Northumberland County Council has an exciting 2-year fixed-term job opportunity, funded through the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board Health Inequalities Fund. This pivotal Healthcare Navigator role will encompass all of Northumberland and will be situated within our Housing Services department.
The core objective of this position is to provide support and guidance to residents and tenants facing complex and/or multiple challenges in accessing healthcare throughout Northumberland. As the successful candidate, you'll play a crucial role not only in assisting residents but also in advising professionals across various sectors to ensure the best possible outcomes for our clients.
Responsibilities will include offering advice, facilitating access to medical and other health-related appointments for clients encountering difficulties, identifying barriers, collaborating with relevant professionals, analysing data, and proposing effective solutions and enhancements. In addition, you'll champion inclusion groups such as asylum seekers and refugees, and individuals with complex needs, facilitating their registration with a GP and empowering them to navigate the NHS and other services that can improve their health.
Your role will extend to reducing stigma, fostering confidence in accessing healthcare, improving health and healthcare literacy, and accompanying people to GP and hospital appointments as needed (with their consent). Moreover, you'll support clients in accessing preventive interventions like NHS Health Checks and smoking cessation services as well as supporting their access to other appropriate sources of advice or social support.
We're seeking a candidate with exceptional communication skills across all mediums, including proficiency in engaging with non-English speaking clients through appropriate translation services. Your organisational skills will be key, as you'll be tasked with planning and executing complex activities, community meetings, projects, and multi-agency collaborations.
Northumberland is world-renowned as a visitor destination and an ideal location to strike a perfect work/life balance. There is no better way of enjoying the picturesque scenery and stunning coastline than on an everyday basis!
Northumberland County Councils (NCC) vision is -"To make Northumberland a county which you regard as a great place to live, in which you can access the activities you enjoy, whilst having the opportunity to learn and thrive.
For further information about NCC, please visit our website.
26 days annual leave plus public/bank holidays, rising to 31 days after 5 years of service (pro rata for part-time employees)
Flexi scheme up to 2 days flexible leave available per month (pro rata for part-time employees)
Local government discount schemes available to all employees with offers at local businesses along with various national brands
Commitment to work/life balance offering flexibility through various schemes including job sharing, home working, flexible working, term-time only, and compressed hours
Please visit our website for more information regarding our benefits.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Job summary:
Contributes to, and advises on, helping inclusion groups and clients with complex or multiple needs accessing healthcare across Northumberland.
Provides support and advice to a range of professionals from across sectors to achieve best outcomes for clients.
Develops and maintains public health information and support structures.
Facilitates and provides training courses in own area of expertise.
May maintain information directories and data collection systems.
To role model compassionate and inclusive leadership in order to shape the creation of a collective leadership culture within the Council. This means
demonstrating a consistent leadership style which (a) engages, enables, and empowers others (b) uses coaching to promote ownership of learning and
quality improvement and (c) facilitates team working and collaboration within teams / departments and across organisational boundaries.
Staff:
Works closely with members of the internal Housing and Public Health Teams and may provide
training for staff and public in a range of public health areas.
Works closely with colleagues in NHS General Practice, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Secondary
Care/Hospital and Community Services(including Mental Healthcare), Adult and Childrens
Social Care and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS).
May line manage staff.
Finance:
Responsible for a budget of between £5,000-10,000 to support client costs.
Reports to manager.
Physical:
Analysis of health data and effectiveness of public health initiatives and programmes.
Responsible for safe use of training and IT equipment. Orders public health campaign resources.
Clients:
Assists with the development of policies and procedures for supporting and assessing the
needs of some of our most vulnerable adults, children, and families.
Delivers support and training to community groups, healthcare professionals and others, as
appropriate.
Key duties and result areas:
The postholder will help inclusion groups (e.g. people seeking asylum, refugees) and people with complex or multiple needs living in Northumberland to:
Understand and navigate the NHS.
Register with a GP.
Reduce stigma and increase confidence in accessing the healthcare system.
Attend or change GP and hospital appointments.
Understand how to access preventative interventions such as NHS Health Checks and stop smoking services, and other services or support that can
improve their health.
Improve their health and healthcare literacy.
The postholder will also:
Contribute to improving our understanding of the barriers that prevent inclusion groups from accessing effective healthcare so that action can be taken
to address these.
Take part in outreach activities with clients, community groups, system partners and clinicians to provide holistic insights and enable targeted planningand improvement to inequality outcomes.
Proactively engage with families to understand and address their needs.
Support the monitoring and evaluation of the intervention.
Work with partners to ensure communication materials are available in appropriate languages or format.
Examples of possible duties and responsibilities:
Respond to health care queries from existing clients, for example prescription issues, appointments, and transport issues.
Respond to non-health related queries by directing the client to the right service.
Co-ordinate and provide administrative support to the relevant teams to ensure that all the relevant paperwork and clinical information is available (with
the clients consent).
Accompany clients with complex needs to medical appointments (where wanted and consent given) and booking taxis and arrange transport as and when required.
Work in collaboration with other services to support and facilitate the clients to become orientated to the local area and to learn to use public transport.
Support clients and clinicians to follow up on referrals to other services.
Update on enquiries regarding a clients care to GPs and other clinicians (with consent).
Develop an understanding of the milestones of the allocated pathway for clients within a designated group.
Attend relevant meetings and complete actions regarding the care of clients.
Identify barriers to access to care and suggest improvements that can be made to client care and process.
The navigator will be expected to develop their knowledge of local services, using existing databases and developing links with service providers, keeping
up to date with service changes and developments.
The navigator should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the service on wider health, social and voluntary sector services.
Action day-to-day issues, ensuring resolution and escalating serious issues to management as appropriate.
Ensure the timely and efficient responses of information between other organisations involved in the client care pathway, adhering to agreed
communication pathways and protocols.
Work within a multi-disciplinary team in developing the service in line with departmental plans and Council corporate objectives.
Ensure that all client records are appropriately tracked and securely stored in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations and Council
information governance policies.
Develop working relationships with a wide range of clinical and managerial staff.
Undertake any administrative tasks commensurate with the grade required to support the delivery of high-quality client care.
Actively participate in department development as appropriate and participate in departmental meetings.
Undertake any other duties commensurate with the grade, required to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the department.
Undertake any training as required to complete the tasks associated with the job role.
Key relationships:
The postholder will have regular contact with a wide range of clinical and managerial staff in addition to administrative and clerical support staff, clients,
relatives, and external agencies.
The postholder will sit within the Tenancy Support Team and report to the Team Manager.
Whilst this is a standalone role, the postholder will be well-supported by Housing and Public Health teams. It is envisioned that the postholder will work
closely with the holder of a new Healthcare Navigator role at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Leadership and management:
Identify their own training needs and improve their competence to meet the need of client and demand of services.
Provide support to other team members.
Financial responsibilities:
Implement new initiatives where possible to run a cost effective, timely service. Will also manage own budget.
Information management
To keep accurate written records in accordance with standards set and to input data into relevant electronic system.
To record and return timely and accurate statistical data as required by the department, Council and/or NHS Trust.
To follow and adhere to our Council policy on Information Governance.
Education & Professional Development:
Review and support development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures and internal targets.
Provide administrative support to enable clinicians to use specialist time to focus on their patients. Support may include making referrals to other
agencies or audits such as client experience surveys etc.
Carry out administrative duties required by the role such as organising meetings, taking minutes, producing documentation, and organising supplies
Offer suggestions for improvement of service
Ensure that all daily tasks and on-going workloads are prioritized and completed within agreed timeframes.
Demonstrate insight into own professional development, contributing to the process of identifying own educational and training needs in conjunction
with line manager.
Attend and actively participate in team / group meetings as required.
Support and contribute to audit.