Peer Support Worker - IPS (Employment support)NHS

Job summary

Do you have prior lived experience of mental health challenges? Have you ever benefited from using employment support services? This advert is recruiting for a Peer Support Worker (PSW) within the Oxford Health Buckinghamshire Individual Placement & Support Service (IPS). Peer Support Workersare 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. Peer Support Workers model the recovery principles together with personal responsibility, self-awareness and self-care whilst undertaking the duties of the role. The IPS service knows that being in employment can positively impact a person's recovery and wellbeing. The Individual Placement & Support service 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. This is a part-time role for 22.5 hours per week. Please discuss preferred working days/hours at interview.

Main duties of the job

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) for those that are eligible and interested in completing a qualification in addition to their in-house training. Please let us know at interview if this is an opportunity you would like to learn more about. 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 practice

Job description

An IPS Peer Support Worker is a member of the IPS team who has similar life experiences to people who receive IPS services. They 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 provide one-to-one peer support sessions with people using the service, offering practical guidance, encouragement, and insights from their lived experience to support individuals in achieving their employment goals. In addition, they will deliver employment-focused workshops that support co-production, enabling people using the service to influence and shape service development through their feedback, experiences, and ideas. An IPS Peer Support Worker will use their own lived experience to support clients in sharing and representing 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 Buckinghamshire, with the successful candidate working partly at the Whiteleaf Centre, and partly remote/out in the community. Applicants must have a full valid driving licence and have access to a vehicle for work. Adjustments can be considered in line with the Equality Act 2010 where required. We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their application. We kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of their experience and must take care to ensure the use of AI tools does not generate an application that does not accurately reflect their knowledge, skills and values.

About us

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