Volunteer and Involvement Officer (Bromley & Lewisham) Recruitment Pack 1
Healthwatch Bromley Community House South Street Bromley BR1 1RH 0208 315 1916 www.healthwatchbromley.co.uk 2
Contents Introduction 4 What is Healthwatch? 5 Healthwatch in Bromley & Lewisham 6 Job Description 7 How to apply 11 3
Introduction Thank you for expressing your interest in joining Healthwatch Bromley & Lewisham as the Volunteer and Involvement Officer. I hope that the information in this pack will give you a feel for the organisation we are seeking to establish as well as a sense of what an exciting opportunity this is. Both Bromley & Lewisham Boroughs boast a diverse community with a wide range of health and social care needs. Healthwatch Bromley & Lewisham provides meaningful opportunities for local people to use the power of their voice to influence local health and social care services. This pack contains information about Healthwatch nationally and locally; about the role of the Volunteer and Involvement Officer and how to apply. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Linda Gabriel Chair, Healthwatch Bromley 4
What is Healthwatch? The Health and Social Care Act 2012 is part of the Government s health and social care reforms. The Act made a provision for the establishment of Healthwatch as a new consumer champion in April 2013. Healthwatch operates on two levels: firstly at a national level through Healthwatch England and secondly working at a local level through Healthwatch. Healthwatch Bromley is an independent organization, giving service users and communities a stronger voice to influence and challenge how health and social care services are provided within their local area. The following is a summary of key points about Healthwatch Bromley & Lewisham: listens to local people s views about their needs and experiences, and make sure these views are listened to by those setting up and delivering services; makes recommendations based on feedback to influence the way services are designed and delivered identifies priorities that are relevant to Bromley and looks at which groups and communities are not being heard and finds ways for them to be represented provides an information and signposting service about choices for local health and care services and how to access them passes information and recommendations to other local Healthwatch, Healthwatch England and the Care Quality Commission Both the Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham websites provide a wide range of information: www.healthwatchbromley.co.uk or http://www.healthwatchlewisham.co.uk Further information on Healthwatch England can be found here: http://www.healthwatch.co.uk. 5
Healthwatch in Bromley & Lewisham The Healthwatch Bromley & Lewisham team is based in Community House, South Street in Bromley. The governance arrangements include an overarching Board of 5 Trustees made up from voluntary and community sector representatives, members of the public and service users representing the diverse communities of this borough. The Board is the body that drives and oversees the work and ensures that Healthwatch is accountable to the public and stakeholders. 6
Job Description Title: Volunteer and Involvement Officer (Bromley and Lewisham) Responsible to: Responsible for: Hours: Salary: Location: 1RH Length of Contract: Director Volunteers 35 hours per week. There will be occasional evening and weekend work for which time off in lieu is granted. 26, 647 (including London weighting) plus 5% pension contribution Based at Community House, South Street, Bromley, BR1 Until 31 st March 2018 (with possible extension subject to continuation of funding) Main Purpose To support the recruitment and management of Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham volunteers and support volunteers to carry out Healthwatchrelated activities. To support and facilitate volunteer meetings, such as working groups and events to plan activity and share learning. To arrange for the delivery of a programme of training for volunteers. To support the recruitment of Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham volunteers, ambassadors, young ambassadors and connectors. To lead on Enter & View and mystery shopping activities MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. To grow the volunteer base of Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham, ensuring that the diversity of the boroughs are reflected. 2. To be aware of organisations, networks and providers of health and social care information and services. 7
3. To signpost the public to appropriate health and social care services on request. 4. To signpost the public to appropriate complaints and advocacy services on request. 5. To deliver Enter & View Training to volunteers. 6. To arrange and support Enter & View visits, produce Enter & View reports. 7. To ensure that volunteers have clear role descriptions and report back to Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham as required. 8. To work with volunteers to improve Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham s data collection from the local community and organisations. 9. To maintain the membership database with details for all volunteers. 10. To ensure that we have systems in place to recognise the achievements of our volunteer team. 11. To engage with health and social care providers, third sector organisations, service user groups and individuals and represent Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham on local and regional networks as required. 12. Carry out social research through all appropriate means such as focus groups, discussion groups, drop-in surgeries, forums and panels, questionnaires, seminars and conferences to identify issues and priorities for users of health and social care services in Lewisham. 13. Assist in organising stakeholder events and public consultations, meetings and conferences. 14. Actively engage with and provide information and advice to the residents of Bromley and Lewisham about accessing health and social care services and choice in relation to aspects of those services. 8
15. Use the Nolan principles of standards in public life, the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 and the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the views of people about their needs and experience of local care services, using feedback processes and database to forward those views and/or complaints to the Healthwatch team. 16. Promote community involvement in the commissioning process and in the development and redesign of services. 17. Contribute to the Healthwatch website, e-bulletin and mail outs, and social networking tools to provide information and advice to the public. 18. Update database and internal admin systems. 19. To produce reports and recommendations for the Director. 20. To provide support to volunteers in delivery of the project s work. 21. To attend regular team meetings to review progress. 22. Provide monthly reports on progress measured on agreed outcomes. 23. To undertake specific identified projects and any other duties consistent with the nature and level of the post as assigned by the Development Manager. 9
How to apply Please complete the application form and equal opportunities monitoring form provided separately. Should you need additional forms they are available from Mathew Shaw, Administrator, at Healthwatch Bromley & Lewisham, on admin@healthwatchbromley.co.uk or phone 0208 315 1916. Regarding the application process, please note the following: We do not accept CVs. All information relevant to your application MUST be on the application form. Use additional paper if necessary. As part of the shortlisting process, to ensure that all candidates are treated equally, we remove the first two pages of the application form please do not add personal identifiers on any of the other pages. If you are close to the deadline, you may return your application to us via email to admin@healthwatchbromley.co.uk provided that you also post a signed paper copy of the first two pages of the application, to arrive as soon as possible after the application deadline. The deadline for applications is: Monday 27 th April 2015 at 12:00noon. Shortlisting will take place shortly after the deadline closure. If application numbers are high we regret that it may not be possible to inform unsuccessful applicants individually. Therefore, if you have not received a response from us after two weeks of the closing date please assume that your application has not been successful on this occasion. We would like to thank you for your interest. Please return completed applications to: Administrator, Healthwatch Bromley, Community House, South Street, Bromley, BR11RH. For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Folake Segun, Director on 0208 315 1916. 10