Senior Social Prescriber in Worcester

Overview

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide general administrative support to the Team Leader.
• Draft and support development of service documents.
• Be point of contact for the team when the Team Lead is on annual leave, training, or sick leave.
• Lead on projects such as group work, drop-ins, and partnership projects with VCSE.
• Review referrals with the Care Co-ordinator.
• Co-lead team meetings if the Team Leader is unavailable.
• Network and attend meetings in the Team Leader’s absence.
• Support Team Leader with induction, training and mentoring of new staff.
• Support Team Leader with caseload reviews as needed.
• Support people by connecting them to community-based activities, groups and services that meet their practical, social and emotional needs, including specialist advice services, arts and culture, physical activity, and nature and green-based activities.
• Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes.
• Help people identify wider issues which impact on their health and wellbeing such as debt, poor housing, unemployment, loneliness and caring responsibilities.
• Co-produce personalised plans with the patient to improve health and wellbeing, introducing or reconnecting people to community groups and statutory services.
• Manage and prioritise caseload, in accordance with needs, priorities and urgent support required by individuals; refer people back to other health professionals and agencies where appropriate.
• Work within local communities and develop/maintain good working relationships with the VCSE sector/local community groups and organisations.
• Work within appropriate safeguarding procedures and practices.
• Build effective relationships with key staff in GP practices, attending relevant meetings and becoming part of the wider network team.
• Work in partnership with other local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribing and to promote the service widely and its benefits.
• Use appropriate systems for data capture, case management, feedback and reporting and adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements.
• Work as part of the Wellbeing Services Team as well as the wider PCN, sharing best practice and maintaining strong working relationships.

Other Responsibilities

• This role will involve working in different locations, including occasional home visits, and will require you to travel. The ability and means to travel independently within Worcestershire is essential.
• Provide mentoring on a one-to-one basis as required.
• There may be occasional evening and weekend work.
• A commitment to personal, professional and organisational development.

Collaborative Working Relationships

• Recognises the roles of other colleagues within the organisation and their role to patient care.
• Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other NHS/private organisations e.g. CCGs).
• Demonstrates ability to work as a member of a team.
• Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary.
• Liaises with other GP Practices and staff as needed for the collective benefit of patients.

Confidentiality:

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately. In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post holder will have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source, and held in any format, is to be regarded as strictly confidential. Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to communicate effectively with other team members and with patients and carers. Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.

Health & Safety

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and procedures. This will include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Identifying risks involved in work activities and undertaking activities in a way that manages those risks.
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
• Active reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised.
• Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, assisting in maintenance of general standards of cleanliness.
• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually).
• Reporting potential risks identified.

Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include: acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation; respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues; behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.