Age UK Social Prescribing GP Link Worker

This is a temporary position until March 2026

Job Title/ position

GP Link Worker

Location

Homebased, but travel in locality of Stevenage & North Herts required, both to GP Surgeries and service user homes to carry out face to face support sessions.

Hours

22 hours per week

Salary

£26,334 pro rata

Contract

Temporary until March 2026

Reports to

Locality Manager

Essential Requirement

UK Driving License and access to own car

The Service

Commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council in 2017, the Hospital & Community Navigation Service (HCNS) is comprised of seven voluntary organisations who, working as a partnership, provide hospital discharge and social prescribing services to Hertfordshire residents. HCNS is pleased to announce a recent successful tender application for the service contract for another three years until March 2027. The partner organisation hosting this role is British Red Cross.

HCNS provides a free countywide Social Prescribing Service for Hertfordshire, designed to support individuals to improve and maintain health and wellbeing The Hospital & Community Navigation service has teams based locally that will understand their local populations, and support people over the age of 18 who are returning home from hospital or are in need of additional support due to ill health. Helping to find, navigate and access community-based support. The aim of the service is to empower service users to make positive changes to their lives so they feel more resilient and in control.

Main purpose of the role:
• Support those who are struggling with issues such as social isolation, housing, finances, not understanding or managing their health or wellbeing and making sure they have any advice and help needed to access appropriate services.
• Work with community based health and social care providers such as GP surgeries and associated professionals, adult care services and voluntary sector organisations to assist individuals who are in need of additional support and guidance (outside of statutory services) to ensure problems and issues do not worsen and lead to crisis.
• Support people being discharged from hospital and reduce the likelihood of readmission by helping them to regain and retain independent living.As well as finding and accessing further support.

Responsibilities
• Hold a caseload of clients and provide support and information to those clients, so they can build sustainable relationships with groups and activities which will help build resilience and independence.
• Record and report activities undertaken and highlight any changes in a service users condition or circumstance and ensure that appropriate actions are taken to support the person.
• Liaise with primary care, social care, health, housing and other professionals to ensure that the needs of the individual are consistently met.
• To create short, medium and longer-term goals with clients, through on-going personalised care and support planning, to provide appropriate support and achieve positive outcomes.
• Build strong professional and collaborative relationships with colleagues within their Primary Care Network, attending relevant meetings and being part of the network team;
• Use HCNS and Primary Care Network case management system to record and share progress.
• Via HCNS and each GP surgery, access regular clinical supervision meetings to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that people present.
• Assess the service users living environment through carrying out a risk assessment and providing information/advice whilst respecting their individual dignity, choice and rights.
• Accurately record, collate and produce qualitative and quantitative data required to demonstrate outcomes.
• Collect equipment like walkers and commodes from local hospitals and deliver them to clients.
• Carry out essential shopping or collecting prescriptions.
• Carry out urgent welfare checks and visits as required.
• To occasionally provide transport to service users home by car on discharge from hospital wards, A&E departments & community hospitals.
• To undertake training as required and be prepared to travel throughout appropriate areas to attend any relevant meetings.
• Undertake any other relevant duties that may be required by the management teams or wider service leads.
• Willingness to work flexibly around the needs of the service.

Service Delivery
• Deliver great outcomes for individuals and the service.
• Ensure that clients develop sustainable relationships with organisations and services.
• Link clients to existing resources in the community to help them to live well and avoid crisis.
• Focus on tackling health inequalities through the identification of the most vulnerable communities.
• Accurately record, collate and produce qualitative and quantitative data required to demonstrate outcomes.
• Ensure that social prescribing referral codes are inputted to EMIS/SystmOne/Vision and that the persons use of the NHS can be tracked, adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements with the Integrated Care Board (ICB).
• Comply with Health & Safety policies including, but not limited to, those on lone working, manual handling and infection control.
• Ensure service users health and wellbeing is preserved and safeguarding policies and procedures are followed at all times.
• Work with colleagues to ensure that health and safety legislation and risk assessments are understood and implemented.
• Work in partnership with Primary Care Networks, the District and Borough Councils, Housing Associations, local Voluntary Organisations and Forums to ensure that the project is effectively used and understood.
• Identify gaps in services and relay to management.
• Adhere to policies and procedures regarding data protection and confidentiality.

HCNS Person Specification

Skills & Knowledge
• Demonstrates a passion for delivering agreed outcomes.
• Works well under pressure.
• Self-motivated and able to carry out tasks with minimal supervision.
• Strong team player and able to work effectively as part of a locality, area and Countywide team.
• Flexible, innovative and adaptable and has a can do approach and attitude.
• Good understanding of the voluntary and statutory sector and ideally the specific locality area.
• Skilled at using user feedback to demonstrate outcomes and improve services.
• Demonstrates personal accountability.
• Works confidently with service users, partners and stakeholders to find effective solutions.
• Effective administrative skills and an excellent standard of IT skills including MS Office, the internet and appropriate software.
• To have experience or the ability to confidently learn new systems or databases i.e. Clear 2 system, Charity Log, Salesforce, Joy etc.
• Able to work and travel throughout the area on a regular basis as appropriate, and more widely as required.

Experience
• Recent experience of working directly in a community development context, adult health and social care, learning support or public health/health improvement (including unpaid work) is essential.
• Experience of liaising with agencies (statutory and voluntary) on a day to day basis.
• Working in the public sector or a charitable organisation providing services to the public.

Subject to satisfactory references and an Enhanced DBS check