Peer Support Worker

Job overview
This is an opportunity to be a part of a dynamic service. You will be part of an established home treatment and rapid response team.
Supporting patients who are acutely unwell in the community, and providing the best level of care to them whilst remaining in their own homes. We provide support for individuals who are experiencing an acute episode in the community, as well supporting people who have been discharged from inpatient wards. We provide a menu of interventions, to ensure the highest level of care and support is delivered.
The service, provides opportunities to develop your skills and your career. You will play a key role in the multi-disciplinary team supporting the qualified and other support workers. You will need experience working in mental health care settings, and experience of recovery focused practice is required.
Flexible working opportunities available; over 7 days week. The team will cover the South West & West Kent Area
The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

Main duties of the job
The main purpose of this role is to support service users to establish greater control over their lives, helping to identify aspects of life that give meaning, hope, value and purpose whilst recognising that each individual's recovery is a distinctive and deeply personal process.
As an integral and valued member of the multi-disciplinary team, the post holder will provide support to individuals within the service, by role modelling and using lived experience of secondary mental health services.
This role will involve working with service users on a one to one or group basis. Also working within the wider staff group to ensure that the environment supports the service user to reach their individual recovery goals.
There will be a variety of tasks some of which will be service user initiated, whilst others will be requested by staff for the overall service provision.
The post holder will work flexibly as the service requires.

Working for our organisation
Come and work with us in the Garden of England where we combine exceptional professional development opportunities with a tremendous quality of life.
We are Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT), providing mental health, learning disability and specialist services, serving 1.8 million people across the county.
The Trust (rated Good overall by the CQC and Outstanding for care) has 3,283 staff working in 66 buildings across 33 locations, covering an area of 1,450 square miles.
You will be joining friendly, passionate colleagues, rich in their diversity, who are committed to providing excellent care to our service users and their loved ones.
The nature of our work attracts kindness and compassion as standard and everyone from our cleaners and porters to the chief executive and chairman are recognised as playing a vital role in providing an exemplary service.
Our strategy
Our mission is what we set out to do every day
We deliver brilliant care through brilliant people
Our vision is where we want to be in the future
To provide outstanding care and to work in partnership to deliver this in the right place, for every service user, every time.
Check out our recruitment videos Recruitment - YouTube

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description for full details and main responsibilities of the role.

Person specification

Training, Qualifications and Registration

Essential criteria

• Good IT skills including Word and Outlook

Desirable criteria

• Ability to use the RIO electronic records system

Experience

Essential criteria

• Lived experience of secondary mental health services
• Willing to share own life experiences

Desirable criteria

• Minimum of 1 year experience working with people with mental health needs

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

• Car driver with full driver's license and insurance.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.

Desirable criteria

• Flexibility to change and innovation
• The ability to work a variety of hours to suit the needs of service users and the service
• Willingness to complete job specific training

KMPT Staff Benefits:
NHS pension scheme Your employer pays 23.7% towards your pension and life assurance benefits.
Please see Apply. Apply/Pensions.aspx for more details.
Annual leave for Agenda for Change On appointment to NHS
27 days for full time or pro rata if part time
After 5 years NHS service
29 days full time or pro rata if part time
After 10 years NHS service
33 days full time or pro rata if part time
Plus bank holidays, that's up to 41 days - more than 8 weeks paid time off!
Medical staffs have national Terms and Conditions.
Buying and selling of annual leave is also available as part of our flexible approach to staff benefits.
Recommend a friend campaign If you already work for us you could refer a friend from outside of the Trust to any of the roles below and you can receive £1000 if they are successfully recruited; Nursing staff - RMN RGN RNLD - Band 5 and 6, Medical Doctors, Clinical Psychologist and Allied Health Professionals,
Flexible working Covers job share, term time working, flexible shifts etc. Just ask and we will try to help.
Statutory and occupational maternity, paternity or adoption leave Dependant on length of NHS service
Other paid/unpaid leave This can be for Jury Service, Reserved Armed Forces, etc. This is paid outside of annual leave.
Non paid leave for career breaks
Staff Support KMPT offers a face to face counselling service for any issues not just work related problems.
NHS discounts and shopping vouchers Staff can sign up for Red Guava, PS discounts and Health Service Discounts to receive a variety of discounts in travel, fashion, technology, mobile phone contracts, food and drink, days out etc.
Learning and Development opportunities In addition to the mandatory subjects there are a number of leadership, management and staff topic areas, including coaching and mentoring.
Induction
KMPT is committed to supporting all new staff and this includes a comprehensive Induction programme. The programme's duration depends on role and can be from 2 days to 4 weeks (not always consecutive days).
The Induction programme will provide an excellent opportunity for new staff to meet and engage with KMPT's subject specialists and include the required training.
The programme may involve some travel to the various training venues across Kent and Medway, the main ones being Canterbury, Maidstone and Dartford.
New starter b