Social Prescriber (PCN)

This is a superb opportunity for a friendly, engaging, and empathetic Social Prescribing Link Worker to join Central 1 PCN to support and empower people to take control of their health and wellbeing.

We are looking for individuals to work 1:1 with people, focusing on what matters and building a trusting relationship with patients. The role helps people to work on their wider health and wellbeing, supporting health outcomes and wider determinants of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical inactivity, as well as other lifestyle issues and low-level mental health concerns; by increasing people's active involvement with their local communities.

Working hours are flexible and open to discussion at interview. This role is up to 37.5 hours per week, which will include some evenings and weekends working across Central 1 PCN and the Enhanced Access Service.

The closing date for applications is 5 January 2025; however, we reserve the right to close the advert earlier due to the volume of applications.

Main duties of the job

A social prescriber is a link worker who empowers people to take control of their health and wellbeing through giving time, focusing on what matters to them, and taking a holistic approach. The post holder works to connect people to community groups as well as statutory services for practical and emotional support. Social Prescribers 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 perfect for you if you enjoy working with people, are a good listener, can think creatively, and can make beneficial connections between people and organisations. You should be proactive in getting to know and support local community assets and should be motivated by helping people to become active and independent members of their local community. You will be working with people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds and will need to work confidently and effectively in a diverse, and sometimes challenging environment. You will be a team player and will learn quickly and on your own initiative. You must be confident with computers as the role will include learning new specialist software such as GPEMIS.

One of our most desired additional skills for this role would be the ability to engage with our diverse population who face significant health inequalities using community languages.

More on the role of a Social Prescriber is in the documents and video attached.

About us

Newham Health Collaborative CIC (NHC) is a GP federation representing all the GP practices within the borough of Newham, covering over 400,000 registered patients. We are established as a Community Interest Company, wholly owned by our 43 GP practice members. We invest any surplus we secure into services for primary care and our patients.

You will be working with Central 1 PCN in Newham, working closely with Clinical Directors, GPs and Practice Managers as well as other members of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT).

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS, NHC continues to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid-19. The safety of our staff and Newham's patients is a top priority for us at NHC.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be deployed in a specific Primary Care Network working in partnership with the practice teams in that network to support patients and promote lifestyle changes, preventing ill-health by means of behaviour change techniques. The post requires a good understanding of social prescribing, well-being, and community services and an ability to provide motivational and behavioural techniques.

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; and 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.

We recognise that existing social prescribing schemes may employ link workers on a different salary scale; however, this proposed salary reflects the complexity of the situations that people present with, and the need for a significant level of multi-agency working, including supporting community groups to receive referrals.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3, Advanced level or equivalent qualifications or working towards.
• Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development.
• Training in motivational coaching and interviewing or equivalent experience.

Personal Qualities and Attributes

• Ability to listen, empathise with people and provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way.
• Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity.
• Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities.
• Able to support people in a way that inspires trust and confidence, motivating others to reach their potential.

Experience

• Experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work).
• Experience of supporting people, their families and carers in a related role (including unpaid work).
• Experience of working with the VCSE sector (in a paid or unpaid capacity), including with volunteers and small community groups.
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations.
• Experience of working with a Personalised Care Support Plan (PCSP).
• Experience of supporting people with their mental health, either in a paid, unpaid or informal capacity.
• Experience of data collection and providing monitoring information to assess the impact of services.

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with people, their families, carers, community groups, partner agencies and stakeholders.
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals.
• 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.
• Able to work from an asset-based approach, building on existing community and personal assets.
• Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks.
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues.
• Commitment to collaborative working with all local agencies (including VCSE organisations and community groups). Able to work with others to reduce hierarchies and find creative solutions to community issues.
• Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure.
• Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• High level of written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative.
• Understanding of the needs of small volunteer-led community groups and ability to support their development.
• Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.

Knowledge

• Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities.
• Knowledge of community development approaches.
• Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports.
• Knowledge of motivational coaching and interview skills.
• Knowledge of the personalised care approach.
• Knowledge of VCSE and community services in the locality.

Other

• Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions.
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required to meet work demands.
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes.
• An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust.
• Commitment to continuing professional development.
• Positive and flexible approach to work.
• Ability to travel and work from different sites.
• Professional, calm and efficient manner.

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.

£31,163 to £34,189 a year incl. of Outer HCAS (depending on experience).