Deaf Peer Support Worker

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is inviting applications for a Deaf Peer Support Worker within the AMH Deaf Service at the Stonebridge Centre. The role focuses on supporting deaf individuals experiencing mental health challenges, using lived experience to inform care and reduce stigma.

You will join a multidisciplinary team, complete Peer Support Foundation Training after induction, and benefit from supervision and development opportunities across the Trust.

Qualifications

• Native BSL user or Level 3 or above.
• NVQ 3/AS Level or equivalent Mental Health related qualification.
• Willingness to complete Peer Support Worker Training after induction.

Responsibilities

• Support deaf individuals to identify and work toward personal recovery goals using a strengths-based approach.
• Help service users prepare for appointments and process information afterwards.
• Promote self-advocacy and recovery-focused approaches in care.
• Maintain clear, confidential records and work with a multidisciplinary team.

Skills

Strong BSL user

Education

Native BSL user or Level 3 or above

NVQ 3 / AS Level or equivalent Mental Health related qualification

Job description

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Deaf Peer Support Worker

The closing date is 08 November 2026

We are seeking a Deaf Peer Support Worker to join our team, with a dedicated focus on supporting deaf individuals who experience mental health challenges. Deaf Mental Health Services is a specialist provision offering tailored support to people who are deaf and require mental health care that meets their communication and cultural needs.

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Adult Mental Health (AMH) Deaf Service for a Deaf Peer Support Worker. In this role, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team based at the Stonebridge Centre, with responsibilities that extend across Nottinghamshire.

As part of your development, you will be required and fully supported to complete the Peer Support Foundation Training shortly after your induction. You will also have access to regular peer-informed supervision, alongside the standard supervision and support available within the wider team.

Main duties of the job

This role plays a vital part in reducing stigma, promoting inclusion, and ensuring that the voice of lived experience shapes the development and delivery of mental health services.

Key responsibilities include:

• Supporting individuals to identify, define, and work towards their personal recovery goals, using a strengths-based and person-centred approach.
• Helping service users prepare for appointments, ensuring they feel confident and informed, and supporting them to process information afterwards.
• Promoting self-advocacy, empowerment, and recovery-focused approaches, enabling individuals to take an active role in their care.
• Drawing on your own lived experience to offer understanding, hope, and practical guidance in a safe and professional way.
• Working in line with the Peer Support Worker Competency Framework, ensuring high standards of practice, professionalism, and peer-informed values.

About us

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire & South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.

Job responsibilities

Experiencing mental distress can be isolating and overwhelming, particularly for deaf individuals who may also face communication barriers, cultural misunderstandings, or stigma within their communities. The Deaf Peer Support Worker role has been developed specifically for people with lived experience of both deafness and mental distress. By drawing on this unique combination of experiences, Deaf Peer Support Workers offer empathy, cultural understanding, and hope demonstrating that recovery is possible.

In this role, you will provide peer support alongside practical assistance, helping people regain control of their lives and shape their own recovery journey. Through relationships built on mutuality, shared experience, and accessible communication, you will promote choice, selfdetermination, and opportunities for meaningful connection within local deaf and wider communities.

You will also act as a recovery champion within the team and an ambassador for recoveryfocused practice across the Trust and partner organisations. As part of the developing peer workforce, you will be encouraged to invest in your own personal and professional development and contribute to the ongoing growth of peer roles within the Trust.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish supportive, culturally informed relationships with deaf people using mental health services and their families, grounded in the core principles of peer support (mutual, reciprocal, strengthsfocused, safe, progressive, nondirective, recoveryfocused, and inclusive).
• Share your own lived experience of deafness and mental health recovery to build trust, connection, and understanding, while maintaining professional boundaries.
• Use active listening and accessible communication methods (including BSL or preferred communication modes) to help individuals develop selfunderstanding and identify their personal recovery goals.
• Support people to work towards the goals they have identified for themselves, offering encouragement, practical guidance, and hope.
• Rolemodel recovery, personal responsibility, and selfawareness, demonstrating that positive change is achievable.
• Promote recoveryfocused and inclusive language across the service by modelling strengthsbased, nondiscriminatory, nonmedicalised communication in all interactions.
• Champion deaf awareness and culturally appropriate practice, helping colleagues understand the experiences, barriers, and strengths within the deaf community.
• Work collaboratively with the wider multidisciplinary team, contributing a livedexperience perspective to service development and delivery.
• Maintain clear, strengthsfocused clinical records, ensuring accessibility and accuracy.
• Work in line with the Peer Support Worker Competency Framework, upholding the values and standards of peer practice.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £20.00 (standard) or £41.00 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £15 per year applies.

Person Specification

Qualifications - Academic / Craft / Professional

• Native BSL user or Level 3 or above
• Level of educational attainment to NVQ 3/AS Level or equivalent Mental Health related qualification i.e. Certificate in Community Mental Health or equivalent

Contractual Requirements

• Must be able to travel to a range of locations by own or by public transport
• Car user

Dispositional attributes

• Positive and recovery focussed attitude to supporting others and working within teams Range of life experiences Ability to use initiative Reliable Able to work in a flexible way Resourceful and creative Good organisational skills including time management Supportive to other colleagues Able to demonstrate a patient, non-judgmental, respectful and compassionate attitude

Training

• Completion of, or willingness to complete Peer Support Worker Training Completion of own wellness plan (there is no expectation for this to be shared)
• Level of educational attainment to NVQ 3/AS Level or equivalent Mental Health related qualification ie. Certificate in Community Mental Health or equivalent Willingness to undertake further training in line with the development of peer support

Experience

• Lived experience of mental distress and recovery Experience of being in a supportive and enabling role
• Experience of being supported by a community mental health team Experience of working in a healthcare setting Experience of working in a team Experience of training, teaching, coaching/mentoring others Experience of using a range of self-management or recovery tools and techniques Experience of working across different organisational boundaries

Physical requirements

• Manual handling which may include maneuvering of wheelchairs/trolleys/beds etc. as needed Break away and de-escalation techniques
• Manual handling which may include maneuvering of wheelchairs/trolleys/beds etc. as needed Break away and de-escalation techniques

Skills

• Ability to use personal experiences to support others and demonstrate empathy Active listening skills Ability to reflect on experiences and working practice personally and in group settings Awareness of and ability to use written, verbal and non-verbal communication skills Willingness to use the Trust IT systems Able to build inclusive relationships with a wide range of people Approachable appearance and behaviour Able to create a safe environment and use techniques to reduce anxiety and understand conflict Ability to maintain a home/work life balance which feels healthy Ability to work within a team Ability to work in an enabling and creative way, where the person is the expert in their own recovery Willingness to support people in ways which they choose to meet their recovery goals Ability to carry out practical tasks
• Strong BSL user

Knowledge

• Understanding of the core principles or values of peer support Personal understanding of how to manage stress and when to access support
• Knowledge of community resources

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

£25,760 to £27,476 a yearPer annum, pro rata for part time