Service User Network Manager and Facilitator for Eating Disorders

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About Us

EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:

• We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
• We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.

EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.
Our vision and values

Our Vision

"To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care".

Our Purpose

"We care for people every day. What we do together, matters".

Our Values

• We Care
• We Learn
• We Empower

Our strategic objectives

• We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
• We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
• We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
• We will help our communities to thrive.

Our services

• Mental Health Services
• Community Health Services
• Learning Disabilities Services
• Social Care

Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory.

Job overview

A huge transformation programme in Essex is underway to develop eating disorder services. This includes but is not limited to the development of the FREED model (https://freedfromed.co.uk/), medical monitoring and a Service User Network.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Service User Network Manager and Facilitator for Eating Disorders who wishes to help shape our services across Essex. Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has emerged as a stronger Trust that can deliver mental health in an innovative way in Essex, having managed to co-produce a model of service delivery with our various commissioners, partner providers and service users.

As the postholder you will provide positive role modelling and leadership for service user engagement and representation for people with an eating disorder. You will work with service users to support existing user-led groups and develop new peer support user-led groups to embed and maintain co-production in the design, delivery and evaluation of services and policy for this population in Essex.

You will provide training in knowledge and skills framework-informed ED education for Essex-wide stakeholders, represent service-users in the business of the Community Adult Eating Disorder Service, advise the Eating Disorder Transformation Steering group, and consult to stakeholders, commissioners, operational managers and clinicians throughout Essex.

Main duties of the job

You will be able to demonstrate:

• Master's degree or equivalent experience/qualification or significant formal training or research in a relevant field
• Personal lived experience of managing or living with an Eating Disorder
• Supervision or management experience and skills
• Skills and experience in project management, proposal development and proven organisational skills

Working for our organisation

EPUT is looking for motivated staff members who share our Trust values. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;

Benefits:

• Season Ticket Loans
• NHS discounts for staff
• Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
• The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
• Buying and Selling annual leave scheme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Where the term "service users" is used, this includes individual service-users, people with lived experience, their family members and carers.

• The Service User Network Manager and Facilitator for Eating Disorders will provide positive role modelling and leadership for service user engagement and representation for people with an Eating Disorder in Essex. The post holder will work with service users to support existing user-led groups and develop new peer support user-led groups to embed and maintain co-production in the design, delivery and evaluation of services and policy for this population in Essex.
• The post holder will also work with relevant external agencies in Essex to develop and enhance services for people with an Eating Disorder across Essex including identification and/or provision of training programmes for people with an Eating Disorder as well as for partner providers.
• The post holder will facilitate the development of locality networks, through engagement with local social care and health commissioners, voluntary sector, and third sector providers. This will include volunteer service networks, service-user networks, and stakeholder engagement.
• The post holder will provide training in knowledge and skills framework-informed an Eating Disorder education for Essex-wide stakeholders, represent service-users in the business of the specialist Community Adult Eating Disorder Service Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), advise the Eating Disorder Transformation Steering Group, and consult to stakeholders, commissioners, operational managers and clinicians throughout Essex. The post holder will utilise any current expertise in patient support, psychoeducation, counselling and intervention direct with service users with an Eating Disorder in Essex, holding a caseload. If these skills are not current, the post holder will undergo further training to develop such expertise and skills, as appropriate.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Master's degree or equivalent
• Proven knowledge of service evaluation to be able to measure current practices within a service, project, and be accountable for providing evidence for operational practice, including high level reporting to commissioners and stakeholders to executive level

Desirable criteria

• Professional registration
• Research qualification or evidence of skills, including previous audit, research or evaluation, preferable published
• Formal counselling or coaching qualification and registration

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of complex mental health conditions, and their challenges
• Knowledge of national and regional mental health policy, specifically relating to Eating Disorders

Desirable criteria

• Experience of dealing directly with mental health commissioners or commissioning

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Ability to present a professional image and actively promote the service at all times to service users, other stakeholders, partnership organisations and the general public
• Positive attitude to collaborative team work and ability to form good working relationships with others
• Accountable for own professional actions and ability to work autonomously, including planning and organising own workload
• Ability to maintain accurate case records and an awareness of the importance of confidentiality
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings

!Important Professional References

Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.

Equal Opportunities Employer

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Covid Vaccination

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.

If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing epunft.cv19hr@nhs.net.

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

• Job Description (PDF, 720.5KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 544.3KB)
• Why Join The NHS Pension Scheme (PDF, 91.3KB)
• EPUT Pledge - Step into Health (PDF, 211.0KB)
• Candidate Privacy Policy (PDF, 336.6KB)
• Right to Work Information (PDF, 293.6KB)
• Employer Recognition Scheme - Gold Award (PDF, 27.7KB)
• Trust Vision and Values (PDF, 168.9KB)
• Values of the NHS Pension (PDF, 151.3KB)