Consultation opens on new Peer Support Worker Competence Framework Developed by UCL Partners and Health Education England

A Peer Support Worker Competence Framework developed collaboratively by National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH), UCLPartners, Care City, PPL and Health Education England (HEE) has been recently been released for consultation.

Together has not been involved in developing this framework and we are independent from the organisations who have.

Peer support is an important part of all of our services at Together and we place a lot of importance on the value of lived experience while service user leadership is our core principle.

The consultation process

The consultation is open until 20^th March and before then we are collaborating with Mind and Central & North West London (CNWL) Trust to host a focus group with peer supporters to collect feedback on the framework. There will be 3 groups, hosted by different NHS trusts and charities overall taking place in Durham, Brighton and London and we will be helping to facilitate the London focus group on 17th March 2020. Places have been going fast for the focus groups and the London one is already full but you can join a waiting list for that one or apply to join the others by following the links below:

• Durham – Thursday 12th March
• Brighton – Monday 16th March
• London – Tuesday 17th March

The focus group will include general discussion about the draft framework and all of the feedback on the day will be collated and fed back. The groups will be relevant for people with lived experience of mental distress who hold or have previously held a peer support worker position in the NHS or a voluntary/third sector organisation as well as those who have experience of receiving peer support themselves. If you have any questions about the focus groups, please contact l.pywell@mind.org.uk

Alternatively, you might wish to provide your own feedback directly to the NCCMH. To view the full draft Peer Support Worker Competence Framework and to find out more about how to submit your feedback directly click here.

If you would like to speak to anyone about Together’s position on the framework, please contact jessica-worner@together-uk.org.

What this could mean for peer support?

A framework like this for peer support workers could form the basis of peer support worker job descriptions and person specifications, initially in statutory services in the NHS. It could then possibly be applied in the voluntary sector, or impact how the role of a Peer Supporter is seen across a range of settings. As a result we’re keen to ensure the voices of people in our teams are represented in the consultation and that the principles of service user leadership and lived experience are valued and promoted in the process.