Peer Support Worker (Complex Emotional Needs CREST)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Daytime role with some flexible evening and weekend working required.

These roles are fixed term up to March 2026, with the possibility of an extension.

The Community Rehabilitation Enhanced Support Team is a unique community mental health service providing intensive and flexible wrap around support for individuals across West Yorkshire. Service users have experienced extended stays in locked facilities and are disconnected from their community. CREST works with service users, their family and carers prior to discharge, supporting them into step down provision and beyond.

CREST aims to empower individuals so they can define, build and live meaningful, independent, and satisfying lives closer to their community. Peer Support Workers provide emotional and practical support to service users within the Complex Emotional Needs pathway. The service encourages the use of the wisdom gained through personal lived experience, to inspire hope in others and the belief that recovery is possible for all. We welcome applications from people with lived experience of complex emotional needs.

The post holder will:

Have an understanding of their own personal recovery journey, being able to use their lived experience in a positive and appropriate way to help others.

Develop skills in working with service users experiencing complex emotional needs with a variety of social and health support needs.

Have a strengths-based approach when working with service users.

Build safe, trusting relationships with service users and their carers.

Will understand the possible barriers in building a good, effective, professional, empathetic relationship with service users, and be aware of strategies to help overcome them.

Empower individuals to identify their own achievable and meaningful recovery goals and collaboratively set recovery objectives in line with the complex emotional needs pathway and supervision of senior team members.

Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a high standard of support to our service users.

Use their own initiative to meet the needs of service users and service.

Advocate for and embody peer support principles.

Identify barriers and gaps in services, how they could be improved and identify good practice.

Identify and attend appropriate training and development opportunities as required.

Work in partnership with the Peer Support and Recovery Coordinator to access personal support in order to improve own self-confidence to do the job and manage personal wellbeing.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. To share your own lived experiences of complex emotional needs with service users and role model recovery.

2. Provide intentional peer support (emotional and practical) and advice to enable service users to improve their quality of life, develop their skills and make decisions about their future.

3. To develop and maintain positive, trusting and professional relationships with service users.

4. Model personal responsibility, self-awareness, self-belief, self-advocacy and hopefulness via appropriate and timely relating of own recovery story to inspire and instil confidence in peers.

5. Encourage, motivate and support service users to engage in assessment with a range of professionals, where appropriate using lived experience to validate and inspire hope.

6. Draw on mutual resources as peers and utilise a range of recovery tools, techniques and experience.

7. To accompany service users to other projects and external appointments.

8. To encourage and support service users to participate in meaningful activities.

9. To respond appropriately to all service user needs to safeguard the wellbeing of all service users and staff.

10. To maintain accurate records of work undertaken by yourself and any other records as required by the Peer Support and Recovery Coordinator.

11. To attend and participate in team meetings and other related team and organisational events, representing the voice of lived experience.

12. To liaise with external agencies as required such as Tier 2 inpatient Rehabilitation, providers and support services.

13. To work to actively combat mental health inequalities, by representing the voice of lived experience.

NHS GENERAL

1. To attend a full induction programme consisting of development and wellbeing planning, goal setting and shadowing.

2. To be responsible for personal learning and development and undertake appropriate training both mandatory and optional, to increase knowledge, skills and awareness ImROC Training (LYPFT)

3. To visit relevant external agencies who work with LYPFT.

4. To attend regular support sessions, reflective practice, supervision and performance reviews with the Peer and Recovery Support Coordinator, in line with the organisations performance management policies and procedures.

5. To work at all times as part of a team. This includes working with other staff, attending team and staff meetings and developing a solution focused approach to all aspects of the organisations work.

6. To be aware of, and employ, the general practices of LYPFT /Touchstone regarding safeguarding and health and safety policies and ensure these are adhered to at all times.

7. To operate within the aims, policies and practices of LYPFT/Touchstone at all times and to be committed to and promote the organisations equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory policies and to promote this with staff.

8. To ensure information is dealt with in accordance with LYPFT/Touchstone policies around confidentiality, communications, internet, e-mail and telecommunications, and steps are taken to ensure that confidential information is secure e.g. service user data.

9. To ensure that Data Protection, Health & Safety, Complaints Handling and Corporate Governance requirements are met.

10. To keep the Peer Support and Recovery Coordinator informed about any serious and untoward incidents, safeguarding, health and safety, and/or financial issues.

11. To undertake any other duties as directed by the Peer Support and Recovery Coordinator in line with the responsibilities of the post.

12. To represent Touchstone in a professional manner at all times.

1. To provide information and advice about Touchstones services to managers, teams, and other people/agencies with an interest in the organisation's work.

2. To undertake out of hours work as required by the service.

3. To be inducted, supervised, performance managed and appraised in line with the organisations performance management policies and procedures.

4. To be responsible for personal learning and development where appropriate and undertake training, both mandatory and optional, to increase knowledge, skills and awareness.

5. To be aware of and implement the general practices of Touchstones Health, Safety and Security policies and keep Managers informed about any serious and untoward incidents, safeguarding issues, health & safety concerns, financial issues, staff welfare.

6. To operate within the aims, policies and practices of Touchstone at all times and to be committed to and promote the organisations equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory policies.

7. To ensure information is dealt with in accordance with Touchstones policies around Confidentiality, Communications, Internet, Email and Telecommunications and steps are taken to ensure that confidential information is secure e.g. service user data.

8. To undertake any other duties as directed by the Manager, in line with the responsibilities of this post.

Person Specification

Knowledge and Understanding

Essential

• An understanding of peer support and the peer support principles
• Knowledge of Mental Health and community resources in West Yorkshire and how to help service users access them.
• An understanding of how complex emotional needs can impact an individuals recovery
• Understanding of own recovery and ability to use a range of coping strategies.
• Awareness of current issues facing mental health service users
• Confidently recognise discrimination in its many forms and willing to put into practice Touchstones Equality Policies

Desirable

• Mental Health Legislation and policy
• Knowledge of LYPFT Policies and Procedures

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
• Able to reflect on own experiences of emotional distress/ mental health problems and seeking support from mental health services
• Good interpersonal skills, including listening empathetically and non-judgmentally
• Able to communicate and report accurately using basic IT skills (typing and email)
• Willingness to learn IT systems used within the service
• Effectively build rapport and interact sensitively with team members, volunteers, service users, members of the public and representatives from other organisations.
• Support and empower a wide range of vulnerable people and other volunteers
• Successfully work alongside other agencies and organisations in a professional manner
• Able to reflect on work practice and be willing to receive constructive feedback
• Ability to transport / accompany peers to appropriate appointments
• Car driver and access to own car for work purposes

Equal Opportunities

Essential

• Must be able to recognise discrimination in its many forms and be willing to put into practice organisational Equality Policies.
• Must be sensitive to the needs of disadvantaged groups in the planning and delivery of services.
• A commitment to provide high quality services to the diverse communities of West Yorkshire, ensuring diverse needs are explored and responded to.
• Commitment to respecting diversity and anti-discriminatory/anti-oppressive practices
• Work proactively within a diverse partnership of services.

Attitudes and Disposition

Essential

• Commitment to Touchstones aims and values
• Commitment to personal development, learning and reflective practice
• Commitment to taking personal responsibility and promoting this with other people
• Open to change in line with the needs of the service/organisation
• Willingness to be managed and supervised in a matrix management set up
• Willingness to work flexibly according to needs of the service
• Ability to maintain confidences (within the policy of the organisation)
• Highly motivated and resilient
• Willingness to use supervision

Qualifications

Desirable

• Excellent written skills and report writing experience
• Peer Support or Mentoring qualification

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with a range of people in a supportive and enabling role
• Monitoring and evaluating systems including effective record keeping.
• Understanding and practical knowledge of recovery
• Effectively supervising and supporting people with lived experience of mental health problems,
• Promotes effective team working to provide high quality care through effective communication and liaison.
• Ensure effective communication with the team and managers during the planning, implementation and evaluations of care and progression of the service

Desirable

• Lived experience of emotional distress/mental health problems
• Experience of using Mental Health services
• Knowledge and experience in the use of some form of recovery plan.
• - WRAP
• - Crisis Plan
• - Joint crisis plan
• - Advance decision
• - Advance statement
• - Recovery star
• - Outcomes star
• - My shared pathway
• - Coping with setbacks

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Touchstone

Address

The Newsam Centre

York Road

Seacroft

Leeds

LS14 6WB

Employer's website

https://touchstonesupport.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)