Peer Support Worker - Macclesfield MH Intensive Support Team

Job overview

PSW MhIST Macclesfield – Feb 25

The roles will be integral to the team using a Peer Support Open Dialogue approach. This is where decisions about mental health care are facilitated through ‘network meetings’. These meetings focus on enabling a person, their family and networks (i.e whoever the person considers to be important in their life) to take more control and work together to support

recovery.

A Peer Support Worker is someone who has significant personal, lived experience of mental ill health and receiving care in a mental health service, either using services yourself or as a family member. In your application please ensure you describe specifically your mental health lived experience as required in the essential criteria.

You must be willing to positively share your own life experiences, including your experience of mental health and assist people, through the Open Dialogue approach, to raise their aspirations and develop personal goals.

A Peer Support Worker may work alongside the mental health team colleagues or work without direct supervision. We are recruiting to a 25 hour post based in Macclesfield.

Main duties of the job

Through the provision of formalised peer support & practical assistance, a Peer Support Worker will model positive peer support & use parts of their recovery story to empower individuals to achieve their recovery hopes, dreams & goals.

Establish supportive, empathetic, non-directive & respectful relationships, that allow individuals using mental health services to recognise their own strengths & abilities.

Facilitate access to information & education that can inform an individual about their decisions.

Recovery College, work & leisure.

Establish & maintain effective & appropriate communication & working relationships that respects everyone’s views, autonomy, & culture.

Establish supportive, empathic &respectful relationships.

Have excellent communication skills.

Be able to work on your own as well as with others.

We ask that you have a good general education or other relevant vocational training or knowledge gained through experience & be willing to contribute to the development & promotion of the peer support role.

Participate in comprehensive training in Peer Support and Open Dialogue, ongoing learning, development & network meetings with peer support colleagues.

Some travel around the locality will be required.

Working for our organisation

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.

We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton and Liverpool. We also provide specialist services for the North West as a whole.

Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.

As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.

We also offer up to three weeks’ induction, with our Prepare to Care programme for all new starters. This aims to give you all the knowledge and guidance to help you hit the ground running with CWP.

Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to use your existing skills and experience in a new role, you’ll find something to suit you at CWP.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please download a copy of the job description (see ‘documents to download’ section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. Further help and support for completing your application can be accessed via our website. If you need any further guidance to help you complete your application, contact our recruitment team via email at: [email protected] or by calling 01244 393100.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team CWP very soon!

Person specification

Qualifications

• Good general education, GCSE or other relevant vocational training or knowledge acquired through experience.
• Completion of Peer Support Worker training OR a willingness to undertake.
• NVQ level 3 or equivalent knowledge or experience

• Willingness to work towards appropriate health and care qualification e.g. NVQ3
• Willingness to undertake training in line with development of the peer support role.

Knowledge and Expertise

• Able to demonstrate an understanding of the values and principles of Peer Support
• Willing to positively share your own life experiences, personal experience of mental ill health with service users and carers
• Knowledge of personal recovery and developed plans for managing own recovery
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers
• Effective listening skills
• Ability to communicate on all levels and to a broad scope of individuals, both internally and externally to the Trust
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to appreciate / understand other people’s worlds
• Basic knowledge of IT including Microsoft Office and willingness to learn specific Trust IT systems.

• Completion of a Wellness Recovery Action Plan or similar recovery plan.
• An understanding of voluntary and community resources and how to access them.
• Experience of connecting across different organisation boundaries.

Experience

• Personal lived experience of mental health challenges
• Personal experience of accessing secondary mental health services
• Experience of supportive and enabling relationships
• Experience of actively supporting individuals to identify and work towards achieving personal goals in a related social care or health setting (paid or unpaid)
• Experience of using techniques that support self-management Experience of sharing own personal experience

• Inpatient admission.
• Experience of supporting individuals access services beyond mental health
• Experience of delivering training/education sessions