Organisation: Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness

Salary Details: £14,040 (FTE £23,400)

Closing date for applications: 5 Nov 2024

Department: Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness

Reporting to: Healthwatch Senior Engagement Officer

Hours: 22.5hrs

Contract: Part-time (Permanent)

Salary: £14,040 (FTE £23,400)

Holiday Entitlement: 20 days (FTE) plus bank holidays and Christmas closure,  length of service increments.

Location: Eden or South Lakes, with some office and home working.

Benefits: 6% pension employer contribution, values-based organisation, flexibility or working hours,  extra day off for your birthday.

What’s the job like?

Getting out and about across Westmorland and Furness is key to this role. As the new Healthwatch engagement officer, on any one day you could be holding a pop-up event with a volunteer in a village hall in the Eden Valley, attending a support group in Penrith, joining a Teams voluntary sector network meeting, or a meeting with a patient participation group in Tebay.

You might meet up with other engagement colleagues and volunteers to carry out an Enter and View visit in Windermere, or head to Barrow or Carlisle for a coffee and a catch-up with the rest of the team. You’ll also take some photos while you’re out and about and post them on our social media, you might write a report, and you will need to record what you’ve been doing so we can meet our targets and log our impact.

It’s exciting and varied, and the chance to make a difference. You can find out more about us here: https://healthwatchwestfurn.co.uk

Who we are

Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness (HWW&F) is an independent champion of the views of patients and people who use health and social care across the local authority area of Westmorland and Furness. Our goal is to make services better and improve health and wellbeing.

We work closely with health and social care services, service users, residents and families, members of the public, and employees working in these environments, with a key focus on engaging with hard to reach and seldom heard groups.

Our main activities include:

• Gathering information from patients and the public on the quality of health and social care services in Westmorland and Furness, highlighting local issues raised.
• Promoting involvement of people in the provision and scrutiny of local health and care services to deliver better and more joined-up services.
• Connecting with community groups and the voluntary sector, NHS partners and local authority.
• Carrying out Enter and View visits at a wide range of health and social care settings.
• Providing free information and signposting support to help people know about health and social care services, and understand the choices available.

Our values 

(HWW&F) is part of People First Independent Advocacy, an independent customer-led charitable organisation that has worked in Cumbria for almost 32 years. We are passionate about our values of equality, respect, and inclusion. We provide a wide range of support and information services across Cumbria, Lancashire and Teesside, all aimed at helping people to live informed, respected, healthy and fulfilled lives. Our head office is based in Carlisle, supported by offices in Barrow and Lancashire. Find out more at: https://wearepeoplefirst.co.uk/about-us

The person

For this role, we are looking for:

• A resident of Eden or South Lakes in Westmorland and Furness. Proof of residence will be required.
• Someone ready and willing to be out and about across Westmorland and Furness, for the key task of meeting patients and members of the public.
• A people person, someone who is empathetic and an active listener, sensitive to people’s life experiences and challenges, able to connect with hard to reach and seldom heard groups.
• Someone who shares our values.
• Someone who is resilient, confident and proactive when it comes to your own work, as well as being able to think creatively about how to tackle a challenge.
• A collaborative team member, someone who can work closely with others to provide reliable, effective and timely delivery of tasks, projects and events.
• Readiness to perform necessary admin tasks (writing up notes, logging information) in a timely manner.
• Healthwatch’s strength is its independence and political neutrality. You will need to be able to stay ‘on message’ when speaking for us, and maintain confidentiality.

As a Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness Engagement Officer, you will support the Senior Engagement Officer to deliver a range of public engagement activities, including:

• Face to face and online focus groups
• Gathering case studies and personal stories
• Organising and attending events with partners such as community drop-ins and health and wellbeing events
• Planning and carrying out Enter and View visits at e.g., care homes, hospitals
• Creating and delivering project plans and surveys
• Representing Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness at meetings
• Setting up and attending general engagement events
• Working well with volunteers

Your assigned area of work will primarily be Eden but some travel within South Lakes and occasionally Barrow and Furness will be required. You will work closely with the Senior Engagement Officer to ensure engagement takes place across Westmorland and Furness, and makes best use of resources.

Qualifications     

• Educated to at least A-level, your skills, knowledge, experience and values are more important than exam certificates.

Skills, knowledge and experience

• An awareness and interest in the challenges of community engagement and involvement with reference to health and wellbeing.
• An interest in or understanding of health and social care service provision.
• Self-starter, with the ability to work on your own initiative, as well as effectively as part of a team.
• Great written and spoken communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people and maintain positive relationships.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Able to work simultaneously on several tasks or projects at different stages of completion.
• Creative problem-solver.
• Able to maintain confidentiality and work in a sensitive manner.
• Familiarity with social media platforms and posting content for maximum impact.
• Good IT literacy, particularly Word and Excel, and a willingness to learn other programs e.g. PowerPoint and Canva.
• Meticulous admin skills to write-up and log your activities.

Duties will include:

• Undertake activities to gather feedback and personal experiences from individuals and groups relevant to different projects. These include, but are not limited to, attending engagement events, gathering personal stories and case studies, carrying out surveys.
• Support patient engagement groups, providing information and gather insight into the health and social care needs of individuals and communities in Westmorland and Furness.
• Carry out Enter and View visits
• Build relationships with local communities and organisations
• Support your team to creatively capture people’s experiences and opinions.
• Write reports on projects, events and Enter and View visits.
• Undertake in-depth case studies.
• Ensure all feedback is gathered with sensitivity upholding the values of Healthwatch.
• Ensure all evidence and activities are recorded in a timely manner.
• You will be expected to develop constructive relationships with representatives from a wide range of communities, the voluntary sector and health and social care providers, so networking and building local knowledge will be essential.
• We make use of online meetings, social media and our website to support engagement. We will provide training and an interest and willingness to learn are desirable for this position.

Other duties

• Be flexible and adaptable in a changing program of new projects and activities.
• Work at pace and take responsibility for prioritising your own workload in line with that of the team and organisation.
• Take a positive approach towards your own professional development, undertaking any training and development activities as required.
• Promote Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness across all communities and stakeholders.
• Maintaining the good reputation of Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness at all times.
• Work flexibly to accommodate travel to events, or occasional evening and weekend work.
• Comply with the organisation’s policies and procedures.

The duties outlined above are not intended to be exhaustive and may change as the needs of the organisation alter in line with current agendas.

Driving – is a car essential for this role? 

A current driving licence and access to own transport is essential for this role. This post is ‘out and about’ most days, and requires you to have the appropriate business-use insurance in place. Use of your car is required to carry out day-to-day tasks such as (but not limited to): travel to engagement events and meetings; running business errands during the day; travel between different People First business sites; occasionally transporting colleagues, volunteers or members to engagement events etc.

Mileage and expenses are paid while travelling on work business but not to and from your designated place of work.

To apply

If you’re interested in the role and think you’d be a good fit, we’d like to hear from you.

To apply for this position, please email a copy of your CV, Cover letter and details of 2 references to recruitment@wearepeoplefirst.co.uk

Alternatively, you can post these for the attention of Barry to: People First Conference Centre, Milbourne Street, Carlisle, CA2 5XB.

All applications should be clearly marked: Confidential – HWWF Engagement Officer – Eden & South Lakers

Applications should arrive no later than 5pm on Tuesday, November 5^th.

Interviews will take place week commencing November 18^th and will be held in-person in either our Carlisle or Barrow offices.

Applicants who do not live in Westmorland and Furness will not be considered for this role.