Age UK Sunderland
Job Description

Post:

Programmes Manager

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours:

5 days (35 hours) per week.

Salary/benefits:

£33, 168 pa inclusive; access to pension scheme

Location:

Responsible to:

Various community settings across Sunderland, with a HQ at Bradbury
Centre, Stockton Road, Sunderland
Senior Operations Manager

Accountable to:

Age UK Sunderland (AUKS)

Key working Relationships:

AUKS CIT Social Prescribing Team, Hospital Discharge Team and other relevant services
Statutory and Community based providers



       Secondary Care
       Age UK Sunderland Internal Teams

    Older people
    Carers and Carer Organisations
    Other clinical and non-traditional provider groups as required

Integrated Care Teams

Background:
Integrated care is a way of better coordinating care for older people with one or more long term
conditions.  Integrated  care  in  Sunderland  is  defined  as  collaborative  working  between  key
stakeholders,  including  GPs,  health  and  social  care  and  voluntary  organisations,  to  integrate
and organise patient care more effectively.

The purpose of Programme Services is to put older people in personal control of their health &
wellbeing and provide them with integrated care and support in their local community, focusing
on prevention of ill health and the promotion of wellbeing.

The service enables older people to have improved health outcomes and independence whilst
reducing  the  burden  on  NHS  services  in  Sunderland  through  the  reduction  in  need  for  GP
visits, Out of Hours Contacts, emergency admissions/readmissions etc.

Purpose of the post:

The post provides an interface between voluntary sector provider organisations and service
users, health and social care multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) and other statutory bodies. The
Programmes Service Manager will lead & coordinate staff and volunteers to support individuals
to self-manage their needs.

1

The  post  holder  will  work  in  and  across  5  Sunderland  localities  coordinating  the  service.
Many  older  people  have  complex  health  needs,  the  service  focusses  on  practical  support  to
encourage the utilisation of local community services and assets.

The  post  holder  will  also  support  the  identification  of  unpaid  carers  and  enable  access  to

appropriate services.

Key Responsibilities
The  post  holder  will  be  an  excellent  communicator  and  develop  a  wide  knowledge  of  the
services  offered  by  non-traditional  providers  in  the  Sunderland  area.  The  post  holder  will
require strong organisational skills, must be flexible in approach, able to exercise initiative and
demonstrate  a  consistently  high  standard  of  professionalism,  being  aware  of  the  need  for
confidentiality and integrity.

Management Tasks:

  To  manage  and  coordinate  AUKS  CIT  social  prescribers,  Hospital  Discharge  staff
and other identified staff/volunteers to ensure the provision of innovative interventions
and  continuous  practical,  social  and  emotional  support  to  older  people  in  the  local
communities and on discharge from hospital.

  To  ensure  a  clear  and  effective  referral  pathways  are  established  with  key  partner

organisations in the City.

  To  effectively  recruit,  train,  support  and  develop  volunteers  involved  in  programme

delivery if required.

  To lead and supervise a staff  team to focus on the client group; to create a supportive
environment  for  older  people  to  retain  their  confidence,  personal  interests,  wellbeing
and independence.

  To deliver relevant training to staff and volunteers.
  To oversee the conduction of personal plans with each person referred to the services;

to determine the type the support required

  To ensure the implementation of an action plan which is responsive to the needs of the

client group

  To  monitor  the  service  and  provide  written  reports/summaries  as  required.  This  will
include  operational reports,  evaluations  and  contribute  to  strategic leadership  reports
on developing and maintaining integrated care in Sunderland

  To actively promote, market and develop the services
  To keep records of clients and volunteers
  To  provide  HR  support  to  staff  including  appraisals,  supervisions  and  support  in  any

disciplinary procedures

  To liaise appropriately with partners.
  To ensure oversight of assessments & home visits including lone working procedures
  GP & professional liaison
  Patient information gathering & analysis

2



In depth knowledge gathering on available services (community & statutory), multi-
disciplinary services etc.

  Publicity & promotion of offering
  Record keeping, monitoring, evaluation



Identification of step up care and safeguarding responsibilities
Identification of gaps in services to inform future development

Additional responsibilities:

  Be aware of Health & safety issues involved in the delivery of the service
  Communicate  with  members  of  the  MDT/Integrated  teams/other  relevant  teams  as

required

  Ensure  appropriate  actions  from  Multi-Disciplinary  Team  (MDT)  meetings  are

completed in a timely fashion

  Deal  in  a  professional,  helpful  &  sensitive  manner  with  older  people,  staff,  carers  &

other agencies.

  Promote the independence & empowerment of older people
  Build strong relationships with partners and providers
  Ensure all KPI targets are met
  To  abide  by  and  implement  all  policies  and  procedures  of  AUKS,  including  being

aware of and responsible corporately and as an individual for Health & Safety

Information and Data Coordination

  To be proficient in using Microsoft office packages and other identified IT systems and

support other team members in their use.

  To record relevant patient documentation on identified IT systems as required.
  Facility for learning new software packages which may be in continued development
  Maintain Excel, Charitylog and other databases to input patients’ engagement
  Support  completion  of  patient  referrals,  record  electronically  and  feedback  to  team

members.

  Extract  caseload  information  from  the  patient  database  as  required,  and  undertake
analysis  of  caseload  information  for  audit  and  performance  management  purposes,
including  running  reports  and  converting  data  into  charts  and  tables  for  sharing  with
the team.
Input data onto the patient information management systems to update patient details,
and periodically use reports to ensure patient details are correct.



  Be  responsible  for  updating  the  electronic  service  directory  on  a  regular  basis,
sourcing referral criteria and ensuring these are accessible to all relevant parties.

  Produce comprehensive operational reports to inform on service activity

3

General

  The post holder must at all times carry out duties and responsibilities with due regard

to the organisations’ equal opportunity policies and procedures.

  The  post  holder  will  be  expected  to  take  responsibility  for  self-development  on  a



continuous basis, undertaking on-the-job training as required.
 The post holder will ensure they accurately represent AUKS and ensure the values of
AUKS are upheld at all times in carrying out their work

  The  post  holder  must  adhere  to  the  organisation’s  information  governance/GDPR
policies at all times, in particular ensuring that there is no breach of confidentiality as a
result of his/her actions.

  To  abide  by  and  implement  all  policies  and  procedures  of  Age  UK  Sunderland,
including  being  aware  of  and  responsible  corporately  and  as  an  individual  for  Health
and Safety policy.

This job description is intended as a guide to the main responsibilities of the post and not as
an  exhaustive  list  of  duties  and  tasks.  The  post  holder  may  be  required  to  undertake  other
duties in keeping with the level of responsibility of the post, as requested by the Director The
job description may be amended from time to time after consultation with the post holder.

This post is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Enhanced check.

4

Age UK Sunderland

Person Specification

Post:

Programmes Manager

Location:

Responsible to:

Various community settings across Sunderland, with a HQ at Bradbury
Centre, Stockton Road, Sunderland
Operations Manager

Essential Criteria

Good standard of education preferably to Degree level or be able to demonstrate the equivalent
experience

At  least  2  years’  experience  of  operational  management  preferably  in  health/social  care  or
information & advice or work in direct contact with people, families & carers.

Experience of managing a diverse staff team

Proven track record of managing the logistics of a multi operational and multi partner service

Previous experience of assessment and evaluation processes

Ability to manage a busy workload and prioritise appropriately

Previous experience of working with vulnerable people

A track record of developing successful services

Possesses excellent communication skills to deal with highly sensitive and emotional issues on
a frequent and unpredictable basis

Possess excellent report writing skills and ability to tailor communications to different audiences

Have a good understanding of volunteering and demonstrate evidence of the ability to recruit,
train and retain volunteers

Commitment to working in the voluntary sector

Be innovative with enthusiasm to take on new challenges

Be a dynamic self-starter

5

Ability to respond effectively to unplanned/emergency situations

Have  excellent  IT  skills,  with  ability  to  produce  reports,  databases  and  other  key  IT  project
management tools

Good  people  skills  with  a  friendly  approachable  style  and  ability  to  generate  trust  and  form
positive relationships

A good listener

Flexible & responsive to changing needs of clients

Creative approach to problem solving

Tactful and diplomatic, able to build a rapport with people from a wide range of backgrounds

Experience of risk assessment & risk management

Understanding of health and social care processes

Understanding of the complexity of older people’s lives & the barriers they face

Understanding of safeguarding responsibilities

Knowledge  of  the  range  of  voluntary,  statutory  and  private  sector  orgs/services  working  with
older people

Understanding of welfare benefits available to older people

Possess a full clean driving licence and have access to a car for work

To abide by and implement all policies and procedures of AUKS, including being aware of and
responsible corporately and as an individual for Health & Safety

6