Job Description
Leo’s Perinatal Practitioner
Hourly Rate £30.00 for probationary period and £35.00 thereafter
FTC 12 months
8 hours per week - Flexible working hours
Reporting to: The Chief Executive Officer and The Board of Trustees
Purpose:
Purpose:
Leo’s mission and core values are to provide trauma-informed lived-experience care to families who are currently, or have experienced neonatal care, to reduce the long-term mental health complications which can arise from neonatal trauma. This can include, families who are pregnant and at risk of a neonatal stay, those who are pregnant and have had a previous neonatal stay or loss, those who are currently in neonatal care or have been discharged from neonatal care, and those who have lost a baby or babies on a neonatal unit.
Leo’s combines lived experience peer support and therapeutic interventions to provide innovative and trauma informed interventions to support families who have experienced neonatal care.
Peer support is the backbone of Leo’s, and is one of the key components in helping families through post traumatic growth, and recovery. Peer support is fast becoming a widely used mechanism to help people with various mental health needs, work through and heal from their trauma.
Peer support is using your own lived experience of a specific mental health condition or life-changing event to help others. At Leo’s, our peer support mentors have been touched by and lived through neonatal care, and recovered from their trauma. They now use not only their experience, but the experiences of every family they come into contact with to shape the work they do for the next family they care for. They work in collaboration with our neonatal trauma service and wider NHS and Local Authority teams and pathways to provide a robust model of care.
Our therapy team combines person-centered, integrative counsellors who are all registered with BACP, and offer an array of services including EMDR, CBT and Flash.
Not only will you work with parents or carers, you will be versed in the importance of early intervention models for children who have experienced neonatal care and provide opportunities for positive mental health and development. These will complement the work of traditional NHS therapeutic interventions.
We are looking for a deeply compassionate, enthusiastic and empathic individual to join our dynamic team and provide targeted perinatal support to families across our pregnancy and neonatal services.
You will be registered with an accredited body such as the BACP, and have a wide range of perinatal and counselling training / skills to offer our families as part of this new, emerging dynamic role.
You will have a deep understanding of the importance of trauma informed care, perinatal and infant mental health, maternal and paternal mental health and child mental health. You will understand the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences and historical trauma and the roles these take within the neonatal infant and the caregivers.
To succeed in this role, you will need excellent communication skills, both written and spoken, you will be hardworking, creative, innovative and compassionate. You will have transferable skills which can be entrenched in the work you do here at Leo’s.
You will be passionate about learning new skills, and attending training sessions to enhance the work you deliver, and strive to build on your own personal growth.
Main Responsibilities
- To plan, develop and deliver perinatal interventions on either 1:1 or within group support settings
- Deliver perinatal support groups for pregnant women and partners under the Prevention of Preterm Birth Clinic, parents in neonatal care, parents who have left neonatal care within the last 24 months, and if required, support across the Perinatal Baby Loss service
- To plan, develop and deliver in person and via virtual means (e.g. telephone / Zoom) support
- To work closely with the wider Leo’s mentor team and in house neonatal trauma services
- To provide a full family approach to your care
- To support families to identify their strengths, journey, improvements and milestones
- To provide an empathetic, non-judgemental, caring approach to the families in your care
- To provide specialist pregnancy support in the Preterm Birth Clinics at The University Hospital of North Tees
- To support families with the understanding of their journey and trauma, whilst providing them with coping mechanisms and strategies to aid their recovery
- To create individualised plans to help families in your care meet their goals
- To assess families appropriately through the Leo’s assessment framework
- To safely signpost families when required
- Work professionally with partner agencies to provide wrap around services
- To facilitate group interventions
- To assist with delivery of training
- To assist with promotion of Leo’s services to wider stakeholders
- To ensure attendance at relevant meetings
- To contribute to the development of new projects which can enhance the lives of the community we serve
- Identify risk and ensure appropriate risk assessments are carried out and comply with appropriate health and safety measures with regard to peer support groups and venues
- Identify mental health risk and ensure appropriate mental health risk assessments are completed, or escalation processes are followed
- Collate data, write detailed reports and case studies
- Work within Key Performance Indicators
- Ensure all safeguarding processes are adhered to in relation to children and vulnerable adults
- Organisation and Administration: Implementing policies and procedures; completing relevant paperwork, submitting reports to deadlines, managing workload and priorities of self and team
- To support, where possible, fundraising activities
This list is non exhaustive and other duties may be required to be undertaken to support the needs of Leo’s.
To Apply:
Please email your CV, a covering letter and a reflective written or videoed piece about your lived experience to [email protected] 9.5.23 by 5pm
Your CV must include the names and contact details of two referees and your notice period required from your existing employer.
You must read the person specification, and your covering letter MUST address the qualities and attributes we are looking for, and highlight the ways you are able to contribute to the main responsibilities.
For an informal discussion please contact Lottie on 07824353130 or on [email protected]
Person Specification
Relevant Experience
Lived perinatal experience
Currently working with a perinatal service
Desiriable
Experience of working with people with mental health needs in either a voluntary or paid capacity
Experience of working with families and children
Knowledge on key therapeutic interventions that promote improved mental wellbeing to support individuals and groups
Essential
Sound basic education including english and maths
BACP or other accredited body registration
Desiriable
Specialist perinatal, infant, maternal, paternal mental health training
Trauma informed training
Experience of working in a community setting
Safeguarding training
Transferable skills
Skills and Abilities
Essential
Ability to reflect on professional practice and determine with other areas of improvement or further development need
Demonstrate an understanding of the role and impact peer support plays in people’s lives
Demonstrate the knowledge, confidence and skills to develop new and innovative opportunities in response to need
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Excellent written and spoken skills
Ability to manage own well-being and be self-aware of your own needs and triggers
Competent in the use of Google Docs
Awareness of GDPR and confidentiality
Ability to promote the importance of Leo’s, early intervention and neonatal trauma / mental health in workshops, presentations and training across the region
Able to work independently and as part of a team
The ability to manage time and competing priorities and take responsibility for your own work and accountabilities
Excellent time keeping skills
The ability to maintain and monitor accurate record and note keeping
Good proactive team working skills including listening, respect, dignity, skill sharing and collaborative working
Desirable
Data collection
Report writing
Presenting skills
Knowledge of local support services and key stakeholders
An understanding of digital communications
Knowledge of latest NHS frameworks and reports relevant to the role including, but not limited to, The Ockenden Report, The NHS Long Term Plan, The Neonatal Critical Care Review and the MBRRACE report
Understanding of the Neonatal Psychological Staffing Guidelines
Special Requirements
Enhanced DBS clearance
Demonstration of the understanding of boundaries, confidentiality and safeguarding
Dedication to continuous personal development
Commitment to Leo’s core values
Commitment to Leo’s policies and procedures
Promotion of Leo’s
Support with fundraising and awareness activities
Willingness to work flexible hours
Ability to travel across the geographical patch Leo’s covers
Benefits:
Monthly clinical supervision, with the ability to have 1:1 additional sessions where required
30 days holiday per year
Access to the Leo’s therapy team should it be required
Training opportunities
Flexible working hours
Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 12 months
Part-time hours: 8 per week
Salary: £30.00-£35.00 per hour
Benefits:
Schedule:
Application question(s):
- Do you have a clear enhanced DBS?
- Do you have lived perinatal experience?
Licence/Certification:
- Driving Licence (required)
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 05/05/2023