Job summary
PEER SUPPORT WORKER - Specialist perinatal Service and Maternal mental health service
** THIS POST IS FIXED TERM UNTIL NOVEMBER 2026 **
The role of Peer support (PSW) has been developed specifically for people with lived experience of mental health services. Through sharing wisdom from their own experience, the peer support worker will inspire hope in others.
For those considering this role of PSW within Specialist Perinatal Service and Maternal Mental Health Service there is a requirement for the person to have lived experience within the maternity journey.
The Maternal Mental Health service provides support to women and birthing people who have experienced loss and/or trauma within their maternity journey. As a service we provide care under 3 pillars: Midwifery, Psychology and Peer support.
The Specialist Perinatal Service is a multi-disciplinary team who supports women, birthing people and families across Cheshire and Merseyside to access specialist advice about their mental health during the perinatal period (pregnancy to 24 months postnatal)
This is an exciting opportunity to use your own experience to help support others during their journey. The support provide by our PSW's is unique and invaluable.
** Please ONLY apply for this post if your lived experience relates directly to your maternity/perinatal journey**
Main duties of the job
To use own lived experience to directly support service users within the services and promote positive mental well-being.
The role of Peer Support has been developed specifically for people who have lived experience of having received care in Mental Health services. Through sharing wisdom from their own experiences, the peer support worker will inspire hope in others.
The peer support worker will act as a recovery champion and an ambassador of positive mental well-being in both clinical and non-clinical environments. There is also an expectation that the peer support worker will be involved in the on-going development of peer support worker roles including such things as training programmes and evaluations.
The peer support worker strives to empower individuals to achieve their hopes, dreams and goals by assisting them on their journey.
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To act as a positive role model to service users and staff members, demonstrating Trust values during the course of their work
To establish supportive and respectful relationships with people using mental health services.
To help individuals identify their own achievable and meaningful recovery goals and set recovery objectives, drawing on your mutual resources as peers and utilising a range of recovery tools, techniques and experience.
To share and promote coping, self-help and self-management techniques within the peer relationship.
To accompany service users to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
To facilitate access to community groups and networks that enable service users to participate in community activities, in order to maximise opportunities for taking on socially valued roles and positive identity.
To accompany service users to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
To provide support to service users whilst maintaining professional boundaries
To support service users to identify and overcome fears and challenges within their recovery within a relationship of empathy and trust
To liaise with carers, other health professionals, statutory and voluntary agencies in the community to enable the recovery needs of the service user group to be met
To work in collaboration with other key stakeholders and colleagues involved in the delivery of care.
Work within Trust clinical supervision guidelines.
At all times act within the limits of their competences and authority, and seek advice and guidance when required.
Ensure actions contribute to a positive and safe working culture.
Undertake appropriate administrative duties to assist the team in delivering effective and timely care, e.g. data inputting, filing, computer work, faxing, photo-copying, updating patient records on RIO.
Ensure that patient health records are maintained in accordance with national and organisational policies and within the scope of the Peer Support Workers responsibility.
To actively participate in regular line management and clinical supervision including recovery focused group supervision and to identify personal developmental needs.
To attend service user forums to help ensure that the voice of the service user is heard and the views, opinions and needs of the service users are addressed.
To participate in quality assurance measures, promoting uptake of friends and family tests, satisfaction questionnaires and other measures that review the effectiveness of service delivery. Providing genuine constructive feedback and support for continued improvement of the service.
To contribute to service development by attending ward, service and hospital level meetings with the aim to promote the service user perspective by providing feedback
Attend all statutory and mandatory training allocated.
Attend RIO training.
Adhere to all company policies and procedures.
Complete any other reasonable request.
The ability to travel as the role requires in essential.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To act as a positive role model to service users and staff members, demonstrating Trust values during the course of their work
To establish supportive and respectful relationships with people using mental health services.
To help individuals identify their own achievable and meaningful recovery goals and set recovery objectives, drawing on your mutual resources as peers and utilising a range of recovery tools, techniques and experience.
To share and promote coping, self-help and self-management techniques within the peer relationship.
To accompany service users to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
To facilitate access to community groups and networks that enable service users to participate in community activities, in order to maximise opportunities for taking on socially valued roles and positive identity.
To accompany service users to appointments/meetings of their choice and perform a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
To provide support to service users whilst maintaining professional boundaries
To support service users to identify and overcome fears and challenges within their recovery within a relationship of empathy and trust
To liaise with carers, other health professionals, statutory and voluntary agencies in the community to enable the recovery needs of the service user group to be met
To work in collaboration with other key stakeholders and colleagues involved in the delivery of care.
Work within Trust clinical supervision guidelines.
At all times act within the limits of their competences and authority, and seek advice and guidance when required.
Ensure actions contribute to a positive and safe working culture.
Undertake appropriate administrative duties to assist the team in delivering effective and timely care, e.g. data inputting, filing, computer work, faxing, photo-copying, updating patient records on RIO.
Ensure that patient health records are maintained in accordance with national and organisational policies and within the scope of the Peer Support Workers responsibility.
To actively participate in regular line management and clinical supervision including recovery focused group supervision and to identify personal developmental needs.
To attend service user forums to help ensure that the voice of the service user is heard and the views, opinions and needs of the service users are addressed.
To participate in quality assurance measures, promoting uptake of friends and family tests, satisfaction questionnaires and other measures that review the effectiveness of service delivery. Providing genuine constructive feedback and support for continued improvement of the service.
To contribute to service development by attending ward, service and hospital level meetings with the aim to promote the service user perspective by providing feedback
Attend all statutory and mandatory training allocated.
Attend RIO training.
Adhere to all company policies and procedures.
Complete any other reasonable request.
The ability to travel as the role requires in essential.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSE/NVQ 2 or equivalent in relevant subject
- Willingness to work toward attainment of NVQ 3 or equivalent in relevant subject
Desirable
- Willingness to undertake further training in line with the development of the RPSW role
Knowledge/Experience
Essential
- Own personal lived experience of mental health challenges relevant to role
- Willing to positively share your own life experiences, personal experience of mental ill health with service users and carers
- Developed plans for managing own recovery
- Experience of actively supporting individuals to identify and work towards achieving personal goals in a related social care or health setting (paid or unpaid)
Desirable
- Experience of supporting individuals to access services beyond mental health
- Experience of delivering training & sharing experience
Values
Essential
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Skills
Essential
- Able to demonstrate understanding of Intentional Peer Support
- Ability to demonstrate knowledge of personal recovery
- Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers
- Effective listening skills
- Ability to communicate on all levels and to a broad scope of individuals, both internally and externally to the Trust
- Ability to appreciate / understand other people's worlds
Desirable
- Acceptable levels of written literacy and numeracy
- Acceptable levels of written literacy and numeracy
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSE/NVQ 2 or equivalent in relevant subject
- Willingness to work toward attainment of NVQ 3 or equivalent in relevant subject
Desirable
- Willingness to undertake further training in line with the development of the RPSW role
Knowledge/Experience
Essential
- Own personal lived experience of mental health challenges relevant to role
- Willing to positively share your own life experiences, personal experience of mental ill health with service users and carers
- Developed plans for managing own recovery
- Experience of actively supporting individuals to identify and work towards achieving personal goals in a related social care or health setting (paid or unpaid)
Desirable
- Experience of supporting individuals to access services beyond mental health
- Experience of delivering training & sharing experience
Values
Essential
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Skills
Essential
- Able to demonstrate understanding of Intentional Peer Support
- Ability to demonstrate knowledge of personal recovery
- Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers
- Effective listening skills
- Ability to communicate on all levels and to a broad scope of individuals, both internally and externally to the Trust
- Ability to appreciate / understand other people's worlds
Desirable
- Acceptable levels of written literacy and numeracy
- Acceptable levels of written literacy and numeracy
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.
