Job summary
- Main area
- Inclusion & Involvement
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (N/A)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 363-FOR7025558-B
- Employer
- East London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- LPP / NHS
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £33,094 - £36,195 per annum Inc HCAs
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 16/09/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Support Worker
Band 4
ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
We particularly welcome male applicants from an ethnic minority as this role will be working into a service with a high proportion of Black and Asian ethnic minority men.
This is an exciting opportunity to work in an innovative trauma-informed team, who are committed to promoting a culture of co-production with the people using the service and proactively addressing the experiences of marginalised groups in the criminal justice system. The Inclusion and Involvement service (I&I) was co-developed in partnership with service users and Probation Service London (PSL) in line with desistance principles as part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway.
The OPD Pathway programme provides services to men and women with complex psychological difficulties and serious offending histories, and to the multi-agency professionals working with them (NHS, Probation Service London and HM Prison Service).
Main duties of the job
The postholder will contribute actively to the day to day running and development of up to four social inclusion provisions across London, to support users of OPD Pathway services to establish safe and stable lives in the community. The postholder will work directly with service users who have significant psychological difficulties, assisting them to establish safe and stable lives in the community. Additionally, the postholder will support the service user involvement opportunities where required
Working for our organisation
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical
· To organise and provide person-centred and culturally appropriate activities for service users within the principles of the OPD Pathway.
· To work as a team member to deliver interventions under supervision and direction, using principles of desistance to support service users to achieve/maintain a stable and socially-included life in the community.
· To support service users to engage in social, recreational and occupational activities.
· To use psychologically-informed individual and group work approaches to enhance engagement and involvement, under the supervision and guidance of qualified staff.
· To support service users to engage in activities consistent with their psychological formulation and consideration of risk, to assist them in working towards their personal goals and development.
· To demonstrate an awareness of principles of psychological formulation as used within the OPD Pathway and to apply these to the support and engagement of service users under the guidance and supervision of qualified staff.
· To assess and manage risk within the Hub setting and use supervision and guidance from qualified staff to ensure safety within a desistance-orientated framework; to communicate all relevant risk-related observations and information to qualified staff.
· To work in partnership with other agencies, for example supporting service user engagement with third sector organisations.
· To be aware of and sensitive to the safeguarding needs of children and adults, and knowledgeable both about potential indicators of concern and about what to do if there is a concern.
· To provide information about the Hub and its programme to service users and professionals as required.
Communication
· To demonstrate effective communication skills and form positive working relationships, using warmth and empathy that enables service user empowerment.
· To demonstrate skills and resourcefulness in communication when barriers to understanding are present.
· To ensure timely and accurate information about service user contacts and activity is communicated within the team as appropriate, and recorded where relevant.
· To promote the Hub projects as supportive desistance-focused interventions within the OPD Pathway.
· To contribute to partnership working with criminal justice and third sector agencies under the guidance of supervisor.
· To attend Service User Involvement & Social Inclusion Team meetings as agreed with supervisor, and contribute to clinical reviews and service development meetings.
· To provide feedback on external resources as agreed with supervisor.
Leadership/Management
· To provide information and resources to other members of staff as appropriate. To induct new members of staff as appropriate.
· To support the Social inclusion Lead in the day to day running of the Hubs, including setting up the premises, supporting and facilitating activity, and ensuring the environment is suitable for use.
· To participate in the monitoring and effective use of Hub physical resources and supplies, including ordering supplies and managing petty cash, liaising with relevant on-site and Trust staff (e.g. finance) under the guidance of the Social Inclusion Lead.
· To support the Social Inclusion Lead in ensuring all relevant environmental checks are completed as required for the Hub (e.g. sharps policy protocols, fire drill).
IT responsibilities
· To be proficient in the use of IT for email, intranet and clinical record purposes. To be familiar with word processing and database packages; to use appropriate computer software to develop and create clinical or other service-related reports or documents.
Research and service evaluation
· To participate in research and audit activities in line with local service priorities and the Pathway research strategy, as guided by qualified staff.
General
· To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder’s line manager/supervisor.
· To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice across the service, by continuing to develop relevant professional skills taking part in regular professional supervision, appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the relevant disciplines.
· To support service users who may become distressed or present with challenging behaviours.
· To work within environments that may expose individuals to verbal and physical abuse.
· To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.
· To maintain up to date knowledge of OPD Pathway guidance and local policies and issues in relation to the specific client group.
Person specification
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria
- Knowledge/experience of approaches relevant to the client group, e.g. psychologically-informed support of individuals with complex needs (e.g. personality disorder, offending histories) and recovery/rehabilitation approaches.
- Evidence of relevant training and professional development activities.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in diverse inner-city areas.
- Experience of working partnership with other organisations
EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with service users with complex mental health/personality difficulties.
- Experience of delivering individual and group interventions
Desirable criteria
- Personal experience of psychosocial adversity
- Experience of working partnership with other organisations
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the principles of desistance and social inclusion with offenders.
- Skills in engagement, assessment, interventions and service user involvement with individuals with complex needs and forensic histories, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration and observation for defined periods.
- Ability to deal with emergency situations crises safely and effectively; frequent exposure to highly distressing/emotional situations; exposure to verbal aggression and risk of physical aggression
Desirable criteria
- Professional development in models of social inclusion and user empowerment
Application Form and Interview
Essential criteria
- Evidence of relevant training and professional development activities.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of approaches relevant to service audit and evaluation
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Laura Gaga
- Job title
- Social Inclusion Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07551 675951
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