Main area Peer Support Grade 4 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week (Negotiable Hours: 22.5 - 30 hours per week) Job ref 346-TSA-041-25
Employer Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust Employer type NHS Site Across Tees Valley Town Sites TBC Across Tees Valley Salary £26,530 - £29,114 pro rata, per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 10/04/2025 23:59
Job overview
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust are pleased to announce that we are currently recruiting Peer Practitioners for Tees Valley Adult Mental Health Community Services. There are posts available at Darlington, Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland.
These roles are part of our Community Transformation work and will be part of an exciting new collaborative service alongside Teesside Mind and Darlington Mind, who will also have Peer Support Workers based in the community. The Community Transformation is part of the NHS Long Term Plan and represents a shift in the way we currently deliver care. The aim is to work together to ensure we collectively deliver trauma informed, person centred care to meet an individual’s wide-ranging needs.
These roles involve working together as part of a wider team and, supported by the Senior Peer Worker and Peer Lead, they will work towards the development of the system Peer Support Services in line with the Community Mental Health Framework and TEWV Peer Support Strategy as appropriate.
Peer support can be described as being when people with shared experiences connect to build safe, trusting and non-judgemental relationships where we learn and grow together. Peer Practitioners are people who have experience of mental health challenges and accessing services for mental health care, and are employed, trained and supported to work to the TEWV Peer Support Values and use their experiences to support others.
Main duties of the job
These are challenging but rewarding roles supporting people with a wide range of experiences.
For these roles, we are looking for people who have:
* Relevant experience of mental health challenges
* Personal experience of accessing secondary or inpatient mental health services.
* Personal experience of using your lived experience to support others, for example in a paid role, in volunteering, or in a user led environment
Your time in post will start with attending our peer support training alongside other people starting peer support roles with us. This training is delivered by people with their own lived experience who also have direct experience of working in peer roles themselves.
From there your work will involve:
* Providing 1:1 peer support to people accessing the service (this may involve supporting family / carers too)
* Setting up and facilitating / co-facilitating peer support groups
* Working into team meetings to support service users voices to be heard and bring lived experience expertise into team processes.
* Supporting service development within the teams you work in
* Building connections with a range of people and organisations within the system (including other peer support workers / providers)
To support you with this work you will receive ongoing regular 1:1 and group supervision, and will be able to access a range of other peer connection and development structures.
Working for our organisation
We value diversity and want to have a wide range of identities represented in the peer workforce. We welcome applications from people with lived experience of distress and mental health services from the characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation) and other diverse groups.
We also value a diversity of experiences with mental health services in the peer workforce and welcome applications from people with helpful, difficult or mixed experiences of mental health services.
Individuals successful at application stage will attend a recruitment day to give them an opportunity to learn more about the role and to demonstrate their values and skills. There will be a shortlisting process after the recruitment day to identify candidates for interview.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You must have the Right to Work in the UK in order to be successfully appointed to this role. Please note, this role does not meet the required eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa and therefore the Trust is unable to offer sponsorship for this particular role.
These Peer Practitioner roles will involve working to support current service users both with a 1:1 caseload and also in groups as appropriate. Drawing on your own experience of mental health challenges, you will ‘walk alongside’ others on their journey in a supportive peer relationship built on our core peer values of authenticity, relationship, validation, respect, mutuality and empowerment. You will listen non-judgmentally to create safe spaces where people feel heard. You will approach the peer relationship with compassion and curiosity. You will recognise and value people’s strengths, diversity and expertise in themselves. You will be aware of the impacts of trauma and committed to the importance of working in ways which are sensitive to the needs of trauma survivors.
You also will be an integrated and valued member of the team. Peer Practitioner roles involve contributing peer values and the knowledge, skills and expertise that come with lived experience of mental health challenges and mental health services. Important parts of this role also include working within the team to help service users’ voices be heard and to promote recovery values and trauma informed approaches. Peer Practitioners will be supported to challenge both individual and structural instances of stigma and discrimination related to mental health and other forms of exclusion.
Please see the uploaded job description or approach us for an informal chat if you would like further details on the post.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Foundation Degree or equivalent OR equivalent experience of providing peer support in a community or inpatient setting
* Numeracy, Literacy and ITQ level 2 (or equivalent)
* Completed Trust Trauma Informed Peer Support Training course (passing within agreed timescale)
Experience
* Personal experience of mental health challenges or a learning disability that is relevant to the specific role advertised
* Personal experience of accessing secondary (or inpatient) mental health services
* Experience of delivering peer support in a paid or voluntary role, or in a user led environment
Knowledge
* Passionate about the values of peer support and understands what the role adds to a team
* Understanding of the needs of individuals from diverse social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds
Skills
* Able to share elements of own life experiences, and engage compassionately with experiences of others, in a way appropriate to the role and peer relationship
* Ability to communicate information (verbal and written) effectively in a manner appropriate to the individual and situation
If the contract type on the vacancy states 'Fixed Term' this would mean the vacancy is being advertised to address a temporary need for the duration stipulated on the advert, however, in the event that permanent funding is secured for the post the successful applicant will be confirmed in post on a permanent basis.
Right to Work in the UK
Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the United Kingdom (UK) are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Please note that from January 2021, to work in the UK all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship unless you have permission to work via another route.
Please provide full and accurate details of your current immigration status on the application form. Overseas applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK must present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided in continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Your current immigration status will not be considered as part of the shortlisting or interview process.
Please note that not everyone needs a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa. If you are applying for a vacancy in health or adult social care, you may be eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead.
Please note: if the job you are applying for does not meet the eligibility criteria above, we will be unable to offer you sponsorship and you will need to explore whether you may be eligible to apply for an alternative immigration route which will secure your right to work in the UK before you apply. If you are in the UK already on a visa, please ensure you have no restrictions that would prevent you from taking this post.
AI in Recruitment
We are aware that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is increasingly being used to generate responses for application forms. Applications for this role should be written by the applicant and if, during shortlisting, a Recruiting Manager believes AI has been used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Newly Qualified Nurses
All band 5 nursing positions are only open to those candidates who already have their NMC registration in place and have successfully completed a preceptorship programme. Please note: Newly qualified applicants or those due to qualify will be recruited via a separate process, for more information about this process please contact: tewv.professionalnursingandeducation@nhs.net
TEWV encourages and supports all staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID19.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the protection of staff, service users and visitors to the Trust from second hand smoke and currently operates a no smoking policy which ensures all buildings and grounds are smoke free.
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from individuals who have experience of mental ill health or learning disabilities. Our service users and carers tell us our staff should be consistently concerned with maintaining and improving care with pride, empathy and compassion.
This job advert may close as soon as sufficient suitable applications have been received. If interested please apply for this post as soon as possible.
In order for your application to be successfully processed we will require references from your current and previous employer(s) which must cover a minimum period of three years. Please ensure that the reference section of your application is completed appropriately giving the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current and previous line manager(s). If this section is not fully completed your application may not be processed.
If your application is successful, the information you give on your application form will be used to create and be retained on your electronic staff record and to provide access to core Trust systems.
Please note that if the post you are applying for requires a DBS check, you will be required to also subscribe to the DBS Update Service, if successful, and thereafter renew your subscription each year. The Trust will reimburse the subscription fee.
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, that as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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