Main area Practitioner in Other ST&T Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract 12 months (Fixed term or internal secondment) Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week (9am – 5pm, Monday – friday) Job ref 334-CLI-8092340
Site Lewisham Early Intervention Service Town London Salary £34,186 – £37,389 per annum inclusive of HCAS (Inner) Salary period Yearly Closing 05/08/2026 23:59
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.
Job overview
Are you interested in supporting people to rebuild their lives after a mental health crisis?
In this rewarding role, you will support individuals recovering from a first episode of psychosis to move forward into education, training, and volunteering. Your work will help them regain independence, purpose, and confidence. You will also play a key role in reducing financial stress by providing practical welfare benefits support, enabling service users to focus fully on their recovery.
Over time, you will develop strong partnerships with educational institutions, local providers, and community services, ensuring our service users can access a wide range of opportunities to support their goals and aspirations.
We’re looking for someone who is:
- Experienced in benefits advice, employability, education, or support work
- Skilled at working with people facing complex barriers to engagement
- Confident completing detailed benefits applications and paperwork
- Able to build trusting, therapeutic relationships
- Organised, proactive, and able to manage their own workload
Main duties of the job
- Supporting service users to explore and access education, training and volunteering opportunities
- Providing hands‑on support with benefits applications (Universal Credit, PIP, Mandatory Reconsideration Requests, UC Journal Support etc)
- Helping individuals set goals and overcome barriers to participation
- Delivering 1:1 and Group sessions at team base and out in the community
- Working collaboratively with care coordinators and other professionals as part of a multi‑disciplinary mental health team
- Building links with local providers, colleges, and community services
- Keeping up to date with benefits changes and local educational opportunities
Updating records and sharing progress with the wider MDT
Working for our organisation
LEIS provides specialist Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) support to people aged 18–65 who are experiencing or recovering from a first episode of psychosis (FEP). Our service works collaboratively to support recovery, promote independence, and improve long‑term outcomes for service users within the borough of Lewisham.
This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated individual who is committed to the Early Intervention (EI) ethos of hope, recovery, and high‑quality person‑centred care.
- Be part of a supportive, experienced multi‑disciplinary team
Develop specialist skills in benefits advice and vocational recovery work
Access ongoing training and development opportunities
- Build meaningful community partnerships
Shape the education and benefits pathwaywithin the service
Make a visible, lasting difference to people’s recovery journeys
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached full JD and person specification
• Helping service users to identify and consider educational or voluntary opportunities, set personal goals, and develop appropriate action plans to overcome any barriers.
• Supporting service users to complete benefits application forms where eligible, such as Personal Independence Payments, Universal Credit, and Employment Support Allowance.
• Develop and facilitate group work as appropriate.
• Keeping up to date with local and national education and labour market trends & policy, and informing and educating service users and colleagues about education/training opportunities for our client group.
• Keeping up to date and informing and educating service users about welfare benefit changes relevant to client group
• Providing training to colleagues on welfare benefits eligibility.
• To collaboratively and sensitively work with individuals with a range of mental health needs, adjusting and adapting approach as necessary
• To use a range of communication methods and being flexible in what is offered – face‑to‑face appointments, video meetings, telephone calls, emails, texts.
• To be creative and innovative in engaging sometimes hard to reach service users
MDT working and stakeholder engagement
• Contribute to the EI Pathway vocational strategy by working closely alongside the team’s Occupational Therapist, Vocational/Employment specialist (IPS worker) and STaR worker
• Working with local providers to identify work experience, volunteering, courses and training that meet the needs of service user’s vocational development
• Working as part of a team, sharing knowledge and expertise, and contributing to team meetings, service development activities and wider networks
Documentation
• Typing clear and concise event entries, entering data onto electronic databases, ensuring that files and systems are always up‑to‑date and accurate.
• Participate in audits and data collection as required
Person specification
Qualifications
- At least 3 years employment in a relevant role or NVQ in relevant area
- Educated to degree level or L4 IAG training / IPS training /benefits training/ mental health training or equivalent would be beneficial but not essential
Experience
- Experience of working in an educational, volunteering or benefits advisory role
- Experience of working with individuals experiencing complex barriers to participating in education, training, or volunteering
- Experience in coaching or mentoring others to meet their goals
- Experience working collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience working in a mental health setting
- Experience running of groups for service users in particular those with mental health difficulties
- Vocational assessment and profiling skills
Knowledge / Skills
- Knowledge and understanding of link between vocation, purpose, and mental wellbeing
- Good working knowledge of the welfare benefits system
- The ability to form trusting, therapeutic relationships with service users (A/I)
- Good understanding of Equality and Diversity issues, including knowledge of the Equality Act 2010 (I/A)
- Ability to work independently, prioritise workload and carry out work efficiently and effectively (I/A)
- Knowledge of Early Intervention in Psychosis interventions and the EI standards.
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
SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’
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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr…