Celebrating our teams...Jodie Woodburn, Social Prescriber

There are a variety of roles across BHCP and other organisations we work with in the community. Here we shine the spotlight on the people who carry out a range of roles to keep our communities healthy and supported.

Jodie Woodburn is a Social Prescriber for Bay Integrated Care Community and Bay Primary Care Network. Jodie is based at Heysham Health Centre and travels around the GP surgeries within Bay Medical Group. She works closely with Social Prescriber Eric Worsley and a team of non-clinical care coordinators, clinical care coordinators, young person’s social prescribers and the health coaches from The Well Communities.

Prior to starting her role, Jodie worked for Bay Medical Group for 12 years and was the site manager at Morecambe Health Centre.

How did you get your role?

Jodie said: “I’ve always been involved in community work including playing a variety of sports locally.  It has always been a passion of mine to give back to the community. When the social prescriber role came up it sounded amazing and I knew it was the right role for me because I love trying to help and support people.

“Over the 12 years that I worked in general practice, I got to meet a lot of the community and build up nice relationships with people – this has really helped in my current role.”

What does your role involve?

Jodie said: “I work with people to help them to improve their health and wellbeing as well as connect them to local community groups and activities that interest them.

“We support people who haven’t been out in a while to improve their social circle or to help improve the confidence of people who have had a change in circumstances. One day we could be supporting people to get back into work and another day helping people who may be having financial support or need access to local food banks.

“Our role isn’t about telling people what we feel they should or shouldn’t be doing but we are here to listen and help refer to the right people or organisations who can help.”

What have been the best bits of your role?

Jodie said: “My role is different every single day. I really love helping people to take control of their health and wellbeing and it is really nice to watch the people I am helping to grow in confidence and see what’s out there in the community.”

What have been the challenges of your role?

Jodie said: “Sometimes it can take people a long time to open up to you to really find out the root cause of what matters to them the most.”

Top tips for people wanting to get into a similar role:

Jodie said: “Being open and non-judgemental when listening to people's stories. We don’t have to have the answers for everything but even just that listening ear can make a difference to someone’s day. Having experience in different community roles and getting to know your community is a must.

“You can find out more about social prescribing by reading our leaflet here.”

A PDF version of the case study can be found here.