Lived experience

Our lived engagement facilitators ensure the voices of the people who access our services are heard at every level of the organisation. This is from individual ward rounds and treatment plans, right through to our partnership board meetings.

They normally work with one or two of our wards and facilitate engagement sessions so that people accessing our services can feedback on the care they receive. This could be in a range of different ways, such as group discussions, one to one conversations, online surveys, or polls. 

They champion people's voices, and ensure their ideas, opinions and feedback are incorporated into service redesign. They also help to support coproduction of literature and communications materials. 

Career pathway 

To become a lived experience engagement facilitator, you will need lived experience of the specialist area the role is based in and a good level of written and spoken English. 

We can support you to gain the necessary qualifications and training to be a lived experience engagement facilitator, including level 2 Functional Skills in English and Maths.

Peer support workers use their lived experience to support people who are accessing health services. In our Trust, we have peer support workers in our mental health services, criminal justice services, learning disability and autism services, veterans' services, and perinatal services. They help to show that change is possible and give a message of hope and understanding. They are positive role models that inspire, motivate, guide and support people to work alongside services on a journey of recovery/ discovery. Their support helps people move to a more positive, meaningful, and fulfilled future.

Career pathway

To be a peer support worker, you will need lived experience of the specialist area the role is based in and a good level of written and spoken English. 

We can support you to gain the necessary qualifications and training to be a peer support worker. This includes the Care Certificate, ImROC Foundation Peer Support Worker training, and level 2 Functional Skills in English and Maths.

A peer practitioner uses their previous experience as a peer support worker, alongside their lived experience of recovery, to support people accessing our services.

Like peer support workers, peer practitioners help people gain support from services, and act as a role model to inspire, motivate and guide. They also lead group interventions and supervise more junior members of the team. Peer practitioners are integral to our teams as they can provide their own lived experiences in discussions.

Career pathway

This role requires you to have experience as a peer support worker, the Care Certificate, ImROC Peer Support Worker training, a level 3 qualification in peer support work or equivalent, and GCSE/Level 2 Functional Skills in English and Maths. 

Oliver McGowan co-trainers deliver the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning and Disability and Autism. The training supports staff to have the confidence and skills to work with people with a learning disability and autistic people across health and social care.

Co-trainers are an essential part of the training and are involved in co-design and co-delivery of this national training programme. They share their lived experience of receiving health and social care, the challenges that they may face and the reasonable adjustments that support them to thrive and ultimately reduce health inequalities.

They work alongside a facilitator trainer to implement feedback from delegates and ensuring the facilitation of learning for all attendees.

Career pathway

Oliver McGowan co-trainers require lived experience of having a learning disability and/or being autistic and the ability to communicate this (in their preferred communication method) in a learning environment. Co-trainers are required to have specific training to be an Oliver McGowan co-trainer and be an approved trainer via Health Education England. 

A senior peer support worker utilises their lived experience of recovery/ discovery to support people accessing our services. They also help to supervise and train current staff and recruit additional peer support workers to our services.

Senior peer support workers champion co-production. This is a way of working where those who provide a
service and those who are impacted by a service work in equal partnership from the start to the end of any project or service that
affects them.

Senior peer support workers are equipped with different approaches to a variety of health conditions, trauma-informed care, and the history of peer support and the survivors' movement so they can lead and influence organisational culture.

Career pathway

To be a senior peer support worker you would need to have experience in a health peer support worker role and undertake training required to be a peer practitioner. You will also need to have peer support worker supervisor training and have, or be willing to work towards, a level 5 leadership and management qualification. 

The role of an expert by experience coordinator is to recruit, train and support experts by experience so that they can help to co-create services, systems and Trust materials.  They are at the heart of ensuring that coproduction is embedded in all programmes of work across the Trust.

An expert by experience (EBE) is someone who has lived experience and brings insights and knowledge from their personal experience to improve services and implement change. As EBE coordinator, you will support our EBE's to bring their voices to project teams as equal partners, to create services that are better for everyone. 

Career pathway

To be an expert by experience coordinator you will need to have either a degree, be willing to work towards a degree level apprenticeship, or have equivalent experience in a relevant field. You will also need to have lived experience of the area the role is based in, and knowledge of coproduction. 

Recovery academy tutors deliver a wide range of courses and workshops as a part of the Recovery and Wellbeing Academy.  These are designed to empower people to recognise their skills, abilities and resources and learn to become experts in their own recovery and wellbeing.

Recovery academy tutors plan and create training course presentations and materials. They implement feedback from students, ensure content is up to date and caters to all learning styles. They take responsibility for all classroom management; this involves maintaining documentation, sign-in sheets, evaluating outcomes, and ensuring the facilitation of learning for all attendees.

Career pathway

Recovery academy tutors must have lived experience and be comfortable speaking about their experiences in a learning environment. Tutors are required to have a level 3 qualification in education and training, 12-months experience in a health or educational setting, and training experience. 

In addition to having the same roles and responsibilities of a recovery and wellbeing academy tutor listed above, a senior tutor will conduct wider staff training in a specialist subject area, related to their lived experience. They will also have some management and supervision responsibilities to support other staff members in a similar specialist area.

Career pathway

On top of the qualifications and experience of a band 5 tutor listed above, a senior tutor must have a level 5 qualification in a relevant subject area, such as training and education or a PGCE. You will also need experience of supervising staff, and either have, or be willing to work towards, a leadership and management qualification.  

Our expert by experience development lead role is to create and manage our expert by experience roles and our inpatient lived experience engagement facilitators roles. The role aims to ensure all our services have our communities voice represented, and that our services are co-created.

The role ensures the views and opinions of our current inpatients and our communities are represented at all levels of the organisation, from wards to board meetings.

Career pathway 

To become an expert by experience development lead, you will need experience in management and leadership. You'll also need a relevant degree or be able to demonstrate equivalent skills in research, writing or analysis.