Band 5 Senior Peer Support Worker

The role of Senior Peer Support Worker (PSW) has been developed specifically for people who have lived experience of recovery from mental health challenges and experience of professionally utilising these experiences within mental health as Peer Support Workers. In the context of St Charles inpatient site, the Senior Peer Support Worker will, with guidance from the Trustwide Lived Experience Practice and Peer Support Lead and other Senior Peer Support Worker(s), facilitate and support the expansion of peer support worker roles across the service. The role will include inputting to the development and sustainability of peer support worker posts, including role definition

If you're looking for a career where you can make a positive difference to the lives of people needing mental health support and create a fairer, more inclusive society in a role where no two days are the same, apply today.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Main duties of the job

The Senior Peer Support Worker will, with guidance from the Trust Peer Support Lead and other Senior Peer Support Worker(s), facilitate and support the expansion of peer support worker roles across the service. The role will include inputting to the development and sustainability of peer support worker posts, including role definition.

The Senior PSW will be actively involved in the recruitment of peer support workers locally and co-facilitate a range of Trust-wide learning and development opportunities; including delivery of the accredited Peer Worker Training, and 'Peer Support Team Preparation' workshops. The post holder will provide high quality individual supervision to PSW's working within acute services and group supervision to Peer Support Workers across the trust.

Through sharing the wisdom of own lived experience, the Senior PSW will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible in others, taking a lead role in embedding recovery values within the service settings in which they work, alongside other Trust recovery champions.

We are based at St Charles in Kensington and Chelsea locations easily accessible via tube and bus.

About us

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 7,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond.We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. See attached Staff Reward and Wellbeing Handbook detailing our benefits, discounts and wellbeing initiatives for staff.

Job description Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Central and North West London NHS Trust is committed to providing safe, effective services and providing those who use the services; and those who support them, with a positive experience.

Clinical Responsibilities

To work with the multi-disciplinary team alongside newly appointed peer support workers to deliver support to those individuals accessing St Charles.

To assume a coaching role supporting service users in developing personal recovery plans; this can be delivered individually or in groups.

To establish supportive and respectful relationships with people using the service.

To model/mentor a recovery process and demonstrate self-management skills and techniques, using own experience of recovery.

To act as a role model to service users to inspire hope, share life experiences and lessons learned as a person in recovery.

To skilfully use personal experience of recovery to help motivate patients

To assist individuals in managing their mental health on a day to day basis including providing support with activities of daily living such as care of self, budgeting, personal care, caring for their home and leisure activities.

To assist service users to identify their strengths, personal interests and goals; providing opportunities for service users to direct their own recovery process.

To facilitate the individual to move through and beyond services.

To support service users to develop Health and Wellbeing Plans encouraging individuals to connect/ reconnect with family, friends, significant others and in learning how to improve or eliminate unhealthy relationships.

To contribute to the assessment, planning, implementation and review of care with the multi-disciplinary team; encouraging the individual to co-produce care plans and risk/safety management plans.

To assist individuals to maintain their mental and physical wellbeing; including providing practical support with all aspects of their daily lives.

To positively promote and support service users in the community by maintaining extensive knowledge and links with community resources and actively supporting service users to access opportunities of their choice.

To accept and respect service users personal beliefs, uniqueness and identity.

Person Specification EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS Essential

• Completed peer support worker training (preferably accredited)
• Evidence of further training in relation to personal recovery principles
• Willingness to undertake or completion of Level 4 LSBU accredited course Developing Expertise in Peer Support course.
• Evidence of continuing professional and personal development

Desirable

• Accredited certificate in Life Coaching

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Paid/unpaid relevant to job. Essential

• Own personal lived experience of recovery from mental health challenges
• Experience of having personally accessed inpatient mental health services
• Experience of positively sharing own life experiences, and personal recovery journey, with service users, carers and others
• Ability to demonstrate first person experiential knowledge of recovery
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of the concept of personal recovery as it may apply to others
• Experience of working in a range of health and/or social care settings as a peer support worker
• Experience of working with people with mental health problems and supporting them to access opportunities beyond mental health services
• Recent experience of supervision of others (in paid or unpaid capacity)
• Recent experience of delivering training and presentations to a wide range of audiences
• Experience in implementing recruitment and selection processes
• Experience of project development
• Experience of working both independently as well as providing group and 1:1 activities

Desirable

• Working experience as a peer support worker in an inpatient environment
• Undertaking evaluations, audit and research
• Delivery of Recovery College courses

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES Essential

• Ability to demonstrate first person experiential knowledge of recovery
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of the concept of personal recovery as it may apply to others
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers
• Interviewing skills
• Effective listening skills
• Ability to communicate on all levels and to a broad scope of individuals, both internally and externally to the Trust
• Ability to act calmly and to respond in a professional manner to distress, disturbance and unpredictability
• Ability to see solutions rather than problems
• Good marketing and presentation skills
• Ability to problem solve and create innovative solutions to help empower others
• An awareness of behaviour and interactions as meaningful communications
• Ability to work independently, flexibly, reliably and consistently with guidance
• Excellent planning, self-management and organisational skills
• Effective team player skills
• Ability to challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations and discriminatory practice in an effective manner
• Ability to demonstrate practical skills to provide support with daily living activities
• Emotional intelligence and reflectivity with ability to work effectively with others to bring about change in a complex and dynamic organisation
• An awareness of behaviour and interactions as meaningful communications

Desirable

• Working knowledge of the principles of coproduction

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

333-J-KC-0664