Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen to appoint a skilled and enthusiastic Peer Support Link Worker within the Ealing Community Partners’ Clinical Health Psychology Service in the borough of Ealing.
We are seeking to recruit individuals with a good understanding of the challenge related to long-term medical conditions and mental health conditions, as well as excellent communication, personal, and customer service skills. The ideal candidate will have had lived experience with a long-term health condition or a carer or family member of someone with long-term health condition(s). He/she will have a passion for wanting to empower and support individuals with their recovery journey. We are looking for highly motivated, enthusiastic, and caring individuals who can provide the best possible care with patience and compassion to our service users
Link Work will be a key specialism within our service, overseeing recovery focused interventions that make use of community assets as well as those of the multi-disciplinary team.
Main duties of the job
You will play a vital role in connecting people who are experiencing a challenge with their long-term health conditions with community supports and resources. As a Link Worker you will specialise in signposting to and supporting with referrals to identified appropriate community resources, fostering autonomy and promoting independence/self-management of long-term condition, building on the individual’s strengths and aiding in gaining skills and confidence in collaboratively identified areas of support, as well as escalating concerns should they arise.
You will be comfortable working both on your own and with others from a range of different backgrounds. You’ll need to be resilient, motivated, and committed to adapt to working in an ever-changing environment.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.
Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.
We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.
We’rerated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
We’d love to see you working in our Trust and contributing to some of the great work we do.
We positively welcome applications from people with a lived experience of either mental health conditions or learning disabilities and people who represent diverse communities.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This is a key role in promoting and improving health, wellbeing, and care outcomes for our clients.
The role involves providing support to clients referred by ECP community health services such as MSK, diabetes, heart failure and respiratory, to access locally-based community services, to aid their mental health recovery and encourage meaningful engagement within their local community.
The role also involves carrying out brief assessments with prospective clients who have been identified as requiring support from our service, signposting to agreed and appropriate community resources, making additional referrals, escalating any identified safety or safeguarding concerns appropriately, and feeding back as necessary to the wider team.
A key part of the role is to develop a live register of assets in the community that could be useful to people on the caseload who would benefit and to work with other post- holders on a system-wide asset-based register, as well as fostering strong relationships and keeping the lines of communication open with our community partners.
Key Result Areas & Performance :
- Support clients in the assessment of their needs in line with the established assessment framework
- Support clients to understand the range of options available to them
- Ensure clients are supported to make choices and access the services identified
- Oversee a case load of specific clients, as directed by your supervisor, and act as a contact for these clients and any related professionals and members of the clients network of support, in accordance with clients consent and data protection policies
- Document client work and ensure that it is recorded in appropriate electronic records
- Respond to crisis, safeguarding, and domestic violence incidents effectively, seeking advice and escalating concerns where appropriate
- Work under guidance to resolve and respond to complaints and enquiries at the earliest opportunity
- Participate in ensuring an up-to date information resource on services and resources is available for clients, GPs and ECP teams to support clients to access mainstream activities, social groups etc.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues from within the Trust, Local Authority, other Health partners and GPs to support the smooth and integrated running of the Clinical Health Psychology service
- Ensure the gathering and inputting of accurate information on client contacts and outcomes of those worked with
- Ensure a committed working towards activity and performance targets set by your Manager
- Assist your Manager in inducting, supporting, and coaching volunteers.
Actively participate in coproduction, including assisting the promotion and coordination of coproduction events and working groups
Job description
Job responsibilities
This is a key role in promoting and improving health, wellbeing, and care outcomes for our clients.
The role involves providing support to clients referred by ECP community health services such as MSK, diabetes, heart failure and respiratory, to access locally-based community services, to aid their mental health recovery and encourage meaningful engagement within their local community.
The role also involves carrying out brief assessments with prospective clients who have been identified as requiring support from our service, signposting to agreed and appropriate community resources, making additional referrals, escalating any identified safety or safeguarding concerns appropriately, and feeding back as necessary to the wider team.
A key part of the role is to develop a live register of assets in the community that could be useful to people on the caseload who would benefit and to work with other post- holders on a system-wide asset-based register, as well as fostering strong relationships and keeping the lines of communication open with our community partners.
Key Result Areas & Performance :
- Support clients in the assessment of their needs in line with the established assessment framework
- Support clients to understand the range of options available to them
- Ensure clients are supported to make choices and access the services identified
- Oversee a case load of specific clients, as directed by your supervisor, and act as a contact for these clients and any related professionals and members of the clients network of support, in accordance with clients consent and data protection policies
- Document client work and ensure that it is recorded in appropriate electronic records
- Respond to crisis, safeguarding, and domestic violence incidents effectively, seeking advice and escalating concerns where appropriate
- Work under guidance to resolve and respond to complaints and enquiries at the earliest opportunity
- Participate in ensuring an up-to date information resource on services and resources is available for clients, GPs and ECP teams to support clients to access mainstream activities, social groups etc.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues from within the Trust, Local Authority, other Health partners and GPs to support the smooth and integrated running of the Clinical Health Psychology service
- Ensure the gathering and inputting of accurate information on client contacts and outcomes of those worked with
- Ensure a committed working towards activity and performance targets set by your Manager
- Assist your Manager in inducting, supporting, and coaching volunteers.
Actively participate in coproduction, including assisting the promotion and coordination of coproduction events and working groups
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development appropriate to the role in order to ensure competency and the execution of best clinical practice.
Desirable
- NVQ level 3 or working towards an equivalent qualification in a relevant subject area or demonstrable equivalent experience.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of 1:1 client work
- One year or more experience of working or volunteering in mental health services
- Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across organisations
Desirable
- Experience of working alongside or supervising volunteers
- Experience of working in a community development context or similar
Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge of the local community
- A good broad understanding of mental health challenges
- A good awareness of different models of understanding of mental health
- A good awareness of current issues in policy and practice in mental health
- A good understanding of primary, secondary care and third sector mental health services
- Thorough understanding of co-production and recovery principles
- Thorough understanding of the principles of good customer service
- Thorough understanding of good practice in person-centred client work
- Thorough understanding of equal opportunities with particular emphasis on how it applies to users of mental health services
- An understanding of the principles of good partnership working
- Good level of computer skills with knowledge of Word and Excel and ability to input information, use an email system and produce simple plans/reports
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Demonstrable commitment to professional and personal development appropriate to the role in order to ensure competency and the execution of best clinical practice.
Desirable
- NVQ level 3 or working towards an equivalent qualification in a relevant subject area or demonstrable equivalent experience.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of 1:1 client work
- One year or more experience of working or volunteering in mental health services
- Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across organisations
Desirable
- Experience of working alongside or supervising volunteers
- Experience of working in a community development context or similar
Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge of the local community
- A good broad understanding of mental health challenges
- A good awareness of different models of understanding of mental health
- A good awareness of current issues in policy and practice in mental health
- A good understanding of primary, secondary care and third sector mental health services
- Thorough understanding of co-production and recovery principles
- Thorough understanding of the principles of good customer service
- Thorough understanding of good practice in person-centred client work
- Thorough understanding of equal opportunities with particular emphasis on how it applies to users of mental health services
- An understanding of the principles of good partnership working
- Good level of computer skills with knowledge of Word and Excel and ability to input information, use an email system and produce simple plans/reports
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.
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) .
Additional information
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) .
