Recovery Support Worker | South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

This role is for a Band 4 Recovery Support Worker, working closely with 2 occupational therapists and another recovery support worker as well as a full MDT in the community team of nurses, social workers, psychologists etc. This post is based in the Forensic Outreach Service who work with mentally unwell service users in the community, who are under the criminal justice system.

This role is an exciting opportunity to have some autonomy as well as working as part of a close-knit team. If you haven’t worked in the community before, this may be your chance to take a new direction in your career, if you have worked in the community before, you will know the flexibility, autonomy, and variety that community work offers.

In this role you will be expected to facilitate/ cofacilitate community-based groups such as OT Recovery Through Activity, coffee groups, snooker groups or the allotment but even more so. RS

Ws also do 1

1 work with service users, in community settings, hostels, at the hospital and in the service user’s homes. This includes focusing on social inclusion work surrounding self-care, productivity (getting into employment or college) and leisure (participating in interests or group activities).

The FOS team is a large MDT and are hardworking and extremely supportive of one another with close working relationships to ensure support for each other in an otherwise demanding yet rewarding role.

The main duties of the role include co-facilitating and facilitating groups in the community, these groups run in the community allotment, in a community college, community hub, coffee shops and much more. We are always looking for new and creative ways to engage community service users and encourage the RSW’s input in this area.

The other main duties include 1:1 work which could be anything from trying to motivate a service user to engage in social activities, such as taking them out to a coffee shop on a weekly basis, supporting service users to health care appointments, getting involved in fitness, the gym, or sports, looking at people’s interests and supporting them to engage in these. Social inclusion would be a main part of the role, making connections and links in the community in order to integrate and support our service users to engage in meaningful activity.

Working with service users in the community with a forensic history means risk assessment is one of the key areas to keep in mind. We are looking for someone who is thorough in their skills to risk assess, as well as use themselves therapeutically through rapport with service users.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

About our location

This post will be based at Springfield University Hospital.

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

Following an assessment, to provide practical and recovery focused support to service users and carers as described in their care plan.

Working with care coordinators or lead clinicians to provide clearly defined recovery focused interventions, in line with care packages.

To attend and actively participate in team meetings/care plan review meeting and team training as appropriate.

To positively promote and support independent living for service users in the community by maintaining extensive knowledge and links with the community resources and actively supporting service users to access them.

To develop a rapport with service users based upon professional support and collaboration but within appropriate boundaries.

To provide regular and practical support to service users and carers to maintain dignity and independence.

To enable service users to acquire daily living skills: “living ordinary lives” (e.g. shopping and cooking).

To help service users to gain access to resources to include benefits and welfare rights.

To help service users to access information on health promotion.

To help service users with gaining skills in accessing physical health services and the monitoring their health needs in the community.

To help identify early signs of relapse by monitoring the client’s progress, level of functioning and mental state and updating the care coordinator or other staff involved in the care of the client.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications

If you have used AI to support the preparation of your application, please briefly indicate how it was used within your supporting statement or application form.

Please remember, your application is your opportunity to tell us about your skills, experience and motivation for the role. We encourage applicants to complete their application and supporting statement in their own words wherever possible. We recognise that AI tools can be helpful in supporting accessibility, and for improving spelling, grammar and structure.

Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content can become generic and fail to accurately reflect an applicant's individual experience. Applications that clearly demonstrate your own voice, reflections and experiences are often the most effective and help us better understand your suitability for the role.

Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience

This advert closes on Thursday 27 Aug 2026