Mental health employment officer Matt Newton enjoys his work. “My role is very varied! I cover the whole of Shropshire and Telford working with Early Intervention in Psychosis and Transitions (EIT) to support their client's journey into employment. I meet lots of new people and many employers and enjoy building relationships with them. I really enjoy the job flexibility and freedom to manage my own diary. I enjoy getting out and about on the job as much as I can.”
A couple of months ago, Matt began working with a client called Molly - a young, ambitious lady, who had been working as a team leader in a social work auditing company. Following an episode of psychosis after surgery, and a short stay in the The Redwoods Centre mental health village, Molly was referred to him by the NHS Early Intervention Team.
Matt first talked to Molly on the phone. "We spoke about what she wanted to gain from work and how she wished to return, emphasising this was very much in her control.
"Molly had a few concerns with how her managers were dealing with this as there had been talk of a demotion and the employer was concerned about having to provide continuous support. We spoke through these further and I advised Molly on her legal rights returning to work and how we would approach speaking about her continued support from the Mental Health Team with the employer.
"We met with her management team and I introduced the support I can provide to both Molly and the company, in order to help ease the return to work, advise on adjustments, and how to go about a phased return to gain the greatest outcome. Molly and I then met with her Care-Coordinator and completed an in-work support plan, which outlined her support from myself and the mental health team and gave suggestions around early warning signs, coping strategies, methods to stay well whilst in-work and what we all thought would be the best cause of action if Molly started to become unwell again. Molly then shared this with her managers."
Molly describes her experience like this: "I had anxieties about returning to work, as I felt they were reluctant to have me back. I was unsure how my return to work would look. Mental health-wise, I was stable and excited to get back to work, as this is such a positive aspect of my life. There were a few misunderstandings on how my diagnosis would affect my work going forward.
"Matt accompanied me to a Welfare Check meeting with my managers to introduce himself and reassured my managers of their concerns and what support is around me. The meeting went really well; my managers became more reassured by what Matt was offering, as he spoke about how he is there to support me and my managers in this process. This was helpful as there was more knowledge around HR procedures and Matt reassured me of what they were and weren't able to do.
I have now returned on a phased return, which we hope to be over a 6-week period, in this time my hours and responsibilities will be increasing slowly with regular reviews. Returning to work has been a great positive as this has given me a purpose again and helped with my daily routine."
Tina Jones, EIT care coordinator stressed the value of this work, "Without support with returning to work, this would have had detrimental effect to Molly's mental health and wellbeing. It would have been the main trigger to possible relapse, as without employment this then heightens stress and financial worries."