Lived Experience Practitioner: Sponsorship Available

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Job Summary

The Lived Experience Practitioner role is an important development in our Mental Health Liaison Service. We want to ensure that the voice and presence of people with lived experience are embedded in every part of our service design and delivery.

We’re seeking an individual who can use what they have learned during their own mental health recovery to support and educate others. Receiving care in an acute hospital during a mental health crisis can be a uniquely challenging experience. To provide effective peer support, you will need to have lived experience of an acute mental health crisis, preferably involving support from a Mental Health Liaison Team or Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team.

You’ll be someone with experience of supporting others in distress, who can remain calm in an emotionally charged situation. You’ll have a good working knowledge of recovery tools and community recovery resources. You’ll be able to share your personal recovery story in a professional manner, whilst understanding the need to maintain professional boundaries.

This role can be offered as a development opportunity, allowing you to join as a Band 3 Peer Support Worker moving to a Band 4 Lived Experience Practitioner after developing the relevant skills and experience. We are keen to receive applications from candidates who are beginning their career in lived experience and those who are experienced Peer Support Workers looking for their next step.

Main duties of the job

The role is based at Gloucester Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals.

In this role, you will be given space to grow within a supportive team, with access to training and development opportunities. Each day will be different, and your work will be varied and challenging. We hope you will take pride is seeing the difference you make to others experiencing distress.

As an integral and valued team member, you will work alongside service users during their admission and after discharge to ensure their voice and priorities are heard. This work will include offering emotional, psychological, and practical support to service users to help them regain control over their lives and recovery. Everything you do will be underpinned by the principals of trauma informed care.

You will support the multi-disciplinary team in promoting a recovery orientated environment and fostering a culture of hope. You will also contribute to the development and delivery of training and be an agent for change in challenging mental health stigma. You will provide support and supervision to peer support workers.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Lived experience of acute mental health crisis
  • Experience of providing compassionate support to people experiencing distress
  • Experience of working in a supportive and enabling role

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

  • Understanding of the concept of live experience
  • Ability to share personal story of mental health recovery in a professional manner
  • A good understanding of the need to maintain clear professional boundaries
  • Knowledge of recovery tools and community resources
  • Understanding of the impact of mental health stigma and discrimination

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Closing Date: 14 May 2025

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.