Social Prescriber

Company	Primary CareSee more
Address	Great Dunmow, Essex
Salary	TBC
Category	Healthcare

Job description

South Uttlesford Primary Care Network has an exciting opportunity for a Social Prescribing Link Worker to join our friendly, dynamic and progressive primary care network on either a full-time basis or part-time basis.

Social prescribing empowers people to take control of their health and wellbeing through referral to non-medical ‘link workers’ who give time, focus on ‘what matters to me’ and take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.

Link workers support existing groups to be accessible and sustainable and help people to start new community groups, working collaboratively with all local partners.

Social prescribing can help to strengthen community resilience and personal resilience, and reduces health inequalities by addressing the wider determinants of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical inactivity, by increasing people’s active involvement with their local communities. It 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 which affect their wellbeing.

The main responsibilities of the role include:

Receiving and managing all referrals from multi-agencies;
Providing personalised support to vulnerable individuals;
Working in partnership with the practice team to support patients and promote positive lifestyle changes, with the aim of preventing ill-health by means of behavioural change techniques;
Completing holistic-care planning assessments, analysing how needs can be met by services and other opportunities available in the community;
Providing information and advice about a wide range of services in order to promote health and well-being in order to support independence within communities;
Forging strong links with local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood level groups;
Contributing to reducing demand on statutory services, hospital admissions and to combat unnecessary GP appointments;
Working with patients in the practice, or with patients in their own homes, to provide personalised person-centred support.

If this role appeals and you have the qualities we are looking for, we look forward to hearing from you. If you would like an informal discussion regarding this role, please contact Sue Wray, [email protected].

Request

If you are a local community champion or already a social prescriber, and want a new and exciting challenge, then we would love to hear from you.

You will need to have the following skills :

Experience of working within healthcare, the voluntary or community sectors, supporting vulnerable groups;
Diploma Level 2 in Health and Social Care, or equivalent qualification or experience;
Strong listening and communication skills;
You will be familiar with local resources and services and how to access them;
Motivated by helping people, with care and empathy;
Ability to deliver person-centred support in a non-judgmental way;
Experience of completing holistic, person-centred care-planning assessments;
Understanding of the needs of small, volunteer-led community groups and the ability to support their development;
Commitment to collaborative working with all local agencies;
Experience and confidence in the delivery of lifestyle change interventions.