carers, community groups, partner agencies and stakeholders
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
• Have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health professionals/agencies, when what the person needs is beyond the scope of the link worker role e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner
• Able to work from an asset based approach, building on existing community and personal assets
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues
• Commitment to collaborative working with all local agencies (including VCSE organisations and community groups). Able to work with others to reduce hierarchies and find creative solutions to community issues
• Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines
• Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines
• Able to deal with exposure to distressing circumstances, or highly emotional events.
• Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative
• Understanding of the needs of small volunteer-led community groups and ability to support their development
• Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety

Other Requirements

Essential

• Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of the personalised care approach
• Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities
• Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports

Desirable

• Understanding of the asylum system
• Awareness of current Safeguarding guidelines and escalation pathways
• Experience of working with interpreters.
• Knowledge of GP clinical systems
• Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Alliance for Better Care CIC

Address

Horley Health Hub

120 Victoria Road

Horley

Surrey

RH1 1EB

Employer's website

https://allianceforbettercare.org/ (Opens in a new tab)