Counselling Social Prescribing Link Worker

Integrated Care System; North East; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization is seeking a Counselling Social Prescribing Link Worker to support patients in addressing emotional and social factors affecting their wellbeing. This role involves working with GPs and other professionals to connect patients with appropriate non-clinical support services. The ideal candidate will have a background in counselling or psychology, demonstrating a commitment to a holistic approach to health and well-being while working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team.

Benefits

Professional development opportunities

Supportive team environment

Qualifications

• Experience in counselling within the last 2 years.
• Ability to manage complex cases effectively.
• Experience working with patients directly.

Responsibilities

• Provide one-to-one appointments focusing on emotional wellbeing.
• Use active listening to develop support plans.
• Monitor and review patient progress.

Skills

Empathetic

Excellent communication skills

Organisational skills

Problem-solving

Attention to detail

Education

Qualification in counselling, psychology, or mental health

Tools

Microsoft Office

EMIS

SystmOne

Job description

Counselling Social Prescribing Link Worker

The Counselling Social Prescriber supportspatients referred by GPs and other health professionals to address emotional,social, and psychological factors impacting their wellbeing. Working alongsidehealth and voluntary sector partners, the role helps people build resilienceand connect with appropriate non-clinical and therapeutic supportsuch aslow-level talking therapies, community-based wellbeing activities, peersupport, or alternative counselling services.

This role is ideal for someone with abackground in counselling, psychology, or therapeutic practice who ispassionate about enabling people to make positive changes in their livesthrough a holistic, person-centred approach.

Main duties of the job

Thefollowing are the core responsibilities of the Counselling Social PrescribingLink Worker. There may be, on occasion,a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factorssuch as workload and staffing levels.

Provide one-to-one appointments to explorewhat matters to patients, focusing on emotional wellbeing and mental healthneeds.

Use active listening and trauma-informedapproaches to develop a person-centred support plan.

Identify and refer patients to suitablesupport services, including community counselling, wellbeing activities,self-help resources, mental health support groups, or statutory mental healthservices where appropriate.

Provide short-term supportive listening forpatients experiencing distress, anxiety, grief, or social isolation.

Maintain strong relationships with localmental health services, voluntary and community organisations, and counsellingservices.

Monitor and review patients progress,ensuring follow-up support and continuity of care.

Work as part of a multi-disciplinary teamincluding GPs, practice staff, social prescribers, mental health practitioners,and community workers.

Contribute to the mapping and development ofcommunity mental health and wellbeing resources.

Maintain accurate and timely records onpatient management systems (e.g. EMIS, SystmOne).

About us

This role falls under the NGPS Social Prescribing Service. The Counselling SPLW team in the Outer West PCN is made up of two other Counsellors who work collaboratively to provide counselling intervention to patients within the Outer West. The team often work remotely, and are supported by our Outer West Social Prescribing Team. Referrals are discussed and shared to assess which support is most appropriate between the Counselling staff and Social Prescribing staff.

Job responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities

Thefollowing are the core responsibilities of the Counselling Social PrescribingLink Worker. There may be, on occasion,a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factorssuch as workload and staffing levels.

Provide one-to-one appointments to explorewhat matters to patients, focusing on emotional wellbeing and mental healthneeds.

Use active listening and trauma-informedapproaches to develop a person-centred support plan.

Identify and refer patients to suitablesupport services, including community counselling, wellbeing activities,self-help resources, mental health support groups, or statutory mental healthservices where appropriate.

Provide short-term supportive listening forpatients experiencing distress, anxiety, grief, or social isolation.

Maintain strong relationships with localmental health services, voluntary and community organisations, and counsellingservices.

Monitor and review patients progress,ensuring follow-up support and continuity of care.

Work as part of a multi-disciplinary teamincluding GPs, practice staff, social prescribers, mental health practitioners,and community workers.

Contribute to the mapping and development ofcommunity mental health and wellbeing resources.

Maintain accurate and timely records onpatient management systems (e.g. EMIS, SystmOne).

Secondary Responsibilities

The Counselling Social Prescribing Link Worker will also beexpected to:

Manage their own workload and prioritiseeffectively

Undertake relevant training, ensure continuedprofessional development and engage with regular appraisal and supervision

Comply with information governance and dataprotection, including training on information security responsibilities,encryption, home working and remote access where applicable, as well as recordsmanagement and information quality responsibilities.

Take responsibility for their own health andwellbeing, promote wellbeing across the organisation, and support colleagues.

Identify, escalate and manage safeguardingreferrals

Report incidents and disseminate learning

Follow policies and processes

Support service development and continuousimprovement

Attend meetings on behalf of NGPS and thesocial prescribing team

Participate in audits, collect data, andsupport evaluation of the service.

Communication and relationships

The Counselling Social Prescriber should recognise the importance of effectiveinternal and external communication, and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with otherservice/team members in a timely manner.

Communicate effectively with patients a timelymanner

Recognise peoples needs for alternativemethods of communication and respond accordingly in a timely manner, this canbe via text, email or telephone calls.

Report patients who behave in an inappropriatemanner to the practice manager or project/service manager.

Treating others with empathy and kindness.

Accountability.

To ensure confidentiality of information(written, oral and electronic) is always preserved whether at or away fromwork.

To follow procedures to ensure compliance withthe Data Protection Act 1998.

To support and participate in initiatives toensure a safe and healthy environment for all practice users.

To respect, support, contribute to and takepersonal responsibility for implementing commitment to Diversity and Equalityof Opportunity.

To contribute to a culture of continuousimprovement.

To demonstrate commitment to ContinuingProfessional Development.

Generic responsibilitiesAll staff at NGPS have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

A good attitude and positive action towardsEquality Diversity & Inclusion creates an environment where all individualscan achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important forthree reasons it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the rightthing to do, and it is required by law.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly inrecruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environmentwhere diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff willnot be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, genderreassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race,religion, or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility toensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Support people who need assistance inexercising their rights and act as a role model in good practice relating toequality and diversity. Accept the rights of individuals to choose their careproviders, participate in care and refuse care. Assist patients frommarginalised groups to access quality care.

Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)

NGPS is committed to supporting and promotingopportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing and safety.

The post holder is to manage and assess riskwithin the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place toprotect staff and patients and monitor work areas and practices to ensure theyare safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and securitylegislation, policies, procedures, and guidelines.

All personnel have a duty to take reasonablecare of health and safety at work for themselves, their team, and others and tocooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safetyrequirements.

All personnel are to comply with the:

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999

Coronavirus Act 2020

Other statutory legislation which may bebrought to the post holders attention

Confidentiality

NGPS is committed to maintaining anoutstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect andretain sensitive information relating to their health and other matterspertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expectall staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality.

It is essential that, if the legalrequirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, allstaff must protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of NGPS'soutputs, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do but howthey achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able todevelop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work.

The responsibility for this rests witheveryone working within NGPS to look for opportunities to improve quality andshare good practice and to discuss, highlight and work with the team to createopportunities to improve patient care.

NGPS continually strives to improve workprocesses which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas ofour service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement whereeveryone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributionsto improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Staff should interpret national strategies andpolicies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the valuesand culture of general practice.

All staff are to contribute to investigationsand root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigationsand multidisciplinary case reviews.

All staff should assess their own performanceand take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and teamactivities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teamsperformance. Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meetpatients needs.

NGPS staff should effectively manage their owntime, workload and resources.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Qualification or training in counselling, psychology, mental health, or related field (e.g. Level 3+ counselling skills or equivalent experience).
• Registration or working towards registration with a professional body (e.g. BACP, UKCP).

Experience

• Counselling experience within the last 2 years.
• 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
• Experience in healthcare (specifically General Practice)
• Experience of delivering link work in a community setting
• Experience working with GP clinical systems
• Experience of supporting patients with long term needs over an extended time frame

Skills & Qualities

• 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
• 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
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Ability to work on your own initiative, use own judgement and make decisions.
• Able and willing to regularly work without direct supervision, using initiative.
• 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
• Evidence of a commitment to continuing professional development
• Person-centred and strengths-based
• Empathetic, non-judgemental, and culturally sensitive
• Committed to improving health equity and reducing barriers to support
• Considered, steady approach
• Diplomacy

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.