Senior Peer Support Worker Lowestoft, England
Job description
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.
At any one time, around 23,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk are receiving care and attention from the Trust. We believe in whole life care - seeing people in the context of their whole lives, understanding the importance of good physical health, friends, family, spirituality, culture, home, work, education and a sense of purpose and achievement to experience good mental health.
Nearly 3,200 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 900+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, delivering supplies, ward administration, information technology, human resources and financial services.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience.
We are committed to delivering quality driven mental health services. Every individual makes a valuable contribution. We are proud of our staff who have been commended for the care they provide. Do you value working positively, respectfully and together? If so, we’d love you to join us!
We will consider flexible working arrangements for our roles, please indicate in your application if this is something you require
JOB DESCRIPTION/PERSON SPECIFICATION
Please read the job description/person specification carefully and ensure your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience needed.
YOUR APPLICATION
It is important that you complete a formal application form as CV’s alone will not be accepted.
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Job overview
We are pleased to offer this opportunity to join the Adult Community Mental Health Team covering Waveney and surrounding areas as a Senior Peer Support Worker.
We are looking for the right candidates to develop the Peer Support Worker service that we can provide to our service users. This Band 4 position would be ideal for someone already experienced at Peer Support Work, with a passion for further developing peer support.
We provide assessment and treatment for those experiencing an acute mental health need in the community. We work with service users with a variety of mental health concerns.
We work closely with families and carers to provide a holistic approach and work in a creative and flexible way to provide a positive outcome for our service users.
Main duties of the job
As an integral and highly valued member of the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), the SPSW will provide formalised peer support and practical assistance to service users in order for them to regain control over their lives and enable their own unique recovery journey. They will act as a role model to peers, carers, staff and others from a ‘lived experience’ perspective. There is also an expectation that SPSWs will be involved in the ongoing development of the role.
The successful applicant will also be responsible for:
- Collecting friends and family feedback data and triangulate data with people participation initiatives
- Working with clinicians to implement new opportunities and pathways for obtaining friends and family feedback
- Using peer support skills to communicate with service users regarding feedback and share suggestions with the wider MDT during team & governance meetings
- Working with management to use Friends and family feedback to drive service improvement in conjunction with the ‘Talk to us First’ initiative.
Working for our organisation
Benefits
Benefits included with this role are:-
- NHS pension
- a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
- career progression
- starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
- staff physio service
- NHS discounts and many more.
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing their experiences and learning from each other.
Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established nursing networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you’ll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We’re an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
SPSWs will show empathy, share experiences, inspire hope and promote recovery, with the aim of assisting/supporting service users on both a 1:1 and group basis, to gain and maintain maximum levels of independence in the community.
The SPSW will take a lead role in embedding recovery values within the team, wider health system and community, and act as an ambassador of recovery for the Trust with external agencies and partner organisations. They will support other members of the whole system in promoting a recovery-oriented environment and in identifying recovery-focused activities imparting information/training as required.
The SPSW will work alongside an agreed number of Band 3 PSWs, using enhanced knowledge and extensive experience of mental health to help support and provide supervision to other Peer Support Workers in a designated clinical environment.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Peer support worker training Training qualification level 4 (or willingness to undergo this) Coaching qualification (or willingness to undergo this).
Other
Essential criteria
- Able to travel independently
- Role modelling resilience
- Appropriate use of lived experience to support others in their journey
Experience
Essential criteria
- Lived Experience of Mental Health difficulties
- 2 years’ experience as a peer support worker
Desirable criteria
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Delivery of peer support worker training
- Providing clinical supervision to an individual and/or group
Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent Communication
- Communication Skills with a range of people in a range of settings.
- Prioritise work under Pressure
- Deal with stressful Situations.
- Managing conflict
Desirable criteria
- Delivery of recovery based training
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- A thorough understanding of recovery innovations and developments.
- Co Production and Peer Worker roles.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Apart from its legal duties in relation to equality and diversity, the Trust recognises and actively promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Two Ticks - Guaranteed Interview Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification).
DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK (formerly CRB)
FOR POSTS WITH DIRECT SERVICE USER CONTACT - Please be advised that due to recent changes in the DBS Service, organisations no longer receive copies of DBS Disclosures – these are sent directly to candidates only. Therefore, it will be your responsibility, if successful, to ensure that this is taken to the appointing officer as soon as you receive it.
Alternatively, if you have subscribed to the update service, we will be able to check your status once we have your authority to do so.
The Trust has now introduced a DBS Update Service which is a contractual requirement. You need to subscribe when you have applied for your DBS clearance and there is a time limit to subscribe of 19 days after receipt of your DBS disclosure. Please ensure that this is completed within the set time scale.
This update service is an annual subscription at a cost of £13 to you. This will enable the Trust to have instant online access to your DBS record, with your consent, and so will remove the need for you to have to apply for this repeat check again.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
