Social Prescribing Link Worker inDarlington inDarlington PUBLISHED 18 NOV 2024

The Living Well Service empowers people to take control of their health and wellbeing through referral to a social prescribing link worker who gives people the time they need to focus on what 'matters to me'. Social prescribers take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. They also support existing groups to be accessible and sustainable and help people to start new community groups, working collaboratively with all local partners.

This role is to support clients aged 18+ with mild or long-term mental health issues, people who are vulnerable or isolated, those who struggle to manage long-term conditions such as pain, diabetes, long covid, anxiety or limiting long-term illness.

A driving licence and access to a car would be advantageous due to travel required on occasions

interviews for this post will be held 27th November

**Please note this advert may close early if we receive a large number of applications**

Promoting the Living Well Service and its role in facilitating independence and in building community and personal resilience.

Creating a wellbeing assessment that takes into consideration the role and possible impact of the wider determinants of health on wellbeing.

Build relationships with key staff in GP practices within Darlington, attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on the role of social prescribing.

Be proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, recognising what they need in order to be confident in making appropriate referrals.

Provide referral agencies with regular updates about the development of the service, including training for their staff on how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.

Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities.

About us

Key responsibilities:

1. Take referrals from a wide range of agencies including GP practices within primary care networks, pharmacies, 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 (VCSE) organisations (list not exhaustive).

2. Provide personalised support to individuals, their families and carers to take control of their wellbeing, live independently and improve their health outcomes.

3. Develop trusting relationships by giving people time to focus on what matters to me.

4. Based on the persons priorities and the impact of the wider determinants of health on their life, you will co-produce a personalised wellbeing plan to improve their health and wellbeing that will include connecting or reconnecting them to community groups and activities and statutory services where appropriate.

5. The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload. 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 person needs is beyond the scope of the link worker role e.g. when there is a mental health need requiring a qualified practitioner.

6. Draw on and increase the strengths and capacities of local communities, enabling local VCSE organisations and community groups to receive social prescribing referrals. Ensure they are supported, have basic safeguarding processes for vulnerable individuals and can provide opportunities for the person to develop friendships, a sense of belonging, and build knowledge, skills and confidence.

7. Work together with all local partners to collectively ensure that local VCSE organisations and community groups are sustainable and that community assets are nurtured, for example by making them aware of small grants or micro-commissioning if available, including providing support to set up new community groups and services, where gaps are identified in local provision.

Key Tasks

Referrals

Promoting the Wellbeing Service and its role in facilitating independence and in building community and personal resilience.

Creating a wellbeing assessment that takes into consideration the role and possible impact of the wider determinants of health on wellbeing.

Build relationships with key staff in GP practices within Darlington, attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the wider network team, giving information and feedback on the role of social prescribing.

Be proactive in developing strong links with all local agencies to encourage referrals, recognising what they need in order to be confident in making appropriate referrals.

Work in partnership with all local agencies to raise awareness of social prescribing.

Provide referral agencies with regular updates about the development of the service, including training for their staff on how to access information to encourage appropriate referrals.

Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that statutory agencies may find hard to reach.

Provide personalised support

Meet people on a one-to-one basis, making home visits where appropriate within organisational 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 strengths-based approach focusing on a persons assets.

Be a friendly source of information about wellbeing and prevention approaches.

Help people identify the wider issues that impact on their health and wellbeing, such as debt, poor housing, being unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.

Work with the person, their families and carers and consider how they can all be supported through social prescribing.

Help people maintain or regain independence through the development of everyday living skills, adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.

Work with individuals to co-produce a simple personalised support plan based on the persons priorities, interests, values and motivations.

Manage expectations by explaining clearly what they can expect from the groups, activities and services they are being connected to and what the person can do for themselves to improve their health and wellbeing.

Where appropriate, accompany people to community groups, activities and statutory services, ensuring they are comfortable. Follow up to ensure they are happy, able to engage, included and receiving good support.

Where people may be eligible for a personal health budget, help them to explore this option as a way of providing funded, personalised support to be independent, including helping people to gain skills for meaningful employment, where appropriate.

Support local groups to act in accordance with information governance policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Work collectively with all local partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable

Support local partners and commissioners to develop new groups and services where needed.

Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing to volunteer and give their time freely to others, in order to build their skills and confidence, and strengthen community resilience.

Develop a team of volunteers within your service to provide buddying support for people, starting new groups and finding creative community solutions to local issues.

Encourage people, their families and carers to provide peer support and to do things together, such as setting up new community groups or volunteering.

General tasks

Data capture

Work sensitively with people, their families and carers to capture key information, enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.

Encourage people, their families and carers to provide feedback and to share their stories about the impact of the services on their lives.

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 closely with GP practices within the PCN to ensure social prescribing referral codes are inputted to SystmOne so that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked.

Adhere to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the clinical commissioning group (CCG).

Professional development

Work with your line manager to undertake continual personal and professional development activities.

Take an active part in reviewing and developing your roles and responsibilities as a social prescriber.

Adhere to organisational policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance and health and safety.

Work with your line manager to access regular caseload management, peer supervision, clinical supervision and guidance on becoming a reflective practitioner as this will enable you to deal sensitively and effectively with the difficult issues that people present.

Miscellaneous

Collect feedback from your clients on the social prescribing service you delivered.

Adopt a curious, open-mind, innovate approach to solution-finding.

Be prepared to actively seek out ways to improve the Wellbeing Service and raise the profile of social prescribing in Darlington.

Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner.

Duties may vary from time to time, without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.

Special Working Conditions

The post-holder is required to have access to their own transport and to travel independently between practice sites across the Network, visit clients in their own homes (when appropriate to do so) and to attend in-person and virtual meetings hosted by other agencies.