Peer Support Worker – Specialist Perinatal CMHT

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
• Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.

For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Job overview

The SPCMHT aspires to provide an excellent comprehensive Perinatal Mental Health Service for the women of Lancashire and South Cumbria. We deliver a sustainable and resilient solution for women suffering from a mental illness in the perinatal period by focusing on improving outcomes for them, their infant, partners and their families.

Do you have experience of using mental health services? Would you like to use this experience to help others? An exciting opportunity has arisen to work in this exciting service.

Peer workers provide invaluable support to service users navigating mental health systems. It is beneficial for applicants to have completed their own personal recovery plan such as the Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and/or advanced statement.

We would welcome applications from both male and female applicants and although it would be an advantage there is no requirement to have previous perinatal experience, a fully budgeted training package is available as part of your induction and planned within your Personal Development Review.

Main duties of the job

To work as a member of a multi-disciplinary specialist perinatal community mental health team offering a comprehensive perinatal mental health service, to partners of service users experiencing mental health difficulties and their families in the perinatal period.

To participate in the development and maintenance of a quality region wide perinatal service through effective collaboration, liaison and prioritisation with statutory and non-statutory organisations.

Contribution to the building up of local care networks for mothers and their family.

To work as a peer support worker in partnership with service users and other professionals’ within the Dialog+ framework.

To model personal responsibility, self-awareness, self-belief, self-advocacy and hopefulness via the telling of own recovery story to inspire and instil confidence in peers.

The post holder will be responsible for providing short-term support to vulnerable individuals. The post holder will be responsible for working closely with the service user and family to prioritise need and plan actions to address the identified needs.

Working for our organisation

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Lived experience of Mental health issues during the Perinatal Period.
• Wide range of life experiences to bring an enabling and positive view of opportunities for others.
• Experience of accessing support services and an understanding of how these experiences affected you.
• Commitment to complete the Peer Supporter Educational Programme.

Knowledge

• Awareness of a range of vulnerabilities. An awareness of the impact of vulnerabilities on individuals in the perinatal period.
• An understanding of perinatal mental health services.
• The ability to use initiative and take responsibility for appropriate tasks.
• Awareness and understanding of confidentiality and data protection issues.

Experience

• Experience of following or supporting implementing personalised care plans.
• Experience of individual and group work.
• Completion of own personal recovery plan such as the Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and/or advanced statement.

Skills

• Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times, even in challenging and complex situation.
• Experience of managing own diary closely supported by senior staff
• Ability to communicate information in a variety of mediums.
• Awareness and adherence to professional boundaries at all times.

Work Related Circumstances

• Ability to comply with the travel requirements of the post.
• Comply with health and safety.
• Ability to work flexibly, including evenings.
• Commitment to equality and diversity.

Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.

Personalisation is essential when submitting an application form to convey your skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively.

Please ensure that you read the person specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document. Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.

For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).

You are advised to consider applying for LSCft vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.

LSCft is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (particularly those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation.

Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. If there is anything you’d like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.