Wisbech Primary Care Network Ltd

Social Prescriber

This job is now closed

Job summary

Wisbech Primary Care Network (PCN) is recruiting a Social Prescriber to support patient care in the development of the Primary Care Network.

The PCN has a population of approximately 50,000 patients and comprises of 4 Practices North Brink Practice, Trinity Surgery, Clarkson Surgery and Parson Drove Surgery. The post holder will work alongside clinicians and other staff across the Wisbech Network as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

Take referrals from a wide range of agencies, working with GP practices within primary care networks, pharmacies, multi-disciplinary teams, hospital discharge teams, allied health professionals, fire service, police, job centres, social care services, housing associations, and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations (this list is not exhaustive).

Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes. Co-produce a personalised support plan to improve health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting people to community groups and statutory services.

The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload. Work together with all local partners to collectively ensure that local VCSE organisations and community groups are sustainable and that community assets are nurtured, by making them aware of small grants or micro-commissioning if available, including providing support to set up new community groups and services, where gaps are identified in local provision.

About us

The nature of your appointment with Wisbech Primary Care Network will require you to work across the Wisbech locality for all four practices, namely Clarkson Surgery, North Brink Practice, Trinity Surgery and Parson Drove Surgery. We may also require you to work, on occasions, at other locations and will include home working at the discretion of the PCN Manager and the requirements of the role.

You will work as part of the Social Prescriber team, which is currently a team of four and as part of the wider PCN organisation which is made up of approximately 37 people and includes a GP, clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, care coordinators, mental health and wellbeing practitioners, nurse associates, general practice assistants and management.

Please submit your application as soon as possible as this vacancy may close sooner if sufficient applications are received earlier than the closing date.

Date posted

14 January 2025

Pay scheme

Other

Salary

£12.48 an hour £24,402 per year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

W0012-25-0000

Job locations

Wisbech Primary Care Network Ltd

7 North Brink

Wisbech

Cambridgeshire

PE13 1JU

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Tasks:

Referrals

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

Build relationships with key staff in GP practice 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.

See 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

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, adaptions, 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. Follow up to ensure they are happy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.

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

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 to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.

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 what is already available to create a map or menu of community groups and assets. Use these opportunities to promote micro-commissioning or small grants if available.

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.

Check that community groups and VCSE organisations meet the standard for 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Data capture

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.

Work closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted onto SystmOne and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical commissioning group (ICB).