Peer Support Worker - Advanced Choice Documents

The aim of this role is to support black and mixed black patients in forensic services. The role will focus on enhancing the uptake and effectiveness of Advanced Choice Documents within forensic services by integrating cultural awareness and peer support. It involves collaborating with service users, carers, and their families to design and deliver services. This support will involve peer support and advocacy ensuring that patients' voices are heard. Peer Support Workers will use their own lived experiences of mental health issues/services to help others, providing a space where individuals feel respected, accepted, and understood. They will understand that everyone's experience will be unique but will treat everyone's experience as being equally important. This role will need individuals who acknowledge the inherent challenges of racism for Black communities within traditional mental health services. The role will also involve encouraging Black service users and carers
to coproduce care plans and advocate for themselves; gathering information to inform them of their options and providing formal feedback to staff in secure settings and the PCREF Forensic Triple Leadership team.
The postholder will work closely with staff ADC facilitators, the PSW Coordinator, and line managed in Forensic Psychology.

Working for our organisation
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organizations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training., To work with service users who are on the Forensic Community Mental Health Teams of the relevant SLaM boroughs, or in-reach to hospital wards, to assist them to engage with Advanced Choice Document development.
To support black and mixed black service users in Forensic Mental Health Community services in a culturally appropriate way and support Forensic Services to embed the ACD approach.
Contribute to feedback and evaluation following interventions and provide insights on patient's participation, including any concerns or suggestions.
To call and/or meet with service users in the community or on wards, or other convenient places, to help them prepare for meetings and to attend appointments with them to speak on their behalf where they unable or do not have the capacity, take notes, and ensure that they understand the proceedings
To work effectively as a member of Forensic teams and the wider multidisciplinary team.
The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:
+ Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
+ Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
+ We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity
Please note:
+ That all applications for this post will need to be made online
+ That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
+ That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
+ That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
+ That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
+ That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
+ That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
+ That we are a smoke-free Trust
SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.