Peer Support Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

1. To work with the multi-disciplinary team to deliver support to service users in the RDP, ARCC and the Addictions directorate, and supporting the interventions used in these services.
2. To assume a coaching role supporting service users in developing personal recovery plans; this can be delivered individually or in groups.
3. To assist service users to identify their strengths, personal interests and goals.
4. To provide opportunities for service users to direct their own recovery process
5. To act as a role model to service users to inspire hope, share life experiences and lessons learned as a person in recovery.
6. To contribute to the assessment, planning, implementation and review of care with the multi-disciplinary team.
7. To work together with the service user and where possible their carers in implementing care plans encouraging and motivating service users to take an active role in their own care plan.
8. To assist individuals in managing their substance use on a day to day basis including providing support with activities of daily living such as care of self, budgeting, personal care, caring for their home and leisure activities.
9. To positively promote and support independent living for service users by maintaining extensive knowledge and links with community resources and actively supporting service users to access them e.g. in relation to employment, community living and leisure.
10. To assist in the development and implementation of educational and peer facilitated support groups and activities which complement the day, individual and community programmes.
11. To accompany service users to appointments, therapeutic or social community based activities as appropriate.
12. To support service users in seeking to connect/ reconnect with family, friends, significant others and in learning how to improve or eliminate unhealthy relationships.
13. To assist service users to maintain a connection with their life outside of the service.
14. To accept and respect service users personal beliefs, uniqueness and identity.

Communication

1. To meet, welcome, introduce and orientate the service user, their carer and families to the unit/ service.
2. To communicate with patients/clients and carers with empathy, reassurance and tact.
3. To support the service user to prepare for meetings regarding their care e.g. assessments, care plan reviews etc.
4. To help service users to access information on health promotion, harm minimisation, mental and physical wellbeing.
5. To make notes of date, length and type of all contacts with services users in the locally agreed format.
6. To monitor the service users progress, level of functioning & mental state, reporting progress and areas of concern to the multi-disciplinary team (verbally & on JADE, the electronic record keeping system).
7. To assist the service user to understand their rights and choices within the service.
8. Report any untoward incidents or unusual occurrences to the manager/senior clinician immediately.

Service development and delivery

1. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific service user group, peer support and substance use.
2. To comply with all relevant Trust policies, procedures and guidelines, including those relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety and Confidentiality of Information and to be aware of any changes in these.
3. To be aware of, teach others and challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations and anti-discriminatory practice as appropriate.
4. To read and understand the statutory requirements of the Mental Health Act 1983.
5. To attend clinical, business & service development meetings as required.
6. To raise the profile of peer support both within CNWL, and externally, through co-delivery of presentations, workshops, and participation in Trust wide peer related projects and audits: and information sharing as required and as agreed with the line manager.

Person Specification

Training and Qualifications

Essential

• oCompleted an accredited peer support worker training
• oCommitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work based learning and mandatory training

Desirable

• oAccredited certificate in Life Coaching
• oCompletion of courses that are DANOS compliant

Experience

Essential

• oLived experience of substance misuse problems, with 12 months abstinence from dependent & problematic drug & alcohol use; including prescribed opiate substitutes.
• oWilling to positively share your own life experiences, personal experience of substance misuse with service users and carers
• oPaid or unpaid, peer support worker/ volunteer experience in the field of addictions
• oDeveloped plans for managing own recovery

Desirable

• oGroup work

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Willesden Centre For Health and Care

Harlesden Road

London

NW10 3RY

Employer's website

https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work (Opens in a new tab)