Information & Advice Officer
Healthwatch Surrey is run by Luminus, an independent community interest company, that gives the people of Surrey a voice to improve, shape and get the best from health and social care services. We are committed to being an inclusive and diverse employer which reflects the community we serve. We work alongside the NHS and social care and have statutory powers designed to ensure the voices of people who use services are heard.
We deliver a range of services and contracts designed to ensure those who use services have an effective voice, including the local Healthwatch service, Giving Carers a Voice and the Combating Drugs Partnership Public Involvement.
We are looking for a proactive, self-motivated individual with excellent attention to detail. We are particularly interested in applications from people with a good understanding of, lived experience, or a background in social care, to help boost the expertise in our team.
As our Information and Advice Officer, you will be an integral part of the Healthwatch Surrey team by:
- Helping staff our telephone Helpdesk service, responding to phone and email enquiries providing information and advice to Surrey residents about accessing NHS and social care services in Surrey.
- Identifying themes and trends in the queries that come into our Helpdesk, listening to people’s needs, and using that insight to work with NHS and social care to improve their information and communications to residents.
- Building relationships with NHS and social care providers in Surrey in order to escalate individual concerns and get people the help they need and following up to achieve outcomes.
- Providing administrative support to our Local Healthwatch Advisory Group and staff team
- Organising meetings with NHS and social care commissioners and providers so that we can share our insight with them.
- Promoting Healthwatch’s services and the value we add.
The work will be varied, and you will interact with many different people across the county (please see the Job description and Person Specification for more details).
You will need to have experience working within the Surrey and have knowledge of local NHS and social care; excellent at talking to people; caring and curious about their experiences; have good attention to detail and be confident to be the face of Healthwatch Surrey in meetings to help amplify voices.
You will be part of a team who are all passionate about hearing from local people, and that has a real say in developing health and social care services, liaising with senior professionals and clinicians to help deliver change for local people. You will need to be proactive, responsive and able to prioritise/manage your own workload.
In return we can offer flexible working, a fun, supportive, well-organised team in a Guildford office location combined with home working. We provide ongoing training and development and, most importantly, give you an opportunity to help improve health and social care services for local people.
The role is full time 37.5hours/part-time considered – minimum 30 hours per week (flexible working pattern). The role will require some travel across Surrey to attend meetings or events, mainly on weekdays, but sometimes at weekends and in the evening. This may involve transporting promotional and engagement materials. You will need to be able to organise transport to do this.
How to Apply:
Please read the job description and person specification detailed below. To apply please send your CV and cover letter to recruitment@healthwatchsurrey.co.uk
ONLY applications that include a cover letter that demonstrates how you meet the person specification will be considered for the post. If you want to speak about this opportunity further, please email recruitment@healthwatchsurrey.co.uk with your name and phone number and we will arrange a call back.
Deadline for applications: Monday 3rd July 2023 (5pm).
Please note: depending on the volume of applications we receive for this post we may not be able to respond individually to all applications. Candidates will need to be available to attend an online interview on 10th July. We reserve the right close the application process before the deadline, so please apply early to avoid disappointment.