Peer Support Worker

Eput; Colchester; Hybrid; GBP 21,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days holiday

NHS Pension

Staff discounts

Season ticket loans

Job summary

EPUT Trust is seeking a Peer Support Worker to provide formal and professional peer support to service users on inpatient wards. Drawing on your lived experience, you will guide recovery journeys and empower patients to set goals, working within a multidisciplinary team to promote recovery, inclusivity, and trauma‑informed care.

Join our Trust for supervision, development, and opportunities to contribute to high‑quality mental health care, while upholding recovery‑focused practice and

Qualifications

• Personal lived experience of managing or living with complex mental health issues.
• Experience of working with volunteers, 3rd sector organisations and/or community and social enterprise organisations.

Responsibilities

• To improve the lives of people with mental ill health by minimising the impact of their condition through the delivery of excellent services to promote recovery and wellbeing.
• To be compassionate in meeting the needs of patients and their carers.
• To work closely with multidisciplinary team within the service regarding the mental health needs of the people they are support.
• To support service users to direct their own recovery process and co‑produce care plans.

Skills

Personal lived experience of mental‑h 

Experience with volunteers/3rd sector

Job description

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 you must have right to work in the UK to apply for this position.

Due to current Home Office Guidelines, we are unable to sponsor this job role.

As an integral and highly valued member of the [Inpatient] or [Specialist] Care Team, the PSW will provide formal and professional peer support and practical assistance to service users in order for them to regain control over their lives and their unique recovery journey in a progressive way during their time on the ward.

Working in line with the national peer support competency framework, and the key principles of peer support as outlined by ImROC, The PSW will effectively use their own lived experience of recovery to support a person in their own recovery journey, helping the people they are supporting to navigate the inpatient pathway. By building positive relationship with service users and patients based on mutuality, reciprocity, and inclusivity, they will support people to identify their recovery goals and strengths working towards discharge. The PSW will advocate for a persons needs and support that person to self-advocate during their inpatient stay.

Main duties of the job

Where the term “service users” is used, this includes individual service users, people with lived experience, their family members and carers.

• To improve the lives of people with mental ill health by minimising the impact of their condition through the delivery of excellent services to promote recovery and wellbeing
• To be compassionate in meeting the needs of patients and their carers
• To work closely with multidisciplinary team within the service regarding the mental health needs of the people they are support

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.
• We run recognition awards to recognise staff's hard work and dedication.
• 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service.
• Excellent pension of up to14.5% 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

• Flexible working: available from day one for most roles.
• Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

COMMUNICATION AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

• To acknowledge and work to the key principles for providing peer support (Mutuality, Reciprocity, Non-Directive, Strengths-based, Progressive, Inclusive, Recovery-Focused, and Safe)
• Be aware the emotional context, staying calm and being clear, consistent and reliable. Ensuring that the approach with colleagues, and service users is balanced and fair.
• To work with multi-disciplinary teams to support service users access additional services and teams within the inpatient setting to better meet their needs where possible.
• To accept and respect service users’ personal beliefs, uniqueness and identities. Working and communicating in a way that acknowledges the personal social, cultural and spiritual strengths and needs of the individual.
• To be aware of, teach others and challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations and anti-discriminatory practice as appropriate.
• To attend multidisciplinary team and other meetings as appropriate, and champion a recovery and holistic approach to care. To actively participate in regular supervision and be willing to reflect on interpersonal dynamics.
• To be trauma-informed, and be an ambassador for trauma informed care
• To support service users to direct their own recovery process through encouraging them to work collaboratively with teams, and where possible, carers, to identify their own goals and needs and to co‑produce care plans to support these.

CARING RESPONSIBLITIES:

• To support service users to direct their own recovery process through encouraging them to work collaboratively with teams, and where possible, carers, to identify their own goals and needs and to co‑produce care plans to support these.
• To assist service users to identify their strengths, personal interests and goals, and support them to access and participate in activities which meet these, whilst demonstrating acceptance of and respect towards service users' personal beliefs, uniqueness and identity.
• To support service users to maintain and/or develop positive relationships with others and learn how to improve or eliminate unhealthy relationships.
• To model/mentor a recovery process and demonstrate coping skills, using own experience.
• To contribute to the assessment, planning, implementation and review of care with multidisciplinary teams.
• To accompany service users to appointments, therapeutic or social, and community‑based activities, as appropriate.
• To assist service users to integrate into the service and local area and support them to access information on health promotion, mental and physical wellbeing where possible.
• To assist the service user to understand their rights and choices within the services in which they participate.
• To offer transitional support and aid navigation for Peers and Carers to access EPUT, third sector providers and community resources as the need dictates where possible.
• To work with the family and carer ambassadors where possible to have a holistic approach to peer support for services users and their families / carers.
• To promote opportunities for peer support and Lived experience in other areas of inpatient services.
• To be an ambassador for lived experience across inpatient services.

RISK MANAGEMENT:

• To manage and work effectively in line with Trust risk policies and procedures, whilst supporting an individual's recovery.
• To ensure any observed concerns regarding an individual's wellbeing, including any issues of safeguarding, are raised with the team at the earliest opportunity.
• To report any untoward incidents or unusual occurrences to management immediately.

Person specification

Education/ Qualifications

Knowledge

• Experience of working alongside mental health professionals.

Skills/ Experience

• Personal lived experience of managing or living with complex mental health issues
• Experience of working with volunteers, 3rd sector organisations and/or community and social enterprise organisations

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

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