Go back Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Community Support Worker
The closing date is 20 July 2025
GRIP (Gloucestershire Recovery in Psychosis) is a county-wide Early Intervention in Psychosis team, that provides care to people experiencing their First Episode of Psychosis. The aim of the team is to work in line with the principles of Early Intervention to deliver specialist care that reflects the principles of recovery and social inclusion.
The team works intensively over a period of up to three years with clients, their families and the wider community to provide the best possible outcomes for people experiencing psychosis and to mitigate the long-term effects of serious mental illness. We are a dynamic, expanding multi-disciplinary team with a strong focus on patient-centred care and promoting hope/collaborative working.
We are pleased to be able to offer a full-time Band 3 post for a community support worker.
The ideal candidate will show a keen interest in Early Intervention in Psychosis values - taking a flexible, compassionate and person-centred approach to working with people at a difficult stage in their lives, and promoting hope for the patient and their family.
Main duties of the job
As a community support worker you will be actively involved in supporting patients to rebuild their lives after an episode of illness. You will be involved in supporting them to rebuild their confidence, develop roles and routine, and engage in activities of interest. Social inclusion is a big part of the role - working with patients to get them involved in both GRIP and community activities, and liaising with other organisations about activities and opportunities available. Community support workers are crucial in setting up and running our groups, allowing patients time to develop new skills and meet other people who have been through similar experiences. Our community support workers also take a lead role in organising physical health monitoring, including the running of our clinics.
There are lots of opportunities for further training, contributing to care planning and MDT meetings, and developing our service.
The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.
About us
We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.
Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:
* 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
* 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
* 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.
This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.
Job responsibilities
Please see attached JD & PS for detailed information.
For further information or to arrange an informal visit, please contact Jess Partridge (Team Manager) on 0300 421 4884 or by emailing Jessica.Partridge@ghc.nhs.uk
Person Specification
Qualifications
* NVQ Level 3 or equivalent level of competency based training in a relevant health or social care area
* European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)
Length and/or nature of experience
* Knowledge and understanding of Risk Assessment and management obtained through formal training course i.e. in house training
* Knowledge and understanding of the Care Programme Approach (CPA) obtained through attendance at in house training
* Experience in the assessment of service users
* Some experience of working in a learning disability, mental health or social care setting
* Experience of lone working and decision making
* Experience of providing social and recreational activities
Professional/Managerial/Specialist Knowledge
* Awareness of issues surrounding diversity and anti-discriminatory practice
* Ability to work un-supervised for periods of up to 4 hours
* Understanding of how mental illness has an impact on motivation, social skills and activities of daily living
* Demonstrate adherence to the Trusts policies and prescribed nursing care plans
* Understanding of the basic principles of Infection Control
Personal skills, abilities and attributes
* Good organisational skills
* Ability to manage time and plan / prioritise work efficiently and effectively
* Good communication skills both written and verbal
* Ability to show empathy and deal in a sensitive and tactful way when communicating with clients
* Ability to use own initiative
* High degree of confidentiality and integrity
* Ability to undertake all statutory and mandatory training including Breakaway (subject to Occupational Health clearance)
Other requirements
* Ability to travel independently and efficiently across the County
* Basic computer skills i.e. Ms Word, Ms Excel, Ms Outlook
* Able to attend and participate in all mandatory and statutory training events
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 name
Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
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