Norwich - Perinatal Peer Support Worker
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 3,800 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 1,400+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, catering, 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 APPLICATIONIt is important that you complete a formal application form as CV’s alone will not be accepted.
We can provide all our job application materials in alternative formats so that these are accessible to everyone. Should you require any documents within this job pack in an alternative format, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
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Job overview
We are looking to recruit a peer support worker (PSW) to join our Perinatal Community Mental Health Team (PCMHT). This will be covering the North Norfolk and City patch. PCMHT is a specialist service providing assessments and treatment to women and birthing people who are experiencing or are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health difficulties during pregnancy and up until the child’s first birthday.
The PSW role has been developed specifically for people who have lived experience of mental health difficulties. Therefore, if you have lived experience of recovery from mental health difficulties, ideally including experience of secondary mental health services and / or perinatal mental health difficulties, then this role could be for you.
It is not recommended to apply for a role within a clinical service where you are currently a patient, due to the potentially triggering nature of the work and possible conflicts of interest. If you wish to discuss this further please contact us.
Main duties of the job
As a PSW, your time will involve direct contact with service users on a one-to-one basis as well as in group settings. You will be a valued member of our multidisciplinary team, attend weekly team meetings and be provided with supervision and training.You will be part of a multidisciplinary team including Consultants, Clinical Psychologists, Peer Support Workers, Nursery Nurses, Parent and Infant Therapists, Systemic Family Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Mental Health Nurses, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Assistant Practitioners, Social workers and Team Managers.
As a PSW, you will be acting as a role model by using your own lived experience of recovering from mental health issues, to inspire hope and help service users to develop a belief in their own abilities to deal with various situations; the confidence to have control over their own motivation, behaviour, and social environment; and the ability to successfully achieve their goals in life.
Working for our organisation
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
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 professional 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
We do not ask for candidates to have experience of being a trained PSW in advance of applying for a role as we will provide full training once in post. If you are not already an accredited PSW you will be required to complete and pass the NSFT Peer Support Training Programme.This six-month programme requires self-study and attending weekly workshops and incorporates a variety of training styles from presentations and videos to group work, role play, and work in pairs and will require you to complete several assignments including written pieces.
In addition, if you don’t already hold a care certificate, or a relevant qualification, you will need to complete one within 12 weeks of starting in post.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- PSW training course or Commitment to completing the NSFT PSW course or an equivalent PSW training programme.
- Care Certificate must be achieved within first 12 weeks of employment.
- Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care or equivalent qualification/ experience.
- Level 3 Award in Adult Education & Training
Experience
Essential criteria- Personal lived experience of mental health difficulties and personal recovery
- Carer (indirect) lived experience supporting someone through their recovery
- Mentoring
- Experience of receiving care under Secondary Mental Health Services
Skills
Essential criteria- Understanding/knowledge ‘embodiment’ of the Recovery model.
- Communication skills (verbal & written)
- Multi-lingual
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Understanding of Mental Health issues
- Key principles of recovery and peer support
Other
Essential criteria- Ability to travel independently.
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.
As a part of the Disability Confident Employer Guaranteed Interview Scheme we interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job vacancy (outlined in the Person Specification).. We encourage you to indicate your eligibility through TRAC jobs when applying.
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.