Sara Brewin

We know that many people have been struggling recently with their mental health and may have also found gaining or retaining paid employment difficult.

In fact, 1 in 4 people will suffer from mental ill health in their lifetime and this can significantly affect their work and personal lives.

Maintaining a rewarding job and having a supportive employer can make a real difference in improving mental wellbeing, and that’s why our Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Employment Service is here to help.

Working as the Occupational Therapy Vocational Lead and Service Development Manager at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, has allowed me to lead the IPS team in supporting people with mental health problems to find and retain paid employment.

We accept referrals from the adult Community Mental Health Team (CMHT), the Early Intervention in Psychosis team, and from consultants within adult CMHTs who see outpatients.

Individuals who express an interest in paid employment will be matched with one of our Employment Specialists, who will then provide personalised support and guidance to find them an appropriate role.

We are passionate about helping others to find the ‘right’ work as this can help someone to develop social networks, build self-esteem, gain purpose in their day, develop new skills, improve their financial situation, and increase physical and mental activity.

So far this year, the team have been successful in placing over 60 service users in paid employment.

This includes Brian, who successfully joined LPFT as a peer support worker within the Louth adult CMHT in August 2019.

He has since obtained a place on the mental health nursing course at the University of Lincoln and is excited to start this October.

Brian had previously been unemployed for over 15 years due to illness and felt anxious about looking for jobs and returning to work.

Michelle from the IPS Employment Service helped with CVs, applications, interview preparation, reducing anxiety, building confidence, and providing general support.

Without the help of the IPS team, Brian said he would never have had the confidence to start his new career and added that his mental health is the best it has ever been.

We are thrilled for Brian and would like to say that it is never too late to build your skills and pursue your passions in a new role.

During the pandemic, our team have had to adapt to new ways of working and be creative to ensure that the people who access our service still receive support that meets their needs.

Our service continues to work closely with local employers across Lincolnshire to find suitable employment opportunities, which is a crucial part of the work that we do.

We are currently searching for more businesses to engage with us so that we can continue to help the people that we support, in addition to the local economy and employers themselves.

Employers using our service have benefited from finding new dedicated employees who have been expertly matched to the role by our team.

We also provide advice to these businesses, educate about mental health conditions, and explore the reasonable adjustments that may be required to aid individuals in their new positions.

If you are an employer with vacancies in the county and would like to be involved or find out more, please contact the IPS Employment Service via Sara at [email protected] or visit our website at www.lpft.nhs.uk/thinking-about-work.

It’s quite well known that employment is beneficial to a person’s health and wellbeing. The right job can improve mental health and help protect against relapse. Despite this, many people with mental health problems fear that no matter how good a recovery they have made, their symptoms may be made worse by going back to work and have concerns as to whether they are able to secure and maintain employment.

I work as the Occupational Therapy Vocational Lead and Service Development Manager at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This role involves leading the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Employment Service in supporting people with mental health problems to find and retain paid employment. I work with seven employment specialists who are based in the Adult Community Mental Health Teams in Boston, Sleaford/Grantham, Lincoln North, Lincoln South, Gainsborough, Louth, Skegness and Stamford/Spalding.

The service is available to people who are being supported with their mental health in the community. The Community Mental Health Team makes a referral to the IPS service if a service user expresses an interest in finding paid employment. The Employment Specialist then works with the individual to provide personalised support to find them appropriate paid employment. Help is given with writing a C.V, filling out job applications and with interviews tips and techniques. If the person wishes to disclose to potential employers that they have support with their mental health, the Employment Specialist can then support the person in the interview and provide encouragement to reduce anxieties.

This valuable support continues when an individual has been successful in gaining paid employment. The team then help with maintaining employment and liaising with the employer to ensure reasonable adjustments are made and that the person is supported in retaining that employment.

The IPS service makes regular contact with local employers across Lincolnshire to find suitable jobs that meet each individual’s needs. The team has recently visited and given information at Disability Confident events across Lincolnshire, alongside the Department of Work and Pensions, where a variety of employers attended and showed interest in the work our team provides. At these events the Disability Confident scheme is promoted, which supports employers to make the most of the talents people with a disability can bring to the workplace.

This personalised approach has proved successful in supporting people to find a paid job that they enjoy and value. For example we have helped individuals into a variety of roles such as care work and being a university lecturer.

Service users are extremely positive about this service and often thank us, saying they would never have been confident enough to go through this process alone and that they feel at ease and fully supported throughout the service.

We have won a prestigious Centre of Excellence status following a review from the Centre for Mental Health. This means we will share our best practice with new start-up services. Becoming a centre of excellence is a significant achievement for our team and I’m proud of the team’s work and dedication.

I find this work extremely rewarding and take pleasure from helping people to gain confidence and start to fulfil their potential, especially after they have experienced a variety of challenges.

If you’re a service user and are thinking about returning or looking for paid employment, why not contact the Community Mental Health Team you access and see how we can help you?