JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Health Watch Brent Co-ordinator
Hours:24 Hours per week
Salary£32000 pro rata (£21943)
Reporting to:Director of Brent Mencap
Responsible for:Project workers, volunteers and trainees
Location:Brent Mencap Offices
Duration:Initially till March 31st 2014 but with a likely extension to March 2015
Main Purpose of the Post
Brent is an exciting place with one of the most diverse populations in the UK. Healthwatch Brent (HWB) is exciting too.HWBis being delivered by a ground-breaking consortium of well-respected Brent voluntarysector organisations who operate as subcontractors to Healthwatch Brent CIC in six work-stream areas:
- Gathering Views- Elders Voice
- Activist Volunteers- Age UK Brent
- Information and Advice- Brent CAB
- Making Views Known- Brent Mencap
- Co-ordination- Brent Mencap
- Social Media and Membership Database Brent CVS
It’s a complex and interesting role, not for the faint hearted! The Co-ordinator will be one of the public faces of HWB at strategic and publicmeetings, occasionally deputising for Directors.They will work closely with consortium partners,senior NHS and Social Care managersand other local Healthwatches They will also support and service the CIC board, manage the financial and legal aspects of the CIC, organise Enter and View visits, manage the Making Views Known work stream, prepare annual reports, liaise with CQC, Healthwatch England and the contract manager at Brent Council as well as research issues and engage with patients and the public.
Main Responsibilities
To ensure that HWB develops and updates an overall workplan and meets agreed targetsTo be responsible for all contract monitoring and to ensure reporting is completed accurately and on time.
To develop, implement and update an annual co-ordination work stream plan
To manage Making Views Known(MVK) staff and ensure work stream plan is developed and implemented, working closely with project staff and volunteers
To ensure MVKstaff plan, set up, deliver and evaluate a programme of involvement and feedback activities on agreed NHS and ASC commissioning and developments ensuring it constantly evolves in response to user feedback, new policy developments and evidence from elsewhere
To service CIC directors meetings, register new directors and complete annual returns to Companies house. To provide support and guidance to community directors and the independent chair as required
To work with Directors to set an annual budget, ensure that the overall HWB contract operates within budget, that all expenditure is accounted for correctly by subcontractors and that accurate quarterly financial reports are available to CIC Directors.
To ensure that HWB finances are subject to an independent financial review.
To ensure contractors complete work as agreed in their service level agreementsand are paid quarterly upon receipt of invoices and activity reports
To lead on developing HWB policies keeping up to date with all relevant changes to legislation / guidance, case law and policy. To ensure HWB information, policy and procedures are updated or developed as necessary, and that all directors, staff and volunteers are made aware of any changes.
To ensure HWB’s communication and marketing plan is developed and implemented as required by all subcontractors.
To provide information verbally and in writing about best practice, national and local evidence, recent legislative and policy developments and successes at meetings, electronically and in paper format, modelling best practice by using easy to understandinformation or providing easy to understand summaries.
To prepare and circulate an annual report on HWB achievements
To ensure that the HWB responds to all requests for information within set deadlines providing accurate, up to date data in line with Data Protection Requirements to CQC or Healthwatch England
To work closely with other local Healthwatches, sharing relevant information and leading on regional tasks as agreed between Healthwatches
To identify suitable tasks for volunteers to undertake within the Co-ordination work stream and liaise with Age UK volunteer manager
To manage, motivate and supervise project workers, any as and when staff, students, trainees and volunteers. To recruit and train staff when vacancies arise.To provide guidance, support, training and development to staff.
To manage Enter and View volunteers and train them, arrange planned and unplanned visits as agreed and ensure visit reports are written up promptly and circulated as required.
To participate in relevant local or regional meetings, deputising for the Chair or Directors if required representing the views of HWB members and directors.
To organise public meetings such as director elections, end of year celebrations and other conferences..
To support complainants to access the INCA service
To safeguard the well-being of both adults and children and ensure that any safeguarding issues are reported promptly and correctly.
To ensure staff deal promptly and sensitively with emergencies or crises
To ensure the project is publicised or to undertake presentations about the service as required
To be responsible for the health and safety aspects of the overall HWB contract ensuring that staff and volunteers and public comply with health and safety policies and risk assessments. To ensure any urgent Health and Safety issues are dealt with promptly or colleagues enabled to report these matters themselves.
To manage the HWB contract in a positive way that promotes equality and reduces discrimination and involves hard to reach and marginalised groups who experience the poorest health
To carry out such tasks and duties from time to time as may be required by the Executive Director of Brent Mencapin her capacity as a HWB director .
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications / Assessed on application form / Practical test- Initial or post-graduate degree or equivalent in health policy, public health, social policy, disability studies, or related relevant subject or substantial evidence of paid work in a relevant field operating at an equivalent level
Experience
- Substantial experience of managing a complex health or social policy project
- Substantial experience of reading, analysing and commenting on health and social plans, policies and other written documents
- Substantial paid experience of working in public and patient engagement/involvement area,
- Substantial experience of managing, supervising and developing a diverse group of staff and volunteers
- Substantial experience of reaching project targets, providing reports and reporting outcomes to contract manager, Directors and members
- Paid experience of working in a consortium or multi agency partnership
- Paid experience or 1 years voluntary experience marketing and publicising a project
- Substantial experience of record keeping in written and computer files
- Experience of working or living in a multicultural urban area
- Substantial experience of strategic working, partnership and influencing a range of organisations and people
Skills & Abilities
- Able to summarise differing views succinctly and fairly
- Able to quickly and sensitively develop and maintain good relationships with NHS and Council staff, voluntary sector groups, users, patients
- Able to work flexible hours, including occasional weekend and evening work and to travel independently around Brent and London
- Able to quickly develop and maintain good relationships with and influence a range of service providers, senior managers, politicians and other professionals
- Able to deal sensitively and quickly with people who want to complain about a poor service, raise safeguarding or poor practice concerns
- To be able to communicate clearly in public to a range of groups
- Able to understand complex policies, plans and reports, identify gaps or omissions and to suggest amendments
- Ability to develop policies and procedures
- Ability to manage project budget
- Able to signpost people to relevant agencies
- Able to develop a range of documents and information ranging from strategic reports and bids to easy to read leaflets using word processing, and other computer packages and multimedia and to produce accessible reports and information in written English.
- Able to lead and develop staff and volunteers including people with a learning disability
- Able to work on own initiative, multitask and to deal with occasional stress
Knowledge
- Knowledge of current legislation, reports and regulations relating to NHS, Healthwatch, Adult Social Care, Equality Act, Human Rights Act, Mental Capacity Act,
- Knowledge of current and proposed developments in NHS, (particularly in London), social care services and the wider determinants of health
- Knowledge of legislation relating to health and safety and risk assessment
- Knowledge of safeguarding good practice
- Knowledge of Community Interest Company Law/regulations, employment law and Data protection
- Knowledge of principles of good community and patient engagement
Candidates who are invited for interview will be asked to undertake a practical test at our office prior to the interview, which will involve summarising a report, using the internet, and producing a word processed document within a fixed period of time. They will also need to bring a prepared10 minute presentation on What Shaping a Healthier Future Could Mean to People in Brent and present it to the panel.
Closing Date 12.00pm Monday 7th October 2013
Interview date Friday 11th October 2013