Lived Experience Communications Assistant

Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job overview

The Live Experience Communications Assistant will apply both lived experience of the OPD pathway project and skills in comms and marketing to contribute to the London OPD Community Pathway Comms and Marketing team. They will provide support to the Communications Team and learning a broad base of communications skills on the job and through formal training and development.

Main duties of the job

To support the London OPD Communication and Marketing Team to deliver innovative and effective internal and external communication and engagement activities.

Working for our organisation

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

1. Support with the writing of copy for our website, intranet and publications
2. Support the Head of Communications and wider team with comms and marketing enquiries
3. Undertake any other duties which might reasonably be required, commensurate with the post.
4. The role will require a significant amount of desk-based work and a frequent requirement to attend meetings/events.
5. Maintain and enhance your own personal and professional skills and competences.
6. To support the I&I team to ensure service users are leading the development of our service. This takes a trauma-informed approach to creating safe environments for people to engage with service user involvement activities for the OPD Project.
7. To support the team in helping service users build confidence and skills in Involvement roles and contributing to the Being Heard pathway, whilst demonstrating acceptance of and respect towards service users' personal beliefs, uniqueness and identity.
8. To promote and support service users, alongside the I&I team, to maintain and/or develop positive relationships with those within their community and learn how to improve or eliminate unhealthy relationships.
9. To act as a role model using own experience to inspire hope in others; demonstrating coping skills, sharing aspects of own lived experience of accessing services and lessons learned where appropriate.
10. To be effectively mindful of risk whilst ensuring risk does not prevent an individual's progress, in line with risk policies and procedures. To ensure any concerns regarding an individual's wellbeing, including issues of safeguarding, are raised with the team.
11. To participate in the promotion of the Inclusion and Involvement Team, and the delivery of activities to all services users and professionals within the project.

• Support with the layout of content (e.g. copy and images) for promotional materials
• Working respectfully with the wider OPD team and colleagues
• Support with drafting copy and publishing updates on the staff intranet.
• Report any untoward incidents or unusual occurrences to the manager/senior clinician immediately.

1. To attend the OPD Comms and marketing meeting to contribute to service development.
2. To contribute to working groups and develop skills in particular branches of involvement, such as training, peer research, consultation, interview skills and group facilitation.
3. To comply with all relevant Trust policies, procedures and guidelines, including those relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety and Confidentiality of Information and to be aware of any changes in these.
4. To be aware of, teach others and challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations, and anti-discriminatory practice as appropriate.
5. To attend team meetings as appropriate.
6. To promote the inclusion and involvement team both within the OPD project, ELFT and partner agencies, through co-delivery of presentations, workshops, and participation in Trust wide peer related projects and audits: and information sharing as required and as agreed with the line manager.

1. To participate in Trust mandatory training & development opportunities considered appropriate to the role and as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).
2. To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development review/ Appraisal.
3. To engage in LXP supervision.
4. To receive regular line management supervision as arranged with the involvement lead.

Person specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

• Educated to A-level standard and at least five good GCSEs, including English and Maths

Experience

• Own personal lived experience of mental health and the criminal justice system
• Willing to positively share elements of your own life experiences with service users and staff
• Developed plans for managing own Recovery

• Work experience or similar in a communications-setting

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• A ‘can-do’ proactive attitude to work
• A strong willingness to learn on the job and attend training as required
• Deadline driven, organised and with a high attention to detail and excellence
• Values-driven with a clear commitment to inclusivity, being respectful and having a caring attitude
• A keen interest in public affairs
• A keen intelligence and a fast and willing learner
• A creative mind that can think ‘outside the box’ when necessary
• A strong team player who is prepared to operate under instruction and go the extra mile

• Use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint to a high standard
• A basic knowledge of the NHS and OPD Pathway, it’s values and how it works and the role of mental and community health in the system
• A strong interest in digital communications.
• An interest in video, including directing, filming and editing to a high standard

Making Things Better

Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.

We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.

Our Community

We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.

Aiming High

We were rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated ‘Outstanding’ again in 2018 and continue to be rate 'Outstanding' in 2021.. We were named in the HSJ’s Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.

Staff and Service Users United

We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.

We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.

Diversity

Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.

Other reasons to apply

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s job share, part time or another flexible pattern.

As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.

What Next?

If you like the sound of ELFT, don’t waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!

We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..

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