Carers Support Outreach Officer (Hounslow)

Carers Support Outreach Officer (Hounslow)

Hours per week-37.5 hours per week

Salary: £21,032 ‐ £24,618 (including outer London weighting)

Holiday: TBC

Probationary period:6 months

Pension: Up to 4% employer contribution dependent on employee making a matched contribution

Supervised by: Ealing Mencap Access Manager.

Co-ordinated by:INS Carers Support Team Leader

Funded: From: TBC - May/June 2013Funding for this role is until 31st March 2016

Based at: Initially Alzheimers Society - Osterley, INS - Twickenham, outreach in the community and working from home when required

The role:

To work as a member of the Hounslow Carer Support Team consortium led by INS, to provide specialist support, advice and information to carers through a variety of mediums – for example face to face, telephone, email, groups.

To provide individual support, group work and breaks for carers that contribute to the targets being met as required in the contract for London Borough of Hounslow.

To provide outreach advice surgeries at various locations within the borough as required.

To work with the Carers Support –Team Leader and the Volunteer Manager in the recruitment of volunteers and to provide support for volunteers working on the project.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

To be proactive in the registration of carers living or with caring responsibilities within the London Borough of Hounslow (LBH).

To provide in reach to existing health and social care programmes e.g. Expert Patient Programmes.
To liaise and work with social work teams and other departments within LBH as well as WestMiddlesexUniversityHospital and GPs, follow up actions and relay concerns.
Outreach will include raising awareness of the services to carers not currently known to statutory services through: pharmacies, community centres, libraries, faith communities, local clubs and societies; via Evolve to the voluntary sector.

To provide regular appropriate, specialist advice, information & emotional support, including information on carers’ assessments and making referrals to the local authority.

To assess and review the needs of carers providing them with an individual support plan

To engage with carers in the mapping and delivery of support plans for individual carers.

To provide support to carers in navigating the health and social care system, ensuring the carer is involved and included in care planning for the person they care for.

To provide information on respite opportunities and working with short break providers, develop innovative, personalised respite, including the potential for carers to pool resources.

To keep up to date with resources and opportunities available for carers in the local area, including identifying and engaging with peer support networks; relevant training provided by INS, sub-contractors or other organisations; signposting carers to health trainers and other services as needed.

To offer a range of service delivery options and be involved in providing those options e.g. breaks, group work, off site visits, leisure activities or other outreach activities.

To liaise and link with other specialist support workers employed via sub contractors to manage and deliver specialist services across the borough across all client groups, including joint initiatives to explore how to support carers from different cultural groups.

To encourage and assist carers and those they care for to access Adult Community Care assessment and to take up the services that will enhance their lives.

To actively promote and refer carers to support services local and national, statutory or third sector.

To work with Team Leader and other staff in the development and delivery of groups for support, activities and individual carers support initiatives

To work where appropriate with other service providers/agencies to promote the carer agenda or jointly deliver carer support issues.

To keep accurate records of group and individual carer engagement for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

To keep records of activities and produce progress reports for commissioners and others, as required, and to input into appropriate grant applications.

To take part in the development, implementation and review of internal systems and organisational tools

To work in partnership with the INS Leadership Team and other relevant staff to facilitate the implementation of the unmet needs of carers

To participate in key events organised by INS and other relevant partners to promote services to a wider public

To comply with the Data Protection Act relating to personal information of individual members of the public.

To participate in training and development as and when necessary.

To undertake additional responsibilities as designated by the Chief Executive or Clinical Manager of Integrated Neurological services and commensurate with the position

To comply with all INS Policies and Procedures.

PERSONAL SPECIFICATION – Carers Support Worker

Qualifications / Experience

/ Application Form / Interview

Essential

At lease 2 – 3 years experience of support/working with informal carers in a paid or unpaid capacity / Application Form / Interview
Knowledge of legislation and recent policy changes in health and social care affecting informal carers (including welfare benefits) / Application form / Interview
Excellent administration skills. Computer literate in Word, Access, Internet and Email, bespoke databases / Application form / Interview
Experience of providing group work, advice and information / Application/Interview
Experience and knowledge of long term condition / Application form / Interview
Desirable
Previous experience in health or social care fields
With some experience of budget management / Application/Interview
Skills and Abilities
Essential