Perinatal Peer Support Worker, Trauma and Bereavement Service

Transformationunitgm; Lincolnshire (IL); On-site; GBP 24,000 - 26,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization seeks a Perinatal Peer Support Worker to provide support for women experiencing trauma related to perinatal loss. This part-time role involves offering emotional support, facilitating patient involvement, and building relationships within a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to mental health care.

Benefits

Employee-led networks

Health and Wellbeing services

Qualifications

• Lived experience of perinatal loss or trauma.
• Experience in support and enabling roles.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism.

Responsibilities

• Offer 1:1 support to women and families affected by perinatal trauma.
• Collect patient feedback and organize support groups.
• Build supportive relationships with users of perinatal mental health services.

Skills

Communication

Empathy

Active listening

Education

NVQ 3/AS Level or equivalent

Certificate in Community Mental Health or equivalent

Job description

Main area Perinatal Mental Health Grade Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 7.5 hours per week (1 day per week (to be agreed)) Job ref 186-753-25-MH

Employer Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Greenhaven, Hopewood Hospital Town Nottinghamshire Salary £24,625 - £25,674 per annum (pro rata for part-time) Salary period Yearly Closing 25/06/2025 23:59

Perinatal Peer Support Worker, Trauma and Bereavement Service

Band 3

Job overview

The Mental Health division of Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust comprises of three directorates; Adult Mental Health, Mental Health Services for Older People and Specialist Services. More than 2,800 dedicated staff provide vital and integral healthcare services for our patients in a variety of settings, ranging from community through to acute wards, covering a vast geographical area.

We’re investing heavily in our staff, facilities and patient care. As we move into this new chapter, we need a strong, motivated and compassionate workforce to reflect our core values of Honesty, Compassion, Trust, Respect and Teamwork. There has never been a better time to join our growing team.

We have exciting opportunities across different specialities and services, with an emphasis on career development and progression. We want to help our staff reach their full potential, and are committed to providing the support, skills and development needed to succeed.

Main duties of the job

Nottinghamshire Community Perinatal Mental Health Service are part of the Children, Young People and Families Care Group and co-located on the Hopewood site with Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services. We are a Nationally Accredited Service with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We provide assessment and treatment to women with a range of mental health needs related to the perinatal period.

Alongside the traditional Perinatal Team, there is an additional Specialist Service offering Psychological Treatment to birthing people that are experiencing PTSD related to a perinatal trauma or bereavement. The peer support worker role is a crucial addition to new the multi-disciplinary team offering this service.

Working for our organisation

#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, and 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's 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 our 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

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This role sits within the Multi-Disciplinary Team and will be involved in on going service development. In your capacity as a Peer Support Worker you will have lived experience of trauma or bereavement associated with pregnancy or childbirth.

Please note, the post holder can expect to hear stories of perinatal bereavement and trauma. For this reason, we would expect this post to be suitable for someone that is able to listen to these stories without it feeling retraumatising. There is extensive support and supervision within the clinical team around the post-holder.

In this role, we would expect that you will offer 1:1 or group support to women and families that have also experienced perinatal loss or trauma. This will be supported within the MDT and with allied organisations.

Patient involvement is also key to the development of the service and there will be a requirement for the applicant to collect patient feedback forms and organise and run the bimonthly online Patient Involvement Group.

It is important that you feel able to cope with the highly sensitive and emotional stories that accompany this work. We will however provide strong support and supervision structures to enable this work.

Please note, the lived experience is an essential aspect of this role and we cannot accept applicants where this is not apparent.

A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Key roles;

To establish supportive and respectful relationships with people using perinatal mental health services.

To help people identify their personal goals

To support women and families using home visits using active listening skills and signposting/accompanying to community resources.

To build and sustain relationships with third sector organisations with the support of the wider MDT.

To offer relationships built upon acceptance, empathy and trust both to women and to their wider family networks

To draw on personal experiences and range of coping, self-help and self-management skills

To model personal responsibility, self awareness, self belief, self advocacy and hopefulness

To sign-post to various resources, opportunities and activities within the Trust and in communities to promote choice and informed decision making

To raise awareness of recovery among Trust staff by modelling positive, strengths based, non-discriminatory, non-jargon, non-medicalised language in all areas of work

To support the team in promoting a trauma informed approach to recovery

Be actively involved in the continued development of the PSW training programme and in the ongoing

To abide by the PSW Code of Conduct, so that the central focus of work, inspiring recovery, is not compromised in any way

To act as an ambassador for the Trust with external agencies and partner organisations

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 £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (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 £16 per year applies.

Please note that this post does not meet the pay level required for a Skilled worker visa.

Successful applicants with no prior NHS experience would normally be placed at the bottom of the band in line with Agenda for Change. This salary is below the minimum salary required for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa. In these circumstances the Trust would not, therefore, be able to sponsor for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa.

Applicants requiring a Skilled Worker Visa can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship against the relevant criteria here https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

Person specification

Experience

• Lived experience of perinatal loss or trauma - please note if you do not indicate this, you will not be shortlisted for interview
• Experience of accessing support services
• Experience of being in a support and enabling role
• Experience of working in the public sector
• 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
• Excellent written, verbal and non-verbal communication skills.
• Willingness to use the Trust IT systems
• Able to relate to a wide range of people
• Professional in appearance and behaviour
• Able to manage conflict and to help others to do so
• Ability to maintain a healthy home/work life balance
• High level of self-awareness – ability to critically appraise own performance
• Ability to demonstrate critical thinking Good team-working skills
• Ability to include wider support networks in care while maintaining confidentiality
• Ability to share personal story of recovery in a professional manner
• Ability to assist people to identify early warning signs and triggers
• Ability and willingness to reflect on work practice and be open to constructive feedback
• Ability to work in an enabling and creative way
• Willingness to support people with a range of needs to meet their recovery goals
• Ability to manage stress and to plan and prioritise workload
• Ability to carry out practical tasks
• Computer literate in Microsoft office

Dispositional Attributes

• Range of life experiences
• Good team worker
• Ability to use initiative
• Reliable
• Flexible
• Resourceful
• Good organisational skills including time management.
• Supportive to other colleagues
• Able to demonstrate a patient, non-judgmental, respectful and

Contractual Requirements

• A full UK driving license and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Qualifications

• Level of educational attainment to NVQ 3/AS Level or equivalent
• Completion or willingness to complete the Accredited Peer Support Worker Training
• Certificate in Community Mental Health or equivalent

Additional Information

• We reserve the right to close the post early once we have received a sufficient number of applicants.
• The Trust believes in treating everyone with dignity and respect and encourages applications from all sectors of the community. We guarantee an interview to candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum essential criteria.
• In submitting an application form, you authorise Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to confirm from your previous or current NHS employer and other prior employers; previous NHS service details and personal data held about you. This data will be transferred using NHS Electronic Staff Record and third party systems via an automated process and only used for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining accurate employment records, should you be appointed to the post. Should you require any further information please refer our Privacy Policy shown on the Trust website, please click here for more information.
• For eligible posts, DBS disclosures are mandatory before commencement of employment. If you are in a position that is deemed a regulated adult and/or child care role, you will not be able to start your employment until we have received a satisfactory DBS Disclosure. The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Convictions which would otherwise be considered as 'spent' will also be checked as part of an Enhanced DBS Disclosure.

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.

Name Sarah Keenan Job title Consultant Clinical Psychologist Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 0115 9529477 Additional information

Dr Sarah Keenan, Lead Psychologist for information about the role

Amelia Bradbury or Cheryl Makings, Peer Support Worker for information about PSW's working within the Team.

0115 9529477