The fifth annual Scottish Community Link Worker Network Conference was held in Edinburgh last week Bringing together link workers from across Scotland to share learning, hear from keynote speakers, and enhance practice.
Voluntary Action Orkney runs the Community Link Practitioner service in partnership with NHS Orkney. The team, Linsey Drever and Erika Copland, travelled to Edinburgh to attend the conference.
Usually held in May, this year’s event was moved to September due to the Scottish Government elections, and it was held at Dynamic Earth.
This year’s keynote speech was delivered by Maree Todd MSP, Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs. As she had delivered a keynote speech at the very first annual conference, it was fitting that she was back to mark five years of the Scottish Community Link Worker Network.
As a pharmacist by profession, Ms Todd was able to apply her own experiences and knowledge, advocating for the role of Community Link Workers. She recognised that multidisciplinary teams "don’t work by magic" and highlighted how understanding each other’s roles and having confidence in them ensured that the patient had a personal and good experience. She stressed a key component was “early intervention and prevention”.
Dr Eddie Donaghy, a social scientist and health services researcher from the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh presented findings from the Lothian case study for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) evaluation of Community Link Workers in English and Scottish primary care. Key themes emerging include:
- The changing role of link workers
- Therapeutic relationship with boundaries
- Challenges and sustainability
- Benefits of link workers to general practice
- Benefits of link workers to patients
He highlighted that every £1 invested into the role of Community Link Workers generates £9 of social value.
The conference came at a key time - the Scottish Government has been reviewing the role of Community Link Workers, looking to embed a national Knowledge and Skills Framework. This was presented by Alison Hannan, who has been leading on the work via a part-time secondment with Public Services Delivery Scotland.
Delegates were given the opportunity to attend workshops, before the presentation of the annual awards. There were three award categories:
- Scottish Community Link Worker Team of the Year
- Partnership of the Year
- Outstanding Scottish Community Link Worker of the Year
Linsey from the Orkney team had been nominated for Outstanding Scottish Community Link Worker of the Year. Her nomination highlighted her commitment, empathy and unwavering support for those referred to her, including people experiencing mental health challenges. Her contribution was recognised when she received the award.
On winning, Linsey said:
I was very surprised and humbled to be named.... this is a fantastic opportunity to highlight the great work the Community Link Practitioner service does very quietly behind the scenes.
