Job overview
We have a transformation programme underway to improve services and support in the community for people with significant mental illnesses. As part of this, we are seeking a member of our newly established Lived Experience Practitioner Team, who will be involved in supporting some of our therapeutic services user groups across East Berkshire, in addition to offering one-on-one support to individual patients.
Work base:
Fitzwilliam House, Bracknell, Berkshire. Some travel around the local area is required.
Main duties of the job
Your role will be person-centred: You will help to make sure service-users have informed choice and are able to pursue meaningful opportunities in their local communities. You will help them to identify their strengths, personal interests and goals.
You will be patient, empathetic, compassionate and non-judgmental. You will ultimately inspire hope that recovery is possible by sharing your own experiences, where appropriate.
You will report to the Lead Lived Experience Practitioner and receive regular supervision. There will be personal and professional development opportunities available to you.
Working pattern + Service operating hours
This is a full-time role to the equivalent of hours a week. Some flexibility is required as to the hours/days worked, as the Programme is currently in a period of development based on service-user and Trust needs. That said, we will do our utmost to take into account your own personal needs and preferences, in terms of how, where and when you work, to ensure the role does not exclude any individuals who would otherwise be eligible for the role. We actively encourage people with disabilities and/or access needs to apply for this position, as we believe in creating a workplace that works for all.
Working for our organisation
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire.
We value diversity and are proud to be a Stonewall Top 100 Employer.We work hard to create an inclusive environment where you’ll be supported by friendly and professional colleagues to flourish.
Our values at Berkshire Healthcare:
1. Caring for and about you is our top priority
2. Committed to providing good quality, safe services
3. Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
We welcome people who share these values to come and work for us.
Benefits of working for us include:
4. Flexible working options to support work-life balance.
5. 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
6. Generous NHS pension scheme
7. Excellent learning and career development opportunities
8. ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme
9. Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
10. Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
11. Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities and armed forces community to support equality
12. Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave.
13. Free parking across Trust sites
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The 3 “must haves” for you to be considered for this role:
14. Direct personal experience of living with a mental health condition or being a family member/carer to someone who has had a mental health condition.
15. Professional, voluntary or lived experience of supporting people with mental health needs
16. Well-developed listening skills and effective verbal communication skills
If you recognise yourself in these requirements, we recommend you apply today!
Person specification
Education/Qualifications/Training
Essential criteria
17. Professional, voluntary or lived experience of supporting people with mental health needs
18. Evidence of, or willingness to undertake continuing personal development
Desirable criteria
19. Degree in relevant subject like health and social care
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
20. Direct personal experience of living with a mental health condition and / or using Mental Health Services, or experience of being a family member or carer for someone who has / had a mental health condition.
Desirable criteria
21. Experience of working in a health or social care setting.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
22. The ability to form and sustain a trusting relationship with service users/carers.
23. Well-developed listening skills and effective verbal communication skills to be able to engage appropriately with service users, carers, and colleagues, statutory and voluntary agencies, both face to face and by phone.
24. The ability, with supervision, to manage own workload in an effective and timely manner
25. Demonstrate ability to use initiative appropriately, making decisions within the guidelines set.
26. Able to demonstrate a general understanding of mental health issues with a positive non-judgemental approach.
27. Able to demonstrate an understanding of confidentiality and work within local policy framework.
28. Demonstrates an appreciation of the values that underpin the delivery of care.
29. Team-working skills within a multi-disciplinary group.
30. Able to demonstrate an appreciation of equal opportunities/diversity issues.
31. Possess an enthusiasm for learning and development.
32. Flexible and adaptable to change.
33. Demonstrates a capacity for personal and professional resilience. Demonstrates an ability to manage their own emotions and wellbeing in the face of potentially distressing topics and/or experiences, especially those which may relate to own experiences.
34. Possess excellent IT skills including competent use of Microsoft Office.
Additional Requirements
Desirable criteria
35. Access to own transport and ability to travel freely and flexibly across the local area in order to work effectively with service users and peer mentors.
Berkshire Healthcare helps people manage their health in their local area, through a range of specialist and community services across the county. We promote independence and quality of life through community and mental health services and aim for seamless delivery of the best care in the right place. We get to know communities and the people in them so we can deliver the best services that meet their health needs.
Our team of 4,300 staff provide specialist mental health and community health services to a population of around 900,000 within Berkshire. We provide healthcare to people in their own homes and from different sites across the county.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants where required.
Appointment to any position is conditional on the satisfactory completion of the core NHS Employment Checks Standards. Information disclosed in your application will be checked and any offer of appointment may be withdrawn if you knowingly withhold information or provide false or misleading information.
Please ensure your application is submitted with a valid email address for your referees in order to minimise delays in the recruitment process. Short-listed applicants will be contacted by email, therefore applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly.
Applicants are advised that as a result of the high level of response we receive for some of our vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date.
Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust is committed to improving the health of its staff, patients and the wider community by providing a smoke free environment. A smoke free policy is in operation and smoking is not permitted on any of the Trust’s sites.
NO AGENCIES TO CONTACT BERKSHIRE HEALTHCARE DIRECTLY PLEASE
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