Social Prescribing Link Worker

NHS Jobs; Soham; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting Social Prescribing Link Workers to empower people to take control of their health and wellbeing in the Ely and surrounding communities.

You will provide personalised support, develop trusting relationships, and co-produce personalised support plans. The role requires collaboration with PCN practices, MDTs, and local agencies, with hybrid working from home, clinics, and community settings.

Qualifications

• This is a community-focused post requiring ability to build trusting relationships and empower individuals to manage health and wellbeing.
• Role involves taking referrals from multiple agencies and working with PCNs and MDTs.

Responsibilities

• Provide personalised support to individuals, families and carers to help them take control of their health and wellbeing.
• Develop trusting relationships and take a holistic approach based on the person's priorities.
• Co-produce a simple personalised support plan and refer to appropriate services and groups.
• Take referrals from PCN member practices, hospital discharge teams, allied health professionals, and local agencies.
• Work in the community across East Cambridgeshire and maintain caseloads, including home visits as needed.
• Attend Wellness Hub / Solution Finding Group sessions in Ely.

Job description

The principle of Social Prescribing is to empower people to take control of their health and wellbeing. Social Prescribing Link Workers are able to offer individuals time and information. They take a holistic approach to the persons health and wellbeing and help the person focus on what matters to them, and in the context of their local communities. Link Workers will help connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical, social and emotional support, and work collaboratively with community partners to support existing and new groups to be accessible and sustainable. Social prescribing can help PCNs to strengthen personal, and community, resilience. Increasing peoples active involvement with their local communities can reduce health and wellbeing inequalities by addressing the wider determinants of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical inactivity. This approach particularly works for people with long term conditions including support for mental health, for people who are lonely or isolated, or have complex social needs that affect their wellbeing. Social Prescribers already working with the Ely PCNs have had a positive impact on Practices and patients and communities. Key aspects of the role Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to help them take control of their health and wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes. Develop trusting relationships by giving people time and focus on what matters to me. Take a holistic approach, based on the persons priorities. Work with individuals, to co-produce a simple personalised support plan to address the persons health and wellbeing needs based on the persons priorities, interests, values and motivations. To take referrals from a wide range of agencies. These agencies might include for example PCN member-Practices and Practice 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 organisations. This is a community focused post. The post-holder will be expected to work with clients and colleagues in the community across East Cambridgeshire. As such, the post-holder will be expected to have access to their own vehicle. This is a hybrid role and will involve working from home, working from practices, attending meetings and working in the community depending on the needs of the service and the clients. All social prescribers are expected to attend every Wellness Hub / Solution Finding Group, in person. These run every other Tuesday afternoon and are held in Ely. The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload, working both independently and as part of a team. It is vital that you 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 persons needs are beyond the scope of the link worker role e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner. Draw on and increase the strengths and capacities of local communities, enabling local VCSE organisations and community groups to receive social prescribing referrals. Alongside other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team, work collaboratively with all local partners to contribute towards supporting the local VCSE organisations and community groups to become sustainable and that community assets are nurtured, through sharing intelligence regarding any gaps or problems identified in local provision with commissioners and local authorities. Social prescribing link workers will have a role in educating non-clinical and clinical staff within their PCN multi-disciplinary teams on what other services are available within the community and how and when patients can access them. This may include verbal or written advice and guidance. As part of the PCN multi-disciplinary team, build relationships with staff in GP practices within the local PCN, attending relevant MDT meetings, 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. Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach. Meet people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisations 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. Show an awareness of Mental Capacity Act principles, including the starting presumption of capacity and a persons right to make unwise decisions. Help people maintain or regain independence through living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards. Seek advice and support from the GP supervisor and/or identified individual(s) to discuss patient-related concerns (e.g. abuse, domestic violence and support with mental health), referring the patient back to the GP or other suitable health professional if required. Forge strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups, utilising their networks and building on whats already available to create a menu of community groups and assets. Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about the person they are referring. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies about the people they referred. Work with commissioners and local partners to identify unmet needs within the community and gaps in community provision. The above is not an exhaustive list and a job description / Person Specification is also attached in supporting documents.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust