Lead Social Prescriber in Bury

Are you an experienced social prescribing professional ready to shape a service and lead a team? We're looking for a Lead Social Prescriber to provide strategic and operational leadership for our social prescribing service across Bury. This is a unique opportunity to combine hands‑on clinical work with service development, team leadership, and system‑wide influence. You’ll manage our Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers, support the wider team of social prescribers, and hold a caseload of our most complex individuals. You’ll also act as our primary link with Bury VCFA, strengthening connections between social prescribing and the voluntary and community sector. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on variety; one day you might be supporting a resident through a difficult life transition, the next you’re presenting to commissioners or developing a new pathway with partners. We offer a supportive, values‑driven environment where your expertise will directly shape how we deliver community‑centred care. You’ll have genuine autonomy to develop the service, invest in your team, and influence Bury’s approach to population health. If you’re passionate about reducing health inequalities and believe in the power of community, we’d love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

• Lead and manage the Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers, ensuring effective service delivery across Whitefield, Prestwich, and North, West and East Bury.
• Support all social prescribers through group supervision, reflective practice, training coordination, and being accessible for complex case advice.
• Hold a clinical caseload of the most complex individuals, modelling best practice in person‑centred, strengths‑based support.
• Provide service cover during team absence to maintain continuity for residents.
• Act as the primary liaison with Bury VCFA, attending forums, sharing intelligence, and collaborating on joint initiatives.
• Oversee service quality, including safeguarding, clinical governance, policies, and performance against KPIs.
• Represent social prescribing at borough‑wide and Greater Manchester forums.
• Drive service development, contributing to strategy, funding bids, and pathway redesign.
• Champion staff wellbeing, fostering a resilient, learning‑oriented team culture.

About us

Bury GP Federation – BGPF is a federation of 23 GP practices within Bury, Greater Manchester, providing a platform for collaboration, knowledge‑sharing and coordination. Through working at scale, we redirect resources into delivering at‑scale support, relieving capacity pressures and enabling local general practice to maintain high standards of care for patients and to keep pace with best practice. We are proud of the services that we run. Our four core objectives are:

• A reliable support organisation providing a range of services for our practices, achieving greater organisational efficiency through collaboration and reducing duplication, maximising the economic advantages of delivering primary care at scale.
• A respected service provider able to attract investment into primary care to help sustain local general practice, delivering a more expansive range of at‑scale services available closer to patients’ homes.
• A GP‑led, patient‑centred partner organisation working collaboratively with our practices and our partners across health and social care to facilitate the enhanced delivery of responsive, high‑quality and innovative services across Bury and GM.
• A trusted voice for primary care providing at‑scale leadership and in partnership with the LMC and PCNs, able to advocate for and support our shareholder practices.

Job responsibilities

Purpose of the Role

To provide strategic and operational leadership for the social prescribing service across Bury. The Lead Social Prescriber will oversee service delivery, manage the Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers, and drive quality improvement. The role combines leadership responsibilities with direct clinical work, holding a caseload of the most complex individuals and providing cover during periods of team absence to ensure service continuity. The postholder will act as the primary liaison with Bury VCFA (Voluntary, Community and Faith Alliance), strengthening the connection between social prescribing and the wider voluntary and community sector. The postholder will represent social prescribing at borough‑wide and system‑level forums, bridging front‑line delivery with strategic planning.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Delivery

• Hold a caseload of the most complex individuals, including those with multiple long‑term conditions, significant social challenges, or requiring multi‑agency coordination.
• Provide expert social prescribing support using advanced assessment skills and a trauma‑informed, strengths‑based approach.
• Model best practice in person‑centred care and holistic wellbeing planning.
• Provide caseload cover during periods of planned and unplanned absence across the team, reallocating work as needed to maintain service delivery.
• Offer clinical advice and case consultation to Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers and the wider team on complex or high‑risk cases.

Team Support & Development

• Provide professional oversight, guidance, and support to all social prescribers across the service.
• Ensure social prescribers have access to regular group supervision, reflective practice sessions, and peer support opportunities.
• Identify training and development needs across the team and coordinate appropriate learning opportunities.
• Support Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers in their mentoring and guidance of local social prescribers.
• Create opportunities for whole‑team connection, shared learning, and consistent practice across neighbourhoods.
• Be accessible to social prescribers for advice on challenging cases, safeguarding concerns, or professional dilemmas.
• Monitor staff wellbeing and support a culture that prioritises resilience and prevents burnout.

VCSE Partnership & Bury VCFA Liaison

• Act as the primary point of contact between the social prescribing service and Bury VCFA.
• Attend relevant VCFA meetings, forums, and working groups on behalf of the service.
• Work with Bury VCFA to maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of community assets, services, and gaps across the borough.
• Collaborate on joint initiatives, training, and capacity‑building with the voluntary and community sector.
• Feed intelligence from VCFA networks into service planning and development.
• Support the Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers to build effective local VCSE relationships within their patches.

Leadership & Management

• Line‑manage the Neighbourhood Senior Social Prescribers, providing regular supervision, appraisal, and professional‑development support.
• Ensure effective deployment of staff across neighbourhoods/PCNs to meet demand.
• Monitor team capacity and manage workload distribution, stepping in to provide direct cover when required.
• Foster a positive, learning‑oriented team culture.
• Lead recruitment, onboarding, and retention activity for the social prescribing team.

Service Oversight & Quality

• Maintain oversight of service performance against KPIs, outcomes, and contractual requirements.
• Ensure consistent, high‑quality delivery across all neighbourhoods and PCNs.
• Develop and maintain policies, procedures, and practice guidance.
• Lead on safeguarding, clinical governance, and risk management within the service.
• Champion continuous improvement, evidence‑based practice, and innovation.

Strategic Development

• Contribute to the strategic direction of social prescribing within Bury’s health and care system.
• Identify opportunities to expand or develop the service in response to emerging needs.
• Lead on business cases, funding applications, and service redesign where required.
• Build partnerships with commissioners, PCNs, VCSE infrastructure, and other stakeholders.

System Representation

• Represent social prescribing at borough‑wide and GM‑level forums.
• Act as the senior point of contact for external partners, commissioners, and system leaders.
• Communicate service impact through reports, presentations, and case studies.
• Advocate for the value of social prescribing and community‑centred approaches.

Data, Evaluation & Learning

• Oversee data collection, reporting, and analysis across the service.
• Use insight to inform service planning, workforce development, and commissioning conversations.
• Support evaluation activity and contribute to research or learning networks.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to social prescribing, health coaching, community development, or a related field.
• Personalised Care Institute accreditation or equivalent social prescribing training.
• Degree or equivalent qualification in health, social care, public health, community development, psychology, or a related discipline.
• Level 3 or above qualification in health coaching, motivational interviewing, or behaviour change.
• Management or leadership qualification (e.g., ILM Level 3/5, CMI, or equivalent).
• Training in safeguarding (Level 3 or above).
• Mental health awareness or Mental Health First Aid certification.

Experience

• Substantial experience in social prescribing, community health, or a related field, including at a senior or supervisory level.
• Demonstrable expertise in working with individuals with complex, multi‑faceted needs.
• Proven ability to lead, manage, and develop a team.
• Experience supporting, mentoring, and developing staff at different levels.
• Strong understanding of the health and care landscape, including primary care, VCSE sector, and population health approaches.
• Experience building and maintaining partnerships with voluntary and community sector organisations.
• Experience of service development, quality improvement, or change management.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to interpret data and use evidence to inform decision‑making.
• Flexibility to manage own caseload alongside leadership duties and provide cover as service needs require.
• Commitment to equity, inclusion, and addressing health inequalities.
• Existing relationships with Bury VCFA or local VCSE organisations.
• Management or leadership qualification.
• Experience of contract or budget management.
• Knowledge of Greater Manchester health and care structures.
• Track record of successful partnership working at a strategic level.
• Training in trauma‑informed practice, motivational interviewing, or coaching approaches.
• Experience facilitating group supervision or reflective practice.

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.