We have an amazing Fraility Team and are looking to expand. If you genuinely care for your patients, value holistic care and a friendly team, we look forward to seeing your applications.
social prescriber/link worker
Closing date 22nd February 2021
Job overview
The main purpose of this role is to:
- Support the Aspen Medical Practice (AMP) primary care clinical team to deliver individualised and wrap-around services for people with additional needs. This is envisaged to be chiefly frail older people and those with learning disabilities (LD), but working age adults will also be part of the case management process.
- To improve the wellbeing of registered patients and their carers by working in partnership with Gloucestershire CCG networks, district and county councils and community/voluntary sector organisations to enable the integration of available care services.
- Working with our community matron on case management for patients with complex needs.
Main duties of the job
This role involves working with a broad spectrum of our patients and third parties, in the practice and in the community. We are therefore looking for an individual with excellent people and communication skills who can adapt their approach to each circumstance. You must be highly organised and able to manage your time, resources, and competing priorities in and structured and efficient way.
You will be working as part of a small team within the AMP. This will require you to be a team player and be able to work independently. You will be curious, willing to research and develop the optimum care plan for each patient. You will be expected to make and maintain contact with local social prescribing providers and help develop network and knowledge of referral routes to and from service providers.
About us
Having merged from four practices in 2018, AMP is now a single practice with just under 30,000 patients. Operating from a modern surgery in central Gloucester and two branch surgeries, we work together as one multi-disciplinary team to provide the best possible service for our patients.
AMP has a strong ethos of encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyles to achieve wellbeing and prevent illness. Our Eat Real Food programme educates patients about lower carbohydrate diets to manage and prevent Type 2 diabetes and metabolic illness. We are seeing an extraordinarily positive impact on participants lives. We aim to offer wider access to this approach to many more of our patients.
We are an Active Practice and support our colleagues to be physically active for their own benefit and to inspire our patients. Sustainability is also important to us, and we are actively greenifying our practice. We would be delighted to welcome a social prescriber to our team who shares these values.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The key responsibilities for this role are:
- To work with patients, using behaviour techniques such as motivational interviewing to support them to identify, set and meet achievable goals to improve their physical and emotional wellbeing.
- To work with patients in their own homes, or in one of our three GP surgeries, to signpost them to local services/organisations which the patient themselves feel would be of benefit to reach their goals. These services may include, befriending, weight management, mental health support, smoking cessation, local social groups, leisure centres and volunteering.
- To work with partner organisations to support the development and delivery of an integrated care plan for the client so all their needs are met in a holistic way.
- To follow up with patients, update their records and support them on an ongoing basis.
- To complete Frailty Plans and Respect forms.
- To be able to do basic set of observations on patients including pulse, blood pressure, temperature, pulse oximetry, urinalysis.
- Recognising sick patient and referring onward appropriately.
- To take blood tests when needed.
- To take part in vaccination programmes including giving flu vaccinations.
- To make and maintain contact with local social prescribing providers and build a network and knowledge of referral routes to and from service providers
- To participate in the Practices frailty multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings on a regular basis, and safeguarding processes when appropriate.
- To undertake regular training to extend and update own knowledge of health and wellbeing issues
Please download our Social Prescriber Job Description for full details of the role and person specification.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
It is essential you are qualified to A – Level standard.
Desirable
It is desirable you hold Health and wellbeing or motivational interviewing qualifications.
Experience
Essential
It is essential that you are:
- Working in a health and wellbeing or leisure and fitness or public or voluntary sector environment
- Working in a customer-facing role
- Delivering lifestyle change/brief interventions
Desirable
It is desirable that you are/have
- Using motivational interviewing techniques
- Working in a health trainer/advisor role
- Working with vulnerable people
- Working in partnership with community organisations
- Promoting and/or marketing services to other organisations / the public
- An understanding of the processes and procedures for safeguarding adults and children.
Skills and Knowledge
Desirable
These are skills and knowledge it would be high desirable for you to have:
- Excellent people skills, interacting with all types of people and able to change communication style to fit the person
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Comfortable working with people from public, private and voluntary organisations
- Good one-to-one interviewing skills
- Highly organised, managing time, resources and competing priorities in a structured and efficient way
- Highly motivated and willing to go out of your way to help clients
- Creative problem solver and willing to search for hard-to-find information
- Good IT and administrative skills
- Good understanding of health issues and the wider determinants of health and wellbeing
- Knowledge of brief interventions, behaviour change, motivational change
- Knowledge of social prescribing
- Understanding of health, wellbeing and community service
- Full driving licence and access to a car
Please visit www.beta.jobs.nhs.uk/aspen-medical-job-advert for more information.