Social Prescribing Link Worker x 2 (18 + 24 months FTC)

Job Description

It is an exciting time to become part of the Social Prescribing movement in North West Surrey. Working in partnership with the newly formed Primary Care Networks as well as the North West Surrey Integrated Care Partnership, Runnymede Borough Council has received funding to recruit a Social Prescribing Link Worker to support residents in the Virginia Water, Egham and Staines areas. In addition, you may be required to work in other locations across Runnymede including the Runnymede Council office in Addlestone.As a Social Prescribing Link worker, through referrals by GP’s and other healthcare professionals, you will work with residents to identify their needs and requirements and link them to community groups that can help them to become more independent, physically active, increase their skill base, to obtain advice or to become more socially connected and to signpost to relevant services that will help them to generally lead a healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle.Through social prescribing, you will empower people to take control of their health and wellbeing by focussing on what matters to them and take a holistic approach, connecting people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. Referrals may be made for any one of a number of reasons, including inactive lifestyles, loneliness and isolation, anxiety, financial concerns, poor nutrition and those struggling with daily routine.To be successful in this role you will need to have experience of working in support or advice role and working face to face with customers or service users. You will have experience of working in either a local government, health or voluntary sector organisation. Knowledge of the communities to be served by the post applied for, as well as services available locally is desirable but not essential.As a Social Prescribing Link Worker, you will need to be calm, reassuring, personable and empathetic when working supporting residents, as well as being honest, reliable and flexible in providing the support and direction required. You will also be able to tailor your approach in order to communicate information effectively. You will be having appointments with clients in a variety of settings including their own homes, GP practices and community venues.You will be organised, able to work independently and manage your time well to ensure you are able to meet changing workloads. You will need to be confident in the use of ICT and in completing notes and spreadsheets accurately.Posts are funded for a fixed term of 18 + 24 months with the potential for arrangements to be extended beyond this date, dependent on the availability of funding.As the recruitment process will be including representatives from Primary Care, in applying for the position you are as a result giving consent to your information being shared with such representatives.Please note: The post requires frequent travel around the borough in delivering the Social Prescribing service, including providing occasional transport to residents accessing services. Therefore, an essential car user allowance is applied to this post, making it essential that you have access to a car for work purposes on a daily basis.For more information or an informal discussion please contact Darren Williams.Please apply online at surreyjobs.info. Full information, including the Job Description, Person Specification and other details about Runnymede Borough Council, is available in the Extra Information attachment on the website. If it is difficult for you to apply online, please contact Human Resources.We welcome applications from all sections of the community. Please provide an email address where possible as you will be contacted by email if you are selected to attend for an interview.If you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, you should assume that unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.Closing date: Sunday 12th July 2020Interview date week commencing: Thursday 23rd July 2020