Wellness Navigator

Job overview

The Berkshire Wellness Hub (BWH) delivers advice and support to individuals experiencing situational problems and/or mental health difficulties across Berkshire. We are primarily a web-based and telephone support service for patients with a variety of mental health related presentations, with dedicated provision for weekly virtual and face to face contacts in all Berkshire localities. This post will require travel across the Berkshire area for drop-in support and we offer hybrid working to facilitate support.

The team will use the Elemental platform to manage support plans for clients, connecting them to appropriate bodies including housing support, financial support, social support and VCSE organisations in order to:

• Facilitate appropriate self-management
• Support recovery
• Facilitate timely intervention to prevent crisis escalation & potential need for secondary care mental health.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will work closely with experienced BWH leads and Mental Health Practitioners in the Common Point of Entry (CPE) service to develop appropriate individual plans for signposting to other agencies, where applicable. They may also be responsible for offering some follow up sessions to clients, to support engagement in the plan/s identified in their initial session.
• They will contribute towards developing and maintaining the close working relationships with other statutory and non-statutory agencies within Berkshire. With the support of the wider CPE Leadership Team these roles will embed the “helping you help yourself” ethos for all our clients and carers.
• The service will operate from 8am to 7pm Monday to Thursday, and 8am-5pm on Fridays, excluding bank holidays. The post holder will be expected to cover 1-2 later shifts per week to cover service hours.
• BWH staff will be given operational and line management supervision by senior members of the BWH team, with further clear escalation routes to CPE Leads. There are ample other in-site learning opportunities such as BHFT training packages, peer supervisions and comprehensive individually tailored induction programme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The “must haves” for this role:

• Experience of working/training in mental health services or studying psychology/health studies
• Previous experience in health or social care work
• Experience of working/training in or with a diverse or multi-cultural community
• Excellent listening, verbal and written communication skills, including telephone skills
• Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses given in your supporting statement genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

In addition to explaining how you meet the person specification, you must complete your employment history for at least the last five years. Any experience, skills or responsibilities referenced in your supporting statement should be evidenced within your employment history. Applications that do not include sufficient employment history to support the experience claimed may not be shortlisted.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Stonewall Proud Employer, Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact: Holly Carter on 0300 365 2000 or email on Holly.Carter@berkshire.nhs.uk who’ll be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.