Peer support

A Peer Support Worker is someone who knows what it is like to be in your shoes; they have experienced mental distress and know how painful and isolating this can be. They are trained to use this experience to offer emotional and practical support to others. This might look like:

  • Offering a listening ear, without judgement or the need to 'fix' anything
  • Helping you to feel understood and feel validated
  • Sharing coping mechanisms and helping you to develop your own
  • Supporting you to (re)discover what a meaningful life looks like and how you might get there
  • Helping you to better understand how to manage your wellbeing, including when times are tough
  • Support to build and grow social networks
     

We have Peer Support Workers based across the Trust and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) local partnerships. This includes:

  • Acute and Urgent Care Inpatient wards
  • Integrated Recovery Hubs (formerly known as Community Mental Health Teams)
  • Adult Eating Disorder Services (Inpatient and Outpatient)
  • Home Treatment Teams
  • Perinatal services
  • The ASCENT Team
  • Cancer SMART Project
  • Quality Improvement
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Adult Autism Intensive Support Team (AAIST) and Autism Post-Diagnostic Service
  • Carers Peer Support Workers within our community Peer Support Service 

If you are interested in receiving peer support or want more information about our community Peer Support service offer, please speak to your practitioner or contact peersupport@swlstg.nhs.uk. Please include the borough in which you live, so your query can be sent to the most appropriate Peer Support Coordinator

  • Wandsworth
  • Kingston
  • Richmond
  • Merton
  • Sutton

 

Referrals 

Referrals for community peer support can be made through Rio. You will need the name of the provider. If you’re unsure, email peersupport@swlstg.nhs.uk. For other services, speak to your local peer support worker or team manager, or follow the pathways set out in the relevant SOPs (e.g. DIAM, IRH).

Can anyone be a Peer Support Worker?

Peer Support Workers are given specialised training to know how to use their lived experience in a safe, supportive, and effective way. This is currently offered through City & St George's University and eleven London NHS Mental Health Trusts who have formed a collaborative and work in partnership.

If you are interested in becoming a Peer Support Worker, you might benefit from reading the information on the NHS Health Careers website. Any current vacancies are advertised on our Trust website. Any current vacancies with Trust partners, e.g., Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise organisations may also be advertised through Charity jobs.

Please email: peersupportinfo@swlstg.nhs.uk if you would like more general information on:

  • How to become a PSW
  • Peer Support Training
  • Lived Experience Network Membership / opportunities          
  • Volunteering
  • Recovery College

What is not part of their role?

  • Clinical interventions (e.g. therapy, care planning, clinical assessments, use of restrictive interventions). Peer support complements clinical care; it does not replace it.
  • Administrative work outside their role. Peer support workers manage their own admin but are not there to absorb wider team workload.
  • Leading on complaints or feedback. Peer support workers will listen and support people to share feedback, but they are not responsible for collecting or managing complaints, as this can affect the trust in the peer relationship.

What teams are they in?

Inpatient wards: We have peers working across a range of our inpatient wards at both Springfield and Tolworth including Ward 1, Avalon ward, Laurel ward, and Ellis Ward. 

If your ward does not have a PSW and is interested in getting one, please see below.

Integrated Recovery Hubs (IRH): We have a community peer support offer which can be accessed by anyone currently under an IRH. Each borough has different VCSE partners who deliver this on behalf of the Trust. Please note that there are multiple providers for each borough, each with a specific criterion, e.g., general adults, 18-25, peer support for racially marginalised people etc.


To ask any questions about community peer support work, including which provider to refer to, please contact peersupport@slwstg.nhs.uk 
 

Community Perinatal Mental Health

  • Home Treatment Teams (HTT): We have Peer Support Workers based within each of the Home Treatment Teams. They are able to visit suitable service users to offer short-term support.
  • Adult Eating Disorder Service (Inpatient and Community)
  • ASCENT Team
  • Cancer Smart project
  • Quality Improvement 
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Adult Autism Intensive Support Team and Autism Post-Diagnostic Service

Want a PSW on your team?

We are always keen to support services to develop their own peer support offer. Please get in touch with our Peer Support Lead karen.nelson@swlstg.nhs.uk who can help you to develop a role, structures and processes, JDs /PSs, value based interview questions / assessments, team integration / preparation meetings ( require before new PSW’s start in a team and when there are team changes. We also support recruitment by identifying a lived experience staff member or lived experience network member to be part of recruitment panels.

Once in post PSW’s are given a full peer induction by a member of the Peer Support Workforce. This is in addition to the clinical team induction. PSW’s will also receive relevant accredited training as required under the Competence Framework for MH PSW’s which is a comprehensive document which highlights key knowledge, skills and behaviours required for the role and other role specific training and development.

Who can a PSW work with?

Peer Support Workers will be recruited and trained to have the appropriate skillset to work with service users within their service. We've had great examples of peers being able to build trusting relationships with service users who have struggled to engage.

If there are concerns over acute and active risk, the team (including the peer) may want to work together to make sure appropriate plans and support are in place.

Why can't PSWs provide clinical interventions?

Peer support work is a non-clinical intervention which offers emotional and practical support (see list above). It is important a peer does not undertake clinical duties as this would compromise the peer relationship which is based on principles of mutuality and reciprocity. Peer Support Workers can complement clinical interventions with their work and can signpost/refer someone to additional support too.

If you have any further questions regarding PSW roles, training and development available, support provided by the Peer Workforce within the Involvement Team, Team preparation / integration sessions, recruitment guidance; please email peersupportinfo@swlstg.nhs.uk 

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