Senior Peer Support Worker

London, London, United Kingdom East London NHS Foundation Trust ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving 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.

Job overview

he Tower Hamlets Community Psychology team work in partnership with local voluntary, community, and faith-based organisations. We aim to build on and strengthen community resources and are committed to providing accessible, client-centred, culturally and faith sensitive services.

The role of Senior Peer Support Worker within the team has been developed specifically for people who have lived experience of mental distress and of using mental health services, know and understand the value of working with communities, as well as significant previous experience as a Peer Support Worker (PSW). Through sharing their own experiences and helping to identify the strengths in others, Peer Support Workers will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible in others.

Main duties of the job

The role will provide formalised peer support and practical assistance to local communities and service users in order for them to regain control over their lives and their own unique recovery process. Within a relationship of mutuality and information sharing, they will promote choice, self-determination and opportunities for the fulfilment of personally valued roles and connection to local communities. The Senior Peer Support Worker will lead and develop the Peer Support Services, coproduce training and consultation with other team members, and help establish service links within the local community.

The Senior PSW will act as an ambassador of Recovery and will work closely with team members, partner organisations and local communities to co-develop, through co-production, recovery-focused interventions that address the needs of those served including resilience and recovery, shared support, social connections and community engagement.

The post holder will work in partnership with stakeholders across the health and care system, such as GPs, mental health services, service user and carer experts-by-experience, and third sector/Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations.

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To work as an integral and highly valued member of the Tower Hamlets Community Psychology team in co-facilitating person and community centred activities to inspire hope and recovery.

To provide the team with detailed knowledge of the borough of Tower Hamlets, including connections and links to external partner organisations.

To lead the development of the peer support offer within the Tower Hamlets Community Psychology team alongside the service lead.To support the understanding of peer support within the team and community partners.

To support with the development and facilitation of community based groups and interventions.

To support individuals in identifying personal recovery goals to improve their quality of life and to support them to do the things they want to do and live the life they want to lead.

Deputising for Peer Support Borough Leads in relevant projects and meetings.

Senior peer support workers provide support to peer support workers to help manage people with complex mental health issues.

Provide guidance support and development to Band 3 Peer Support Workers including facilitating reflective practice

Provide training to Peer Support Workers, staff and people who use the services.

Support the recruitment, induction and provide shadowing opportunities for new Peer Support Workers.

They will work with the Service lead to support the continuous development of the service ensuring safe and effective practice upholding the Trust values with communities at the centre of all care delivered.

Person specification

Education

Essential criteria

• ELFT Accredited Peer Support Worker Training (by Royal College of Psychiatrist) or equivalent
• A willingness to undertake further training and/or qualifications as necessary for the post.
• Commitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work based learning and mandatory training

Desirable criteria

• NVQ3 in health and social care or equivalent experience.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Lived experience of mental health and accessing services
• Significant experience of working as a Peer Support Worker in an Adult Mental Health setting
• Experience working with community or third sector organisations
• Awareness of local services and community organisations in Tower Hamlets
• Ability to demonstrate an understanding of mental health issues.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team and with Clinical Psychologists

Desirable criteria

• Experience of supervising others
• Experience of facilitating reflective practice
• Can speak one of the local languages (Somali or Bengali Sylheti dialect)

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

• A sound knowledge of good practice in Peer Support Work
• Detailed knowledge of the borough of Tower Hamlets, including connections and links to external partner organisations.
• Ability to use IT packages competently, such as email, Word processing, spreadsheets using Excel and presentation packages.
• Demonstrate broad understanding of the principles of recovery
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers.
• Ability to appreciate / understand other people's experiences.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Cultural awareness including awareness of the potential impact of discrimination & disadvantage on mental health.
• Ability to demonstrate an understanding of mental health issues.

Desirable criteria

• Ability to co-produce new information resources to promote emerging projects.
• Demonstrate knowledge of conducting audits, survey's and consultations.
• Able to demonstrate understanding of Intentional Peer Support.

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