Wandsworth & Westminster Mind

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: / Community Navigator
Grade & Salary: / WM6(£ 26,176 - £29,513) pro rata
Hours of work: / Part time – 22.5 hours (3 days per week) – Wednesday - Friday
Line Management Reports: / none
Accountable to: / Central London CIC Primary Care Plus Service for day-to-day work
Managed by: / Services Manager Talking Therapies
Location: / Central London CIC head office or other sites as required

Job Purpose:

To provide telephone based psychological therapy and psychotherapy referral management and appointment booking
To provide allocated patients with telephone-based signposting to services available in the community – both free and (where charges apply, Personal Budget brokerage under Social Care worker supervision only) - based on detailed knowledge of the relevant access arrangements, eligibility criteria, service content, etc.

To assist people to access an assessment for Adult Social Care where appropriate, and to provide information in connection with ( personal budgets – see above)
To assist people to access primary care and community based support and wellbeing services
To develop tailored and up-to-date information on local community services and advise GPs on patient information / self-help resources to carry within their practices
To enable the impact of the service to be assessed and to inform the improvement of other local services by keeping electronic records of all referrals/interventions and producing regular reports on activity/outcomes, both for the project steering group and commissioners.
To work with the Central London CIC Patient Referral Service and Primary Care Liaison Service and Wellwatch teams.
To identify an agreed target number of new signposting agencies and services

Main responsibilities

1)PRS psychological therapy/psychotherapy referral coordination role:

Reviewing and approving referrals received from GP Practices including those to be subsequently assessed by PRS Clinicians and/or Primary Care Plus CPNs.
Actively call patients with a view to assisting them through the process and making their onward appointments into community or secondary care service providers.
Booking of appointments for all assessed referrals, either via Choose and Book or by email or fax to service providers.
Dealing appropriately with any booking or change request calls (or other correspondence), i.e. alteration of appointment booking or change of demographic details.
Maintain record of all activities carried out within customised Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, i.e. outbound calls, calls received, archiving any received correspondence.
Provide non-clinical information regarding both secondary care (via NHS Choices website) and community care (via CIS – internal database) services to allow patients to make an informed choice regarding their service provider.
Provide administrative support to Operations Manager and PRS Clinicians.
Ensure any messages/voicemails are dealt with appropriately and in a timely way.
Open and Close CLH office as required.
Open and distribute any incoming mail or faxes as appropriate.
Any other administrative tasks as required.

2)Signposting role:

To take signposting referrals from the host GP for individual patients.
To discuss with the person their needs, based on GP guidance, and to direct them to appropriate services. In addition to sources of direct support and help, this includes wider services and activities that may help to promote patients’ health, wellbeing and independence.
To provide the person, and their carer where appropriate, with written signposting information on what is recommended and how to access it. This is copied to the GP and any other professionals involved in the patient’s care.
The navigator will have access to adatabase of services, but will be expected to develop their knowledge further through local networking, also keeping up to date with service changes and developments.
Carrying out periodic audits of the signposting pathways provided by the Navigator team. Also navigating and developing the setup of new signposting pathways and referral routes with agencies or organisation based on the audit and any gaps or need for provision identified.

3)General responsibilities:

The navigator will feed back information on service quality and accessibility to Central London CIC Patient Referral Service. The Navigator is in a key position to identify opportunities and gaps.
The navigator will be expected to gather, record and collate referral and booking information in a prescribed format (CRM) in order to demonstrate the impact of the service.
The navigator will be required to produce reports, including monitoring reports, on a timely basis as required.
The navigator will work collaboratively with the other navigators supporting each other and meeting regularly as a team.
The navigator will take part in Central London CIC Patient Referral Service events and activities where applicable, and in consultation with their employment manager.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Skills/Qualifications

Health, social care or information and advice.
Mental Health / Psychology qualification / extensive relevant training

Skills and Knowledge

Computer literate, able to use email, the internet and web searches as standard applications and databases
Knowledge of Primary and Secondary care services and pathways
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
Numerate and literate, able to supply reports as required.
Has, or can show capacity to develop, a good knowledge of local services
Knowledge of personalisation and public health agendas, including holistic view of health and wellbeing
Multi-tasking utilising phone systems, IT & having excellent attention to detail

Experience

At least 1 years’ experience of working in health, social care or information and advice, in direct contact with service users - in a paid capacity. Ideally within a Primary Care or Community Mental Health setting.
Working with challenging or vulnerable patients who present with multiple or complex needs or risk history.
Experience of person-centred planning.

Personal Attributes:

This requires someone with a mature outlook, able to be supportive while being clear on boundaries.
Solution focused and able to work to service specifications and targets.
Ability to deal with challenging and vulnerable people and having the emotional resilience to manage difficult and upsetting conversations where necessary.
The post holder will be answerable to their host GP and will need to develop a positive relationship with them so that they feel able to refer patients on.
Tactful and diplomatic, able to build rapport with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Works in a systemised, process driven way, able to handle and manage a high level of volume of tasks and information

February 2017