AOT Support Worker

Eput; Colchester; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days holiday

NHS pension

Staff discounts

Season ticket loan

Supervision and support

Job summary

The Assertive Outreach Team / Pathway within Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) is recruiting to deliver care to service-users in North East Essex with severe and enduring mental health problems. The role involves co-produced, personalised care planning and helping service users engage in education, employment or recovery activities in community settings.

You will travel across the NE Essex area, work with carers and other professionals to promote independence and reduce

Qualifications

• Knowledge and experience in mental health settings.
• Experience in community or inpatient mental health services.

Responsibilities

• Provide practical and regular support to service users and carers in community or in-patient settings.
• Participate in group activities within the Trust premises and community settings.
• Attends/participates in CPA reviews and care plan documentation.

Skills

Mental health experience

MH service experience

Job description

We can provide emotional and wellbeing support for anyone affected by the Lampard Inquiry. Find support

Site Herrick House Town Colchester Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum, pro rata for part time Salary period Yearly Closing 08/10/2026 23:59

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.

Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.

We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.

You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.

The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.

We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.

We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.

We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.

Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.

Job overview

Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy early should a sufficient number of applications be received.

ROLE SUMMARY

The Assertive Outreach Team/Pathway will deliver effective care to service-users in North East Essex who are experiencing severe and enduring mental health problems, often leading to multiple and complex needs and who may be difficult to engage. Care and support will be offered in line with the CPA approach and delivered in service user's homes or other community settings.

The post-holder will support the process of undertaking co‑produced, personalised care & support planning with service users where goals and interventions are based on each individual’s strengths, assets and sense of what will make a more meaningful life for themselves. This may include supporting service users to be ‘gainfully’ engaged as per their goals e.g. education, employment, volunteering, training, recovery college activity or other meaningful occupation, and should include a collaborative and flexible approach.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all of our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately your application form be rejected from the process.

Main duties of the job

The main role of the Assertive Outreach Team / Pathway:

• To develop and maintain a supportive and therapeutic relationship with the service user to provide help and care in the service users own community.
• To provide flexible support and help that is meaningful and acceptable to the service user that aims to improve their quality of life and functioning.
• To seek meaningful and acceptable methods of engaging service users.
• To maintain relationships and develop supportive social networks.
• To provide a wide range of practical support aimed at reducing isolation and promoting recovery for example, employment and leisure.
• To increase carer satisfaction, education, training, and support

You will need to have access to transport and be able to travel throughout the NE Essex area on a daily basis, and on occasions have access to transport that will enable you to travel throughout the country.

Applicants must demonstrate a flexible approach, evolving around the needs of service users, their families, and significant others. The role involves working as a team member with the responsibility of a caseload across traditional boundaries of adult services and the voluntary sector services. The service ethos is focused on recovery and promoting independence and therefore offers successful applicants an exciting and demanding opportunity to improve people's lives.

Working for our organisation

Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you.

• Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential.
• Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks.
• If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.
• 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service.
• Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay.
• Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits.
• Season ticket loans are interest‑free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.

Work that wraps around your needs

• Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide practical and regular support to service users and carers in community or in‑patient settings, with a focus on social inclusive activities and recovery e.g., escorting service users to appointments, assisting to complete benefits forms, supporting patients to collect medication from local pharmacy, attending an educational or recreational facility.
• Participate in group activities within the Trust premises and community settings. Records and reports back fully on activities undertaken and alert others in the care team, to any issues that arise during the activities.
• Attends/participates in meetings/CPA reviews as required in relation to allocated Service Users.
• Complete care plan documentation: provide regular written and verbal reports about the service user to the care coordinators and other professionals involved in the care package.
• Act as an advocate within appropriate and agreed boundaries of confidentiality and professionalism.
• The post holder must have the individual service user needs at the fore at all times and use the agreed set of values and skills to underpin their day‑to‑day work.
• Provide regular and practical support to service users and their carers/significant other in developing and managing dignity and independence.
• Provide support and assistance as necessary with daily living activities.
• Help service users gain access to resources including benefits and welfare rights.
• To ensure the service user understands who is involved in their care across the different services with key contact points/named individuals.
• Assist the care coordinator and service user in developing care plans/crisis/contingency plans in accordance with good practice and local policy guidelines.
• Provide information on health promotion, e.g., healthy eating, exercise, and support service users to participate in relevant groups/activities. Participate in food preparation/cooking skills development.
• Identify and advise on health and safety risks in relation to self and others, e.g., fire, food hygiene, cleanliness.
• Being aware of signs and symptoms of a person’s relapse and report back to the manager and/or care coordinator.
• Maintain own professional development by attending regular supervision, training, and adhering to development plans as required.
• Be willing to access training to enhance physical health assessment skills, including but not limited to venepuncture, undertaking ECGs, and general observation

The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) brings together key health, care, community, and voluntary sector organisations from across our area. Our aim is to work together in partnership to join up health and care services, improving our population’s health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities. One such example of this collaborative work is the launch of our HCA Academy, an ICs initiative between Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) to support the incoming Health Care assistant (HCA) workforce. The academy models a ‘one workforce’ cross system approach to the onboarding, induction, education and experience of Healthcare Assistants.

To support this ‘one workforce model’ the successful candidate for this post will be required to attend our5 day (Monday to Friday) face to face Induction Programme at our MSE ICs Education Hub at Brentwood Community Hospital. Your start date will therefore fall on one of two of the HCA Academy induction dates across the month, which will be discussed and agreed during the recruitment process.

Our HCA Academy Induction programme has been designed to train and support the successful candidate through the early stages of their employment at EPUT and will provide opportunities to enhance skills, knowledge and experience.

Further information will be provided post interview.

This will be followed by an additional 5 day (Monday to Friday) EPUT corporate / mandatory training welcome. (EPUT Welcome will be varied between face to face and virtual delivery).

Knowledge and Experience

• Working with people with Mental Health problems
• Previous experience in a community or inpatient mental health service

Personal Qualities

• Always ensures matters of concern are addressed in a timely way, either directly: or raised with the relevant Line Manager; or through the relevant processes within the Trust as appropriate
• Designing and facilitating activity/skills based group work

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.

As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email [e-mail] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre‑employment checks.

Please note -staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.