At Manchester Mental Health and Social
Care Trust we are committed to a recovery approach to mental health
care and actively seek to support those service users who want to
move into employment.
We are currently piloting the Individual Placement and Support
(IPS) service, funded by NHS North West.
The service consists of three Employment Specialists who are
based with Community Mental Health Teams and help service users to
find and remain in employment. They offer help in preparing for
work and engage with both the employer and employee to provide
ongoing support.
The approach of vocational support we have adopted when
supporting individuals with mental health issues back to work is
based upon the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model.
This supported employment model has been extensively researched and
found to be effective at achieving integrated community employment
for people with mental health problems.
The IPS service involves:
- Rapid job search
- Integration of supported employment and mental health
treatment
- Attention to an individual's preferences
- Competitive employment as the goal (with or without
support)
- Time unlimited support
We believe that the most effective way to enable people with
mental health needs back into employment is by supporting and
developing people in the workplace. We work with employers
and individuals to put equal opportunities into action and offer a
confidential one-to-one service to match people to jobs and provide
ongoing support.
Three Employment Specialists based within Community Mental
Health Teams work across the City to provide the service to any
service users who are currently supported by CMHTs , have had an
inpatient admission or been supported by the Crisis Resolution Team
within the previous six months. The Employment Specialists
provide a flexible and sensitive service that fits around the
individual and their strengths and needs.
Joanne, one of our service users, is just one of the people to
benefit from the service so far. After discussing her wish to get
back into work with her Community Psychiatric Nurse she was
referred to the team's Employment Specialist who used the Mental
Health Outcome Recovery star to talk through Joanne's situation and
where she wanted to be in terms of finding a job. They then
developed an action plan and the Employment Specialist helped
Joanne to find jobs that were suited to her work history and
aspirations.
Joanne decided that working part time would be the best way to
ease back into work life and so through regular meetings the
Employment Specialist helped her to explore job vacancies through
Job Centre Plus and other employment websites. Eventually they
identified one position that suited Joanne in terms of job
description, location and number of hours.
The Employment Specialist arranged a meeting with the Disability
Employment Adviser at the local Job Centre for support with in-work
benefit calculations and completing a permitted work form with a
supporting letter from the Employment Specialist.
10 weeks after engaging with the IPS service, Joanne was
successful at securing a Receptionist post for 12 hours a week and
stays in touch with her Employment Specialist who provides in work
support.
For more information or to discuss the service, please
contact;
Employment Specialist North, Tel: 0161 205 7321 / 07587 137453
rita.moloney@mhsc.nhs.uk
Employment Specialist Central, Tel: 0161 276 6577 / 07587
137458
Philip.rouzel@mhsc.nhs.uk
Employment Specialist South, Tel: 0161 882 1005 / 07815 842926
Zena.evans@mhsc.nhs.uk
Contact details
Telephone: 0161 720 2988
Fax: 0161 720 2014
Address:
Occupational Activity & Employment Administrator
Beech Ward
Park House
Crumpsall
M8 5RB
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Opening hours:
Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm