Peer Support Worker

Thank you for your interest for the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT), it is an exciting time to join us and being part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:

• Collaborate at every level by living our Values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
• Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
• Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
• Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
• Ensure that research, Quality Improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
• Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do

We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.

The North London Way to deliver, Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/

Job overview

• Offering practical advice and support to patients
• Empathetically sharing personal experiences of illness, treatment and recovery
• Providing input into policy, culture and service development initiatives
• Cofacilitating therapeutic activities with service users

Please note, that to apply for this role you cannot be under section as a service user of the North London NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Camden & Islington and Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust).

Main duties of the job

As a Peer Support Worker (PSW) your role will be to enhance the care and support we provide to our Service Users by:

• Providing practical and emotional advice and support to Service Users on their road to recovery in groups or through structured one to one peer support sessions.
• Sharing the wisdom from you own lived experience, inspiring hope and belief that recovery is possible for others.
• Taking a lead in representing the value of Lived Experience, Co-Production and Co-Facilitation in our services.
• Helping to develop and facilitate staff training and assist the Service’s managers with recruitment by sitting on interview panels for prospective new staff.
• Being actively involved in the ongoing development of our lived experience provision across the trust.
• You will be given training, mentoring and supervision to ensure that you are confident and feel supported in your role.

As valued member of the multi-disciplinary team, you will work with service users on a 1:1 and/or group basis for the majority of your time. You will also have the opportunity to develop the peer support service, attend training, work on projects and collaborate with colleagues from other specialisms.

You will be reporting to and be supervised by one of the User Engagement Leads. You will receive additional supervision and support from other Peer Support Workers and from the Trust’s Lived Experience Managers.

Working for our organisation

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
4. We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.

The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

• Behave honestly and responsibly in all matters relating to trust property
• Document the care you provide in line with the Trust’s policy.
• Communicate clearly and responsively with colleagues via email, telephone, etc.
• Ensure your time is accounted for and used effectively.
• Use IT equipment appropriately and effectively to complete tasks relevant to your role.
• Model personal responsibility, self-awareness, self-belief, self-advocacy and hope by sharing your own recovery story to inspire confidence in service users.
• Establish a trusting, supportive and respectful relationship with service users.
• Share coping, self-help and self-management techniques within the peer relationship.
• Support service users to identify and overcome fears and within a relationship of empathy, trust and honesty, challenge negative self-talk.
• Facilitate access to community groups and networks that enable service users to participate in community activities.
• Accompany service users, if appropriate, to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.

This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.

Person specification

Experience

• Lived experience of mental illness

• Lived experience of criminal justice system

Skills

• Ability to read and write effectively

• Outstanding communication skills

Experience

• Experience of supporting/coaching others