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Care Coordinator
A Care Co-Ordinator plays an important role within a Primary Care Network (PCN). They proactively identify and work with people – including the frail/elderly and those with long-term conditions, providing coordination and navigation of care and support across health and care services. Care Coordinators can provide extra time, capacity, and expertise to support patients in preparing for or in following-up to, clinical conversations they have with primary care professionals.
Care Coordinators are one of three personalised care roles in primary care, the other two being social prescribing link workers (SPLWs) and health and wellbeing coaches (HWBCs).
Care Coordinators work closely with GPs and other primary care professionals within the PCN to identify and manage a caseload of identified patients, making sure that appropriate support is made available to them and their carers and ensuring that their changing needs are addressed. Care Coordinators achieve this by bringing together all the information about a person’s identified care and support needs and exploring options to meet these within a single personalised care and support plan, based on what matters to the person.
Care coordination is a long-term, integrated, evidence-based programme centred around supporting people with disabilities, mental health needs, older people and their families/carers, by working together with people to help them:
- Build and pursue their personal vision for a good life
- Stay strong, safe and connected as contributing citizens
- Find practical, non-service solutions to problems wherever possible
- Build more welcoming, inclusive and supportive communities
Where local area coordination already exists, it can complement social prescribing by supporting particular cohorts of people for the longer term and building community capacity and connections.
Care Co-ordinator jobs can be found in various places including the NHS Jobs website.