Peer Educator

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

About

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is one of the largest trusts in the UK, caring for people with a wide range of physical and mental health needs. We have approximately 7,000 staff who provide healthcare to a third of London's population and across wider geographical areas, including Milton Keynes, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire. As a Foundation Trust we involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run and our future development.

Key details

Location

Site: Argo House
Address: 180 Kilburn Park Road
Town: London
Postcode: NW6 5FA
Major / Minor Region: London

Contract type & working pattern

Contract: Permanent
Hours: 37.5 hours per week

• Full time
• Flexible working
• Home or remote working

Salary

Salary: £34,521 - £41,956 per annum pro rata inc HCAS
Salary period: Yearly
Grade: (NHS AfC: Band 5)

Specialty

Main area: Peer Educator

Job overview

Are you an experienced peer worker with a passion for delivering training? Would you like to engage and develop new and prospective peer workers?

Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is looking for enthusiastic, experienced Peer Educators to deliver training to peer workers.

Peer Educators will need to be able to work autonomously and as part of a team, delivering online trainings regularly to both peer workers and peer supervisors in and outside of CNWL.

This is an exciting opportunity to be the first Peer Educators within CNWL’s established peer and lived experience workforce, joining a staff group of over 100.

We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated individuals with excellence in communication, competency with digital skills, and the ability to work in an inclusive, respectful and recovery-focused manner to join us in establishing and sustaining a high standard of course delivery, development and evaluation.

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In line with CNWL’s national roll out of Peer Support Worker (PSW) and Peer Support Worker Supervision Training, the Peer Educators will be integral members of the Peer & Lived Experience Training Team, working within Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) and with external placing organisations across NHS England.

The Peer Educators will act as key members of the Peer & Lived Experience Training Team, delivering all aspects of the training to peer and lived experience workers both locally and nationally, as well as staff interacting with and working alongside them. The Peer Educators will be responsible for a consistently high standard of course delivery, maintaining a perspective focused on recovery, social inclusion, service user choice and empowerment.

The post holders will participate in the development, evaluation and promotion of ‘Developing Expertise in Peer Working’ Training and Peer Support Worker Supervision Trainings, ensuring the course is delivered, evaluated and updated to meet the diverse needs of the client group.

They will be responsible for ad hoc one-to-one pastoral and academic support of students, liaising where appropriate with students’ employers, and for the assessment and marking of student assignments in line with the expectations and requirements of the course’s accrediting body.

Working for our organisation

We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.

Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people.

We’re always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we’re hoping to find our future leaders and we’ll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.

With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more – whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a comprehensive list of duties and responsibilities within this role, please read the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Please note: only candidates who have personal lived experience of recovery from mental health difficulties and emotional distress should apply.

Please therefore refer to your lived experience in your application.

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page.

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.

If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Completion of Peer Support Training
• Basic Training Certificate
• Train the Trainer course
• Commitment to obtaining underpinning knowledge through work-based and mandatory training
• Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development

Desirable criteria

• Training Qualification
• Degree Level education

Previous Experience

Essential criteria

• Lived experience of recovery from mental health difficulties and emotional distress
• Teaching experience including the design and delivery of recovery-focused training
• Experience of using NHS health services
• Experience as a peer trainer or other lived experience-centric training role
• Experience of providing supervision
• Experience of working in a socially inclusive and recovery focused manner, supporting service users to achieve their goals
• Experience of public speaking and delivering presentations
• Experience of using online platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom
• Experience of autonomous working
• Experience of co-ordinating a busy workload
• Experience of identifying and assessing a challenge/difficulty and acting on initiative to effect timely resolution
• Experience of producing/writing reports

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working as part of a remote or hybrid team
• Experience in co-production
• Experience in training evaluation and assessment
• Experience in developing alternative approaches to learning

Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

Essential criteria

• Able to demonstrate first person experiential knowledge of recovery at an expert level
• Ability to draw upon personal experiences of using services and of recovery to inspire and empower students
• Understanding of the issues and concerns of peer workers and supervisors
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of the concept of personal recovery as it may apply to others
• Good communication skills i.e. written, verbal, listening
• Able to use collaboration software (e.g. Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc)
• High level of computer literacy (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint etc)
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to plan, allocate and evaluate own work and develop self to enhance performance
• Ability to see strengths rather than deficits
• Knowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures
• Ability to work in accordance with Trust Policies and Procedures
• Understanding of the importance of equality and diversity
• Team working skills (able to work as a key member of a small team to achieve results, including able to encourage collaborative working)
• Excellence in timekeeping
• Flexible, with ability to adapt and implement ideas in diverse situations

Desirable criteria

• Awareness of community resources and service user groups
• General awareness of healthcare provision
• Knowledge of current legislation which underpins Health and Social Care and a working knowledge of the Equalities Act 2010 and Human Rights Act
• Knowledge of Trauma-Informed Practice

Documents

• Peer Educator Job Description and Person Specification
• CNWL Staff Networks
• CNWL Values
• CNWL Reward and Wellbeing Handbook 2020
• CNWL Staff Charter
• CNWL Culture SCARF Behaviour Framework

Further details / informal visits contact

Name: Francesca Lepori
Job title: Head of the Lived Experience Workforce
Email address: [email protected]

Katy Hawkins
Trustwide Lived Experience Practice & Peer Support Lead
Email: [email protected]

Phone-calls can be arranged via email.

If you have problems applying, contact

Address: Argo House, 180 Kilburn Park Road, London, NW6 5FA
Telephone: 020 7504 5500