Social Prescribing (Community Link Workers)

Cygnus formed a partnership with Wansbeck Primary Care Network (WPCN) and our Team of Community Link Workers provide a Social Prescribing Service for the patients of WPCN (Seaton Park, Bedlingtonshire, Guidepost and Gables Medical Groups)

 

Follow the link below to visit the NHS England Social Prescribing website for further information on Social Prescribing in Primary Care.

Jane and her Team, Christine, Carly, Graham, and Justine, give their patients something very special… Time.

 

They have time to really listen to the patient and help them decide what matters to them, what issues are standing in their way and what help they need.

Once the patient's goal has been identified, they can then be linked into Voluntary, Statutory and Community groups and services to receive the practical, emotional, and social support they need to improve their lives.

 

What can Social Prescribing be used for?

Some patients may just require some general advice and signposting, which could be provided in a one-off telephone conversation.

Other patients with more complex issues, or those who may have a barrier to accessing support services such as poor mental health, may require a longer intervention from their Link Worker.

In these difficult times, patients are finding they need more help with some of the following:

• Feeling socially isolated
• Struggling with rising costs of living - Including energy bills and buying food & essentials
• Accessing benefits
• Carer stress
• Living with a long-term illness or disability
• Coping after losing a loved one
• Dementia - Either being diagnosed or living/caring for someone with a diagnosis
• Housing
• Employment
• Parenting

Our Link Worker Team also strive to support their local community to ensure the groups and services they refer into are sustainable. This could be by linking them into funding or training streams. 

The Team also help to identify and fill gaps in provision; they have already set up a successful Walk & Talk Group from Seaton Park, Bedlingtonshire and Guidepost surgeries.

 

Get In Touch

If you are a patient of either Seaton Park, Bedlingtonshire, Gables or Guidepost GP Surgeries, and feel you would benefit from our Community Link service, you can ask your surgery Reception staff or Healthcare professional for a Community Link Worker referral. The Team will then be in touch with you within a couple of weeks of receiving your referral.

If you have any queries regarding our Social Prescribing/Community Link Worker service, or are a professional wishing to refer, then please contact our Team Lead, Jane Mcgee on 07311 797935 or email WansbeckCLW@cygnussupport.com.

Alternatively referrals can be made to Wansbeck Community Link Workers - Social Prescribing, via Northumberland Frontline.

 

Activities:

Our CLW Team offer a variety of weekly activities, these include:

• Walk and Talk groups

• Adult Lego Group

• Pre-Loved Clothing Event

• Cancer Information Pop Ups

• Coffee Mornings

• Young Person's drop in

Get in touch with the Team for more information about any of these activities; and be sure to keep an eye out for any new/upcoming events over on their Facebook group!

 

 

Newsletters

The Team also produce their own Newsletters, which you can access by clicking the button below.

 

 

Patient Feedback

The CLW Team have had lots of positive feedback from some of the patients that they have been able to help so far:

• "You have been an enormous help and support to me and my family, helping us navigate through this crisis"
• "Thank you so much, I now understand the Social Care pathway much better and will be able to get the practical help I need to manage my illness"
• "I feel I understand my brothers long term condition now and what help is available, we're not so afraid for his future"
• "I'm now volunteering locally and loving it, thanks to my Link Worker"
• "It has been lovely knowing someone has been there for me during all of this"
• "I'm so grateful for your advice and support, my life is back on track now"
• "My Link Workers knowledge has been invaluable; you have helped me more than anyone"
• "I feel a weight has been lifted from me now I've had support with my debt"

 

Community Volunteer Initiative

This is an exciting new project has launched as part of our overall Community Links offer. Our Community Volunteer Initiative builds on the existing relationships and work of our Community Link Workers (CLWs) to identify and engage with community volunteers who can be trained or supported to develop skills, experience, and confidence to take on key volunteering roles that benefit their local communities.

This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund with the North East Combined Authority as the Lead Authority.

 

 

The North East Combined Authority was formed on 7 May 2024. Led by an Elected Mayor and Cabinet that covers the seven local authority areas of County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, please visit the UK Government's Website by clicking the button below.