Welcome to the September Network Newsletter!

The Newsletter brings together news, stories and events which we hope will be of interest to the Network. 

In this month's edition Findlay Smith who has recently started with VHS as the Network's new Policy and Research Officer has written a short blog about attending the first day of Holyrood's Health and Care Festival. We also have updates from NHS Shetland and CVS Inverclyde on their CLW programmes. 

The Scottish Community Link Worker Network is the national network, developed and  facilitated by VHS, for primary care community link working in Scotland. Please visit our webpage for the latest blogs, reports and information about the Network. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @ScotCLWnetwork

Events and Training

NES Bereavement Conference - Exploring Bereavement from a New Perspective - 24th November 2022

Join NHS Education for Scotland for their third annual bereavement conference - a free, one-day virtual event for all health and social care staff. The Conference will be opened by Jason Leitch, Scotland's National Clinical Director and keynote speaker will be Michael Rosen, author of ‘Many Different Kinds of Love: A story of life, death and the NHS.’   You can view the  Conference Programme and book a place here.

Public Health Scotland workshops - getting your inequalities outcomes right

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has launched a new online learning programme to support those who deliver services to the public. The programme focuses on reducing inequalities to improve the health and wellbeing for people in Scotland.

Now live, the programme aims to foster collective learning and action by bringing together people from across sectors to share experiences, providing opportunities to build working relationships on areas for improvement.

Sessions will be delivered every month from October 2022, starting with ‘how to get your inequalities outcomes right’ and ‘how to demonstrate the impact of work’, which will be delivered by Evaluation Support Scotland.

To book: Getting your Inequalities Outcomes Right on 4th October

To book: Demonstrating your impact on inequalities on 6th October

Knowledge Exchange Event - Presentations available from Social Security Scotland and Home Energy Scotland

We held our first Network Knowledge Exchange Event on 1st September which featured Social Security Scotland and Energy Saving Trust (Home Energy Scotland).  Both organisations outlined the support they can provide to householders and how CLWs can engage with their services. You can download both presentations from our webpage here

Supporting Community Link Workers' Wellbeing and Resilience

The Network was delighted to be joined by Janine Rennie, Chief Executive of Wellbeing Scotland who delivered a mental wellbeing taster session for CLWs. Wellbeing Scotland provides a wide range of holistic services for individuals and families whose life experiences have impacted negatively on their wellbeing, as well as bespoke training and consultancy to organisations. The session covered a number of different topics including: the effects of stress on wellbeing, the masks we wear in life; positive thinking; self-awareness; the Johari Window; thinking traps; boundaries and self-care.  You can download Janine's presentation here and CLWs are invited to contact Janine Rennie to find out more.

Holyrood's Health and Care Festival - Findlay's blog

Holyrood's Health and Care Festival took place over 3 days in September. Our new Policy and Research Officer, Findlay Smith, attended the first day of the festival which had Primary Care as its focus. You can read more about Findlay  here 

The Festival featured Alison Leitch from Edinburgh's CLW Programme who was taking part in a panel discussion on multidisciplinary working. Findlay's take on the day features below:

'I attended Day 1 which focused on primary care, with discussion on how to improve working within multi-disciplinary teams; grow and support the workforce; and the relationship between health inequalities and climate change.  Over the course of the day the work of CLWs was highlighted and discussed by several contributors.

There was debate about the effectiveness of link working, with attendees noting both positive impacts and a limited evidence base. Attendees also highlighted a lack of shared understanding of how link working should be assessed or evaluated.

Variation in services was also discussed, particularly the degree to which people should have the same expectations and experiences of working with Community Link Workers regardless of the community they are in. Whilst some attendees suggested standardisation as a response to this geographical variation, it is also important to consider the necessity of services looking and feeling different in different places and ensuring that the needs of different communities are met.

A further topic of discussion was how people become aware of the role and remit of Community Link Workers, particularly as some do not advertise their services. Attendees emphasised the importance of clear and transparent lines of communication and taking steps to establish trusting relationships'.

Voluntary Health Scotland Annual Conference: 26th October 2022

Fair Health - Who Gets It?

It's the last few weeks before Voluntary Health Scotland's Annual Conference on 26th October. We would love to see CLWs at the conference - to find out more and to book a place, click here

Inaugural Scottish Community Link Worker Network Conference 2023

We are planning to host our first Network Conference in Spring 2023. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the Network to come together in-person. We will be working with the Network's Advisory and Working Groups to plan an interesting and thought-provoking day that celebrates community link workers and the impact they have on people's wellbeing. We are interested to hear the Network's ideas for the Conference, so please do contact Roisin with your suggestions.

Macmillan Cancer Support: Person-Centred Care Competency Framework

Gordon McLean who is Strategic Partnership Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support has shared Macmillan’s person-centred competences with the Scottish Community Link Worker Network as these have helped Macmillan’s Improving the Cancer Journey (ICJ)  Link Workers.

The Competency Framework is geared more towards the clinical perspective but does have some reference to non-clinical aspects, which the ICJ link workers specialise in.  These resources have been developed collaboratively between Macmillan and cancer clinicians and leaders in the NHS. The purpose of the work is to clarify what competences are needed in the workforce to address common unmet needs of people living with cancer.

For more information about the framework or to find out more about the ICJ Link Workers, please contact Gordon McLean

Highlights from the Network

Inverclyde Community Link Workers

Elaine Cannon, Lead Community Link Worker for Inverclyde's CLW Programme (see photo above!) reflects on the last year....

Over the past year, as we have been returning to a more “normal” way of working, our Inverclyde Community Link Workers have been looking at a range of ways to maximise our time together as a team while also meeting the demands of our patients/GP practices/organisation. 

We, like most CLW Teams due to the nature of our work, recognise the role can feel quite isolated at times as we spend much of our days carrying out our unique role within our allocated GP practices or with patients in our community.  We know how important it is to have time together to reflect and support each other in order to aid our own wellbeing and development as CLW practitioners.

A key change which has been welcomed over this past year has been in relation to developing monthly group reflective practice sessions.  We have utilised ‘The Bells That Ring’ method which enables participants of group supervision to experience being in different roles so that different perspectives can be explored. It is different from other models in that it aims to develop a specifically systemic and strengths-based stance.

While we know our role is not to “fix” or “do for” our patients we also know that there can be times when particularly complex situations can be frustrating or challenging when we do not see any real progress or change happening for the people we support.  Group reflective practice sessions have enabled us to come together to share such situations anonymously in a safe space where the main purpose is to offer support, gain perspective and utilise the skills/experience of the whole team in order to help us to consider ways in which to move forward.  After the long period of remote working and utilising virtual platforms we have viewed this as an extremely valuable opportunity to come together again as a team, promote cohesiveness and remind ourselves of the wide variety of skills and experience we have within our own individual CLW Team.

Here’s what some of our team have to say about this process....

“I enjoy the creativity of the session, all having a role to play, listening and benefiting from the varying ideas and suggestions in respect to each other's experiences” - Patricia.

“It helps bring you perspective to the work you do as sometimes you can't see outside the box. It’s a great opportunity to share not only the successful stuff but have meaningful conversation about outcomes which are not as successful” - Brenda

Shetland Pilot CLW Programme - CLW needed!

Jillian Charleson from NHS Shetland wants to let the Network know that they are launching their CLW pilot programme and are recruiting for a Community Link Worker. The closing date for applications is 2nd October and you can find more details about the role here NHS Scotland 

Jillian is also keen to hear from other CLW programmes about how they advertise their service to the public. Please email Jillian directly if you have resources or leaflets that you would be willing to share.