Social Prescriber

eQuality PCN; Luton; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A Primary Care Network is seeking a Social Prescriber Link Worker in Luton to empower individuals in managing their health and well-being. You will collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team, addressing health access and wider determinants such as poverty and isolation. Ideal candidates will have experience in community health and strong interpersonal skills. This role offers a supportive environment and is crucial for addressing health inequalities in the community.

Qualifications

• Experience in community development in health and social care.
• Experience supporting people with mental health concerns.
• Knowledge of social prescribing models.

Responsibilities

• Provide personalized support for individuals to improve their well-being.
• Take referrals and offer consultations, including home visits.
• Develop personalized support plans and liaise with various stakeholders.

Skills

Listening Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Motivational Coaching

Team Collaboration

Education

General Education (English and Maths GCSE)

NVQ Level 3 or equivalent

Tools

MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams)

GP Clinical IT (Systm1)

Job description

A social prescriber link worker (SPLW) works alongside a team withingeneral practice and within the Primary Care Network (PCN) and empowers peopleto take control of their health and well-being.

We have a permanent vacancy for a Social Prescriber to join oursupportive, busy and friendly team. The successful candidate will play animportant role in complementing our Health and Wellbeing Coaches and othermembers of the PCN multi-disciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

This role helps people to work on their wider health and wellbeing,specifically addressing health access and outcomes and wider determinants oftheir health, such as debt, poor housing, and physical inactivity, as well asother lifestyle issues and low-level mental health concerns by increasingpeoples active involvement with their local communities. This approachparticularly helps people with long term conditions (including support formental health), people who are lonely or isolated, or who have complex socialneeds which affect their wellbeing.

You must be a good listener, have time for people and be committed tosupporting local communities to care for each other. You should have experienceof working positively with people facing complex social and emotionalchallenges. You will have great interpersonal skills in supporting people,community groups and local organisations.

The postholder will work with a diverse range of people from differentcultural and social backgrounds. The ability to work confidently andeffectively in a diverse, and sometimes challenging environment is essential.We are committed to having a workforce from diverse backgrounds that is supported to work with local communities to improve healthaccess and outcomes for all.

In addition to the Link Worker element of the role ,the candidate will be able to assist with the monitoring & management of caseloads and reporting for the SP & HWBC team to the PCN manager.

About us

eQuality PCN is a forward-thinking Primary Care Network comprising 5practices across the Luton area, providing services for over 50,000 patients.Our aim is to provide exemplary patient care, finding innovative solutions ingeneral practice to deliver the best care we can to our patients.

The 5 practices comprise: Blenheim Medical Centre, Larkside Practice,The Ashcroft Practice, Stopsley Village Practice and Bute House Practice.

The successful candidate must be available to work across all siteswithin the PCN and also be prepared to work at community based events within the Luton area.

Job responsibilities

Social prescribing can help to strengthen community resilience andpersonal resilience and reduces health inequalities by addressing the widerdeterminants of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical inactivity, byincreasing people's active involvement with their local communities. Itparticularly works for people with long-term conditions (including support formental health), for people who are lonely or isolated or have complex socialneeds which affect their well-being.

As a Social Prescriber Link Worker, you will empower people to takecontrol of their health and well-being through identifying the wider issuesthat impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, beingunemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities. You will process referralsto other non-medical link workers and connecting people to community groups andstatutory services for practical and emotional support.

Principal Accountabilities

• Take referrals from GPpractices within our PCN, providing digital or practice-based consultationswith patients (and possibly carers etc) and occasional community-basedappointments. i.e. home visits, and community service events.
• Provide personalised supportto individuals, their families and carers to take control of their well-being,live independently and improve their health outcomes.
• Develop relationships bygiving people time to focus on what matters to them. Take a holistic approach,based on the person's priorities and the wider determinants of health.
• Co-produce a personalisedsupport plan to improve health and well-being, introducing or reconnectingpeople to community groups and statutory services.
• Liaise and communicate withpatients, carers, advocates, health and social care professionals, voluntarysectors and stakeholders involved in the well-being of your caseload andcommunities.

The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload, inaccordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required byindividuals on the caseload. It is vital that you have a strong awareness andunderstanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back toother health professionals when what the person needs is beyond the scope ofthe link worker role e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring aqualified practitioner.

This Job Description describes the main purpose and key responsibilitiesand accountabilities of the post. The post holder may be required to undertakeany additional duties or responsibilities as may reasonably be required.

To reflect changing needs and priorities, some elements of this post maybe subject to change and where required, any appropriate communication orconsultation with the post holder will be undertaken prior to making anychanges.

Qualifications

• A good standard of general education, including English and Maths to GCSE level A* to C
• Computer literate with basic competence with MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, MS Teams etc)
• Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience
• NVQ Level 3, Advanced level or equivalent qualifications or working towards

Experience

• Experience working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work)
• Experience in supporting people, their families and carers in a related role (including unpaid work)
• Experience in supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity
• Experience with social prescribing models.
• Knowledge of GP clinical IT systems (Systm1)
• Experience in data collection and using tools to measure the impact - of services
• Experience in partnership/collaborative working and building relationships across a variety of organisations
• Experience working in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Experience working with voluntary organisations including volunteers.
• Experience in producing individual care plans.
• Experience in managing a caseload.
• Experience in supporting people in a paid or unpaid capacity.

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.