Social Welfare and Housing Lead - Pan Thames Paediatric LTV Programme

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Assist the Programme Manager and Clinical Leads with the strategic planning for the development of effective housing and welfare pathways across the South and North Thames Paediatric Networks.
• Maintain up to date knowledge of legislative changes and ensure dissemination and implementation across the network.
• Gain an in-depth understand of housing application in the various boroughs that the service covers and work towards standardisation of a housing application pathways.
• Lead initiative(s) across the South and North Thames Paediatric Networks, working closely with acute Trusts, community services and councils within the Networks ICBs to develop a strategy for improving hospital discharge for individuals.
• Devise, coordinate and deliver a bespoke training and consultation programme to support clinical teams with specialist advice around issues associated with housing and social welfare, ensuring that all interventions and advice are delivered on the basis of up-to-date evidence-based practice.
• Liaise with local voluntary sector and community organisations in order to develop jointly delivered courses/workshops and to improve opportunities for partnership working around social welfare and housing pathways and practices to support timely discharge.
• Organise meetings with key stakeholders, ensuring that regular meetings are established, reports are produced and disseminated in a timely way and actions are followed up.
• Design and implement a planned project of work with targets, budget allocations and evaluation criteria.
• Take an active role in developing partnerships including chairing meetings in relation to the project.
• Be responsible for liaising with the Pan Thames Paediatric LTV Programmes team in relation to these projects, as appropriate.
• Develop information relevant to the initiatives both locally and nationally, for example through service events, displays, exhibitions, local newsletters, website and local events, liaising closely with the communications manager and senior programme management team.
• Inform and consult with the relevant ICBs colleagues regarding welfare and housing issues that may affect timely discharge.
• Provide and receive information relating to the initiatives. Ensure agreement and co-operation in the delivery of these initiatives from key groups and individuals.
• Form effective working relationships with individuals, external agencies, community resources, volunteers and other relevant professionals within the NHS and social care to enable the Programme team to provide and receive information relating to regional and Trust specific social welfare and housing initiatives.
• Ensure agreement and co-operation in the delivery of these initiatives from key groups and individuals.
• Ensure a robust process is in place to collect monitoring information from the work streams and report this to NHS England London and South East, the South Thames Paediatric Network Board, the North Thames Paediatric Network Board as well as other London wide forums e.g. the London Transformation, Service Improvement and Efficiency Group.

Person Specification

Education & Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience.
• Completion of consistent and appropriate training in the law and practice relating to social security benefits, tax credits and disability living allowance
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

• Understanding of lean methodology

Experience & Knowledge

• Experience and knowledge of advising clients at a specialist advice level across the range of housing and welfare benefits work procedures and practices, underpinned by theoretical knowledge and relevant practical experience.
• Significant experience working within citizen's advice bureau or at a similar level
• Experience of working with people in crisis.
• Sound knowledge of welfare/benefits, social policy and current legislation.
• Experience of providing advice and information on social housing, private rented accommodation and local authority grants for adaptions to property.

• Experience of working with people with mental health issues, or people with disabilities
• Experience of working in a healthcare setting.
• Experience of negotiating with third parties

Skills & Abilities

• Present complex, sensitive (at times contentious) information to a large group of multidisciplinary staff, providing relevant information in relation to policies, practices and procedures to support a safe and holistic LTV service, while respecting confidentiality according to departmental, Trust and legislative guidelines.
• Ability to undertake an assessment of an individual's or family welfare issues.
• Ability to work within the parameters of the role and seek assistance when necessary.
• Ability to converse in a positive manner with all levels of staff, patients and relatives / carers
• Ability to work efficiently on a multidisciplinary basis both internal and external to the organisation
• Sound analytical skills with the ability to analyse, interpret and compare highly complex information from a wide range of sources including council and national databases and produce high quality written reports in an appropriate format for clinical and social care teams.
• Ability to plan and organise a broad range of complex activities or programmes in relation to housing and welfare benefits, which require the formulation and adjustment of plans or strategies for the programme.
• Demonstrate understanding of issues related to confidentiality of data and patient information.
• Ability to determine the need for referral to other MDT colleagues.
• Ability to be sensitive to the emotional needs of patients with chronic/acute ill-health and terminal illness
• Good IT skills including competency in MS Office programmes and in particular in Excel, Canva, web analytics and support

• Skilled in making appropriate assessment decisions.
• Resourceful, ability to work on own initiative and apply judgement.

Responsibilities & Freedom to Act

• To assess needs and develop suitable initiatives to be implemented by healthcare and social care teams or provide them with specialist advice to overcome issues related to housing and welfare benefits.
• To participate in development and implementation of housing and welfare policy and guidelines and ensure dissemination and implementation across the Network.
• To develop and manage an online welfare tracking and outcome tool which process, generate, create, update or store information
• To conduct audits to further develop the service and ensure its effectiveness
• To interpret overall health and social care policies and strategies in relation to housing and welfare benefits, in order to establish goals and standards for the network.

Personal Qualities

• Good interpersonal skills
• Good team working skills
• Good written and verbal skills
• A positive "can do" attitude and a positive attitude to change.
• Ability to be flexible and quickly adapt to changes in service delivery.

• Good prioritisation skills
• Ability to balance competing priorities

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Employer details

Employer name

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Becket House

1 Lambeth Palace road

London

SE1 7EU

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/careers/careers.aspx