Peer Support Worker

at  Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

This is an exciting opportunity for a Peer Support Worker to join the Cambridge Adult Locality Team, who are a community based service for adults aged 17-65 with severe mental illness, taking on a specific role supporting service users and carers on entry into the service and some service evaluation at exit point. We are currently looking for full and part time Peer Support Workers to join our dynamic team.
As an integral and highly valued member of the multi-disciplinary team, the Peer Support Worker will provide formalised peer support and practical assistance to peers and other service users in order for them to regain control over their lives and their own unique recovery process.
Through sharing the wisdom from own lived experience, the Peer Support Worker will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible in others.
Within a relationship of mutuality, the Peer Support Worker will facilitate and support information sharing to promote choice, self-determination and opportunities for the fulfilment of socially valued roles and connection to local communities.
The PSW will take a lead role in embedding recovery values within CALT , alongside other Trust Recovery Champions, and act as an ambassador of Recovery for the Trust with external agencies and partner organisations.
The PSW will promote their role, through the provision of information and a range of learning opportunities for the multi-disciplinary team and others across the Trust.
The PSW will also have opportunity to co-work with other colleagues.
Reporting to the team manager, or other designated person, under the professional supervision of the Peer Support Worker Professional Lead, they will be responsible for the delivery of peer support interventions as agreed within the peer relationship.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children’s, adult and older people’s mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

• Establish a supportive and respectful relationship with peers and other service users.
• To make individual contact where appropriate to welcome service users accepted onto team caseload and in so doing – explain the function of the team and different professionals within it, what to expect from the service , how duty works, collect baseline outcome data, collect consent, collect carers information , keep some contact during any waiting period for service , how to access support outside of working hours , signpost if relevant to community resources, link in with families and carers and provide similar information as above as well as carers handbook and welcome letter .
• Help prepare service users for appointments for example to be ready with questions or for example to have accessed medication information in advance . To attend appointment if appropriate or wanted and service user has no other support.
• 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.
• Assist peers and other service users in creating a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and advanced directives .
• Share and coach coping, self-help and self-management techniques within the peer relationship.
• Support peers and other 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 peers and other service users to participate in community activities, in order to maximise opportunities for taking on socially valued roles and positive identity.
• Accompany peers and other service users to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
• Act as a positive role model showing professional and caring attitudes and behaviour towards other multi-disciplinary team members, peers, other service users and carers.
• Have a focus on the rights of peers and other service users at all times.
• Ensure that peers’ recovery goals are integrated into the Trust processes and are reviewed on a regular basis, liaising closely with care co-ordinators as necessary.
• Work in a way that acknowledges the personal, social, cultural and spiritual strengths and needs of the individual.
• Uses own initiative, personal experience and job-related training in deciding on the approach and interventions required when working with a peer or other service user in delivering peer support, although supervision is available.
• Attend multi-disciplinary team meetings to promote the use of self-directed recovery tools.
• Attend clinical review meetings to feedback progress on recovery goals.
• To raise awareness of recovery language with Trust staff by modelling positive strengths based, non-discriminatory, non-jargon, non-medicalised language in all areas of work.
• Support other members of the multi-disciplinary team in promoting a recovery orientated environment and in identifying recovery focused activities imparting information/ education as required.
• Abide by the PSW Code of Conduct, so that the central focus of your work to inspire recovery is not compromised in any way.

• Establish a supportive and respectful relationship with peers and other service users.
• To make individual contact where appropriate to welcome service users accepted onto team caseload and in so doing – explain the function of the team and different professionals within it, what to expect from the service , how duty works, collect baseline outcome data, collect consent, collect carers information , keep some contact during any waiting period for service , how to access support outside of working hours , signpost if relevant to community resources, link in with families and carers and provide similar information as above as well as carers handbook and welcome letter .
• Help prepare service users for appointments for example to be ready with questions or for example to have accessed medication information in advance . To attend appointment if appropriate or wanted and service user has no other support.
• 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.
• Assist peers and other service users in creating a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and advanced directives .
• Share and coach coping, self-help and self-management techniques within the peer relationship.
• Support peers and other 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 peers and other service users to participate in community activities, in order to maximise opportunities for taking on socially valued roles and positive identity.
• Accompany peers and other service users to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
• Act as a positive role model showing professional and caring attitudes and behaviour towards other multi-disciplinary team members, peers, other service users and carers.
• Have a focus on the rights of peers and other service users at all times.
• Ensure that peers’ recovery goals are integrated into the Trust processes and are reviewed on a regular basis, liaising closely with care co-ordinators as necessary.
• Work in a way that acknowledges the personal, social, cultural and spiritual strengths and needs of the individual.
• Uses own initiative, personal experience and job-related training in deciding on the approach and interventions required when working with a peer or other service user in delivering peer support, although supervision is available.
• Attend multi-disciplinary team meetings to promote the use of self-directed recovery tools.
• Attend clinical review meetings to feedback progress on recovery goals.
• To raise awareness of recovery language with Trust staff by modelling positive strengths based, non-discriminatory, non-jargon, non-medicalised language in all areas of work.
• Support other members of the multi-disciplinary team in promoting a recovery orientated environment and in identifying recovery focused activities imparting information/ education as required.
• Abide by the PSW Code of Conduct, so that the central focus of your work to inspire recovery is not compromised in any way