Peer Support Worker Apprentice-Employment Individual Placement Support

at  Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Do you have prior lived experience of ill-mental health, either yourself, or as a carer?
This advert is recruiting for a Peer Support Worker within the Oxford Health Buckinghamshire Adult Mental Health Service.
Peer Support Workers (PSWs) are people who have their own lived experience of mental health challenges or have supported/cared for someone with mental health challenges. They use empathy informed by their own experiences to support service users/families who are accessing mental health services.
Is this right for me?
If you are thinking of applying, The Trust strongly recommends attendance at one of the Peer Support Worker information sessions. These sessions will help you understand more about the role so you can make an informed decision if the job is right for you.

INFORMATION SESSION DETAILS:

Wednesday 31 st July 5.15pm-6.15pm MS Teams
Booking is essential. Please email: peersupport@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk and state which session you would like to attend. Please note if you do not register your attendance in advance you will not be sent the Teams link.
The core function of this post is to offer peer support to service users within Buckinghamshire mental health services. The Peer Support Worker will demonstrate best practice in relation to the application of recovery principles within their practice. Peer Support Workers model the recovery principles together with personal responsibility, self-awareness and self-care whilst undertaking the duties of the role.
The Peer Support Worker role sees the introduction of lived experience into everyday practice. Depending on service need, PSW’s offer a variation of group and one to one work and will work within the multi-disciplinary team to support a service users recovery journey. The post holder will facilitate formal and informal learning, working with staff in clinical practice and supporting clinical teams to develop recovery-based practice.
Please see attached document regarding the eligibility criteria for this role and ensure you have read this carefully.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible
Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
Excellent opportunities for career progression
Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
Competitive pension scheme
Lease car scheme
Cycle to work scheme
Employee Assistance Programme
Mental Health First Aiders
Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists may apply)
Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Please note, applications for this role close on Sunday 4th August. Interview dates will take place between Wednesday 28 th August – Friday 6 th September 2024.
We know that being in employment can positively impact a person’s recovery and wellbeing. The Individual Placement Support service (IPS) supports people receiving care from Oxford Health mental health teams who are unemployed and motivated to find paid employment, or whose current employment is at risk.
An IPS Peer Support Worker is a member of the IPS team who has similar life experiences to people who receive IPS services. IPS Peer Support Workers share how they overcame obstacles to achieve their own career goals, and how they continue to move forward in their own recovery.
The IPS Peer Support Worker will facilitate a fortnightly IPS Peer Support Group over MS Teams. This is a space where clients, their family members/carers come together to share their experiences of finding employment. The IPS Peer Support Worker will deliver employment focused workshops.
An IPS Peer Support Worker will, using their own lived experience, support clients to share and represent themselves appropriately, and to build and maintain a strong working relationship with their prospective employer. This may involve supporting the client to; share information about their mental health, create positive statements, build confidence for interviews, explain employment gaps, build CVs, create employment goals, identify their skills, and practice coping strategies to maintain wellbeing at work.
This post is based in Oxfordshire, with the successful candidate working partly at the Warneford Hospital, and partly remote/out in the community. The role requires a driver’s licence and access to a vehicle. This is a part-time role for 22.5 hours per week. Please discuss preferred working days/hours at interview.
We’re looking for people who are compassionate, can work well in a team, highly motivated and have excellent written and verbal communication skills. You will be provided with training for the role and given the opportunity to complete the national recognised care certificate.
Oxford Health offer the Peer Support Training programme as a nationally recognised accredited Level 3 Apprenticeship (fully funded by Oxford Health).
The Peer Worker Apprenticeship is completed over a period of 15-19 months depending on whether a Peer Support Worker works part time or full time (22.5-37.5 hours).
Eligibility criteria to enrol on the Apprenticeship includes having GCSE/Level 2 Maths and English qualifications. You will be expected to provide evidence of these qualifications. If you do not have these qualifications, we would still welcome your application for consideration, but you would need to complete The Trust’s functional skills courses on Maths and/or English whilst in the role before enrolling on the Apprenticeship. All new Peer Support Workers will be provided with training for the role and support from a tutor and supervisor within their working hours.

LIVED EXPERIENCE:

To support service users to engage effectively with care being offered and access appropriate services
Drawing upon lived experience & using active listening to inspire hope, offer empathy, empowerment, confidence building & validate a service users’ feelings
To build relationships that are founded on the value of mutuality which will facilitate the provision of regular and practical support, both one to one and via group facilitation, to service users in developing and managing independence and maintaining dignity and self-respect
To positively promote independent living of service users through role-modelling individual recovery journeys
To have the individual service user’s needs always at the forefront of the PSW’s practice and to use the skills incorporated in the Peer Support Training to underpin their practic

Please refer the Job description for details