Job summary
Do you have lived experience of mental health challenges and services and have a desire to support others on their recovery journey? If so, we invite you to join our team in this unique and rewarding role.
Merseycare foundation trust have produced an animation available on YouTube which explains the role of peer support / lived experience workers from a team's perspective which potential candidates may find helpful it can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCCS8MCStuM
Any prospective candidates who feel they would benefit from additional support & guidance to submit an application are encouraged to reach out to us at the following email address in the first instance: peersupport@merseycare.nhs.uk
Main duties of the job
The role involves building supportive and respectful relationships with service users, helping them identify, explore, and achieve meaningful and sustainable recovery goals.
By sharing personal recovery stories, the worker will inspire confidence and self-belief in others, promoting essential coping, self-help, and self-management techniques.
A key responsibility is facilitating community engagement by helping service users connect with community groups and networks, which promotes social inclusion and a positive identity. The role also involves advocating for service users' rights, accompanying them to appointments, welcoming them to a service, signposting advice and promoting autonomy and self-management. Additionally, the worker will contribute to fostering a recovery-oriented environment by working with multidisciplinary teams and using strengths-based, non-discriminatory language to support recovery-focused activities.
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Details Date posted
22 August 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 3
Salary
£24,937 to £26,598 a year Per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Part-time
Reference number
350-MHC7367006
Job locations
Hartley Hospital Adult Community Mental Health Team
Curzon Road
Southport
PR8 6PL
Job description Job responsibilities
A detailed overview and the main responsibilities of the role can be found in the Job Description attached .
Job description Job responsibilities
A detailed overview and the main responsibilities of the role can be found in the Job Description attached .
Person Specification Qualifications Essential
* Health and Social Care Level 2 qualification or equivalent experience
Desirable
* Care Certificate
* Phlebotomy trained
* Physical Health competency basic passport
* MEWS
* Level 2 Smoking Cessation
* Good standard of education
* Qualification in craft, domestic skills, leisure or health equivalent to City & Guild Part 1, or 2 year experience working in a health setting
* Willing to work towards Level 3 Health Care qualification
KNOWLEDGE/ EXPERIENCE Essential
* Experience of working in a care setting
* Understanding of issues of confidentiality
Desirable
* Experience of individuals with mental health problems or personal lived experience of mental health problems
Skills Essential
* Able to communicate effectively
* Ability to work as a member of a team
* Ability to demonstrate a non-judgemental attitude
* Ability to work on own initiative under the supervision of a qualified practitioner
* Ability to provide support and guidance to junior staff
VALUES Essential
* Continuous Improvement
* Accountability
* Respectfulness
* Enthusiasm
* Support
* High professional standards
* Responsive to service users
* Engaging leadership style
* Strong customer service belief
* Transparency and honesty
* Discreet
* Change oriented
Person Specification Qualifications Essential
* Health and Social Care Level 2 qualification or equivalent experience
Desirable
* Care Certificate
* Phlebotomy trained
* Physical Health competency basic passport
* MEWS
* Level 2 Smoking Cessation
* Good standard of education
* Qualification in craft, domestic skills, leisure or health equivalent to City & Guild Part 1, or 2 year experience working in a health setting
* Willing to work towards Level 3 Health Care qualification
KNOWLEDGE/ EXPERIENCE Essential
* Experience of working in a care setting
* Understanding of issues of confidentiality
Desirable
* Experience of individuals with mental health problems or personal lived experience of mental health problems
Skills Essential
* Able to communicate effectively
* Ability to work as a member of a team
* Ability to demonstrate a non-judgemental attitude
* Ability to work on own initiative under the supervision of a qualified practitioner
* Ability to provide support and guidance to junior staff
VALUES Essential
* Continuous Improvement
* Accountability
* Respectfulness
* Enthusiasm
* Support
* High professional standards
* Responsive to service users
* Engaging leadership style
* Strong customer service belief
* Transparency and honesty
* Discreet
* Change oriented
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.
Employer details Employer name
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Hartley Hospital Adult Community Mental Health Team
Curzon Road
Southport
PR8 6PL
Employer's website
https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
Employer details Employer name
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Hartley Hospital Adult Community Mental Health Team
Curzon Road
Southport
PR8 6PL
Employer's website
https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
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