ED Day Programme Peer Support Worker

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust (Central and North West London) is an NHS employer. Site: Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service, London. Salary £33,094 - £36,195 per annum incl HCAS (pro rata if part-time). Salary period: Yearly. Closing date: 20/02/2026 23:59. Interview date: 02/03/2026. NHS AfC: Band 4.

CNWL has almost 8,000 staff delivering integrated healthcare to a third of London’s population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in how we run. Our catchment area spans diverse communities with over 100 first languages spoken. We are committed to meeting users’ needs and actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and continue to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between staff. We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for high-quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ the best people and our experts contribute to national health strategy and policy.

The role of the Eating Disorders Peer Support Worker – Inpatient Ward and Day Programme (Eating Disorders PSW) has been developed specifically for people who have lived experience of recovery from eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder). Postholders will have recovered from disordered eating and accessed support via an eating disorders service. For this post, it is also required that the post holder has lived experience of accessing treatment on an inpatient eating disorders unit. Through sharing wisdom from their own experiences, Eating Disorders PSWs inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible in others. Using recovery principles and socially inclusive practice, the post-holder will support service users in their personal recovery journeys through the Eating Disorders Service, providing peer support for adults and young people currently receiving inpatient or day patient support for their eating disorder.

Main duties of the job:

• Foster a relationship of mutuality and information sharing, to promote choice, self-determination, opportunities and hope;
• Raise awareness about local resources and opportunities that may assist people in maintaining their recovery;
• Encourage and support service users to use community resources and help the Eating Disorders Service develop links with these resources;
• Act as an advocate for recovery within the team and an ambassador for recovery for the Trust and with partner agencies;
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team in a specialist service setting.

Through sharing the wisdom of their own lived experience, the Eating Disorders PSW will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible in others, taking a lead role in embedding recovery values within the service settings in which they work, alongside other Trust recovery champions.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• Respect integrity, confidentiality, clinical governance and data protection requirements in line with Trust policy.
• Have responsibility for safeguarding issues in relation to service users and their network, including making difficult decisions as a team in line with the Trust’s Safeguarding policy.
• Engage in self-reflective practices and commit to continued personal development.
• Establish supportive and respectful relationships with people using eating disorders services.
• Model/mentor a recovery process, inspire hope, and demonstrate self-management skills and techniques by skilfully using own experience of recovery.
• Provide meal support and encouragement from a lived experience perspective for mealtimes and snacks; this will include positive role modelling by also participating in the meal or snack.
• Assume a ‘coaching role’ supporting users in developing personal recovery plans; this can be delivered individually or in groups.
• Support service users in making sense of their experiences of eating disorders and recovery, including understandings of personal and social recovery, health and wellbeing, personal and social identity, while recognising each individual’s recovery is personal.
• Be committed to professional development through independent learning, keeping up to date with latest research and building connections with local and national peer networks.
• Promote development of best practices in peer support and Lived Experience Practice across the service through active participation in internal and external training and development programmes.

Supervision requirements – following the probation period, the Eating Disorders PSW will have monthly 1-1 supervision with clinical line manager and monthly 1-1 supervision with peer supervisor. Periods requiring additional support may adjust frequency. Group supervision every 2 months with PSWs from other CNWL services and fortnightly staff group with the community team.

Person specification:

• Commitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work-based learning and mandatory training.
• Willingness to undertake Level 4 City University accredited course “Developing Expertise in Peer Support”.
• Acceptable level of written literacy and numeracy.
• Basic IT skills (word & email).
• Own personal lived experience of recovering from an eating disorder.
• Own lived experience of accessing inpatient service to support eating disorder recovery.
• Willing to positively share own life experiences and personal recovery from an eating disorder.
• Experience of actively supporting individuals to identify and work towards personal goals in related social care or health settings (paid or unpaid).
• Ability to demonstrate and represent recovery-focused approaches to mental health care.
• Paid or unpaid experience of working with individuals with an eating disorder.
• Ability to demonstrate first-person experiential knowledge of recovery.
• Knowledge of personal recovery concepts as they apply to others.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers.
• Ability to communicate with diverse audiences internally and externally to the Trust.
• Knowledge of how to build community links and networks.
• Understanding of issues arising from experiencing mental ill health.
• Ability to work unsupervised in multiple settings.
• Effective team player.
• Knowledge of basic first aid and health and safety awareness.
• Awareness of local services and benefits/employment systems.
• Ability to demonstrate understanding of mental health issues.
• Knowledge of basic food hygiene.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. This NHS Trust strongly encourages vaccination as a precaution to protect colleagues and patients in healthcare settings.

Vacancies may expire before the advertised closing date due to high response levels; submit your application early.

Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered with all other applications. Please check eligibility under the UKVI points-based system.

Agenda for Change contracts include a contractual 13-week probationary period.

If offered a job, information will be transferred to the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020; a Disclosure to the DBS is required.