Age UK Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – Residents Representative/Advocate

*Please note that previous candidates need not apply

Post Title:
Department:
Responsible to:
Based: / Residents Representative/ Advocate
Advocacy
Community Services Manager
Nottingham / Pay Scale:
Hours of Work:
Tenure:
Date of issue: / £19,238 per annum
(£19,238-£21,057p/a, NJC points 20-23)
37 hours per week
November 2016 – October 2017 in the first instance
October 2016

PURPOSE OF THE DEPARTMENT/SERVICE

Age UK Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (AUNN) provides a range of Advocacy Services to people across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. They are based in a variety of settings including hospitals, in the community and for people residing in Care Homes. The Resident Representatives provide support and representation to older people in a care setting on a wide variety of issues.

PURPOSE OF THE POST

The post holder will be employed by AUNN to provide a Residents’ Representative Service to older people residing in a care home in Gedling, Hucknalland areas bordering the City. The service will provide a holistic, client-led service which provides independent representation, advocacy and support especially during the implementation of the enhanced primary care service which aligns a care home to a named GP practice.

The primary function of the role is to understand the needs of care home residents, provide advocacy and/or representation that facilitates self-expression, promotes autonomy and independence.

The residents’ representative will provide an independent service that provides information, someone to discuss concerns and difficult decisions with, represent residents where required and facilitate lines of communication.

The Residents’ Representative will liaise with other professionals and agencies, whilst remaining independent and keeping the individual’s wishes at the forefront of everything they do.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Residents Representative Support

The post holder will be responsible for:

  1. Visiting all care homes in the allocated area, to inform residents of the new service
  2. Liaise and update care home managers/staff on key issues, as required
  3. Using questionnaires and surveys to seek the views of residents, care home managers and staff about health care service provision to care homes and the Residents’ Representative service
  4. Promoting the Residents’ Representative Service to residents, relatives and care home staff in groups, or one to one meetings or at drop in sessions, as appropriate to meet the needs of the individual
  5. Attending resident & relatives meetings when required
  6. Develop and be ready to implement Worry Catcher sessions as required
  7. To feedback appropriate information from the worry catcher’s to care home managers to support them to achieve improved standards

Providing Representation/Advocacy

The primary task of the post holder is to provide resident representation, advocacy and support for older people and their relatives, where appropriate. Therefore they will:

  1. Act as a Residents Representative for residents utilising the service and where appropriate their relatives. To meet with residents to listen to their views and to support them to determine desired outcomes and act according to their wishes
  2. Ensure that people are supported to enable them to make an informed choice, researching any options and feeding the information back to them
  3. Identify residents’ issuesand work with the client to form a plan of action and provide advocacy support to resolve in a timely manner
  4. Remain independent at all times when representing residents
  5. Be assertive if required with other professionals who may disagree with the client’s wishes
  1. Represent the wishes of service users at meetings ensuring their rights and wishes are upheld
  1. Signpost and refer residents on to other appropriate organisations/services as required

Administration

The post does not receive specific administrative support and therefore the post holder is expected to administer the service themselves. They will:

  1. Keep accurate records in case files for each service user, recording what action has been taken and outcomes in a clear and thorough manner. Records will be made following any contact with the resident or in connection with the case.
  2. To be responsible for processing referrals to the service in a timely and effective manner and prioritising workload
  3. Maintaining case notes, establishing filing system and observing correct levels of confidentiality and data protection as appropriate.
  4. Type clear concise letters or e-mails to residents or other professionals as required, using the standard font types and logos of Age UK Notts. All correspondence must be saved electronically.
  5. Provide monthly monitoring information, quarterly reports, statistics, and case studies as requested for commissioners. Also to include feedback questionnaires from residents
  6. Completing other paperwork relevant to each case such as referral forms, Risk Assessment Forms and contact sheets
  7. To complete monthly diary sheets and forward planners

Team Working & Communication

  1. To encourage a culture of team work and actively work as part of the team to contribute to the success of Age UK Notts.
  1. Liaising and referring on to other teams and departments within the charity

Communication

This role involves communicating with older people, relatives, external organisations, other professionals and Age UK Notts staff. It is vital that this is done in a professional manner remembering that the post holder is representing Age UK Notts at all times. The post holder will:

  1. Communicate with the above mentioned people as appropriate
  2. Attend and contribute in relevant meetings, for example with your client,Advocacy Team Meetings, Service Reviews, Staff Meetings, Annual Staff Conference and other meetings as required
  3. Ensure you communicate effectively and efficiently
  4. To be aware Age UK Notts Safeguarding policy & procedures and of your responsibility to report any concerns around Safeguarding and act accordingly

Marketing the Service

Effective publicity is essential to ensure that referrals are made to the service and that residents are aware of it and able to access the service, enabling them to benefit from the independent support. Therefore the post holder will:

  1. Identify effective ways of targeting individuals who may require representation
  1. To actively promote and publicise the service by regularly visiting the care homes within the borough.
  1. Attending team meetings with health professionals and social work teams to raise the profile of the service.

Charity Responsibilities - Standard Clauses

Your Needs

  • You will keep under review your own developmental needs, keep yourself informed of current issues and be alert to the Age UK Notts training programmes and policies and attend all supervision meetings advised by your line manager. It is your responsibility along with your line manager to identify training and development needs and to inform your line manager of these.

Equality and Diversity

  • You will uphold the Age UK Notts Equality and Diversity policies and practices thereby promoting fair and quality services to all. If Age UK Notts deem you have breached any of these policies this may be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure. All policies can be viewed on Yammer - please ensure you refer to the Equality and Diversity Policy and the Bullying and Harassment Policy.

Health and Safety

  • You will take reasonable care for your health and safety and have regard to other persons who may be affected by the performance of your duties, in accordance with the provisions of Health and Safety legislation and actively encourage, promote and reinforce all Health and Safety procedures in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the Age UK Notts Health and Safety Manual.
  • You will exercise proper care in handling, operating and safeguarding any equipment or appliance provided, used or issued by Age UK Notts or provided by a third party for individual or collective use in the performance of your duties.

Safeguarding

  • You will raise any concerns regarding safeguarding and report all allegations of abuse in line with the Age UK Notts Safeguarding policy.

Customer Care

  • You will promote and deliver services in a way which is sensitive and responsive to those receiving such services and be aware of and implement the Age UK Notts customer care policies and service level agreement requirements (if applicable).

Professional Integrity

  • You will maintain at all times the professional integrity of the Charity and represent its main interests in any dealings with other bodies, groups and individuals.

Quality Assurance

  • You will uphold and proactively contribute to the Age UK Notts Quality and Environmental Standards frameworks including ISO 9001 and ISO 14001and the Age UK Organisational Quality Standard.

Other

  • participate in, and promote fundraising & income generation
  • promote all Age UK Notts services and trading products
  • You will attend staff meetings, the annual staff conference and other meetings as requested in order to keep up to date with information within the Charity
  • You will provide for your line manager, weekly diary sheets and any other reports or information as required.
  • You will carry out any other specified tasks that may be reasonably required by the relevant Manager, with the proviso that any changes of a permanent nature will be included in the job description.

This job description is intended as a summary of the main elements of the job described.They may be varied from time to time in consultation with the job holder without changing the general character of the duties or the level of responsibility entailed.Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot of themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post.

I confirm that I have discussed the content of this Job Description with my line manager and that I understand its content.

Please indicate on enclosed application form evidence to show why you fulfil each individual point below:

Essential Requirements

  1. Proven ability to work sympathetically with people from a variety of backgrounds.
  2. To be able to demonstrate experience, knowledge and understanding of advocacy and be able to evidence positive outcomes for people referred to the service.
  1. Experience of liaising with a wide range of organisations, agencies and people in the statutory and voluntary sector.
  2. Ability to keep accurate computer based records (MS Office), and produce clear and concise written reports and statistics.
  1. Proven organisational, interpersonal, communication, planning, and time management skills;
  1. Knowledge and understanding of Equality and Diversity issues and a commitment to implement the Age UK Notts Equality and Diversity policy.
  2. Ability to be assertive when required and remain calm under pressure.
  3. The ability to organise own workload in order to meet deadlines, using your own initiative to ensure quality, reliable service delivery
  1. Ability to research unfamiliar subject matter and feedback to service users.
Desirable requirements
  1. To hold the National Advocacy Qualification
  2. Experience of working within the care homes
  1. Full UK Driver’s license, use of car, and willingness to obtain business use insurance.

Salary: £19,238 per annum, (NJC points 20-23, £19,238 - £21,057 per annum FTE)

Start Date:ASAP

Hours of Work:37 hours per week. A standard week is considered to be Monday to Thursday 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Friday, with 30 minutes for lunch (which is unpaid). Age UK Notts operates a scheme of flexible working hours.

Holidays:24 working days (pro rated for part time hours). Employees are granted 8 Public Holidays. One additional days leave is added to the annual leave entitlement for each year of service up to a maximum of 8 additional days.

Mileage

Allowance: Currently 45p per mile.

Pension:The Charity will contribute 4% of basic salary into our NEST pension scheme after 3 months service with a phased employee minimum contribution rising to a maximum of 1.6% from 1st October 2018 (in line with auto-enrolment rules). However employees may contribute more than the minimum required employee contribution.

Place of Work:Nottingham

Timetable for Appointment

Post Advertised:6th October 2016

Closing Date:12 noon on Tuesday 18th October 2016

Shortlisting:

Interviews: Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th October 2016

N.B. Due to financial constraints, applicants who are not short-listed will not be notified. If you have not received an invitation to attend an interview within three weeks of the closing date you may assume that your application has not been successful.