18 June 2021

CNWL set up its Employment Services in 2004 and has since supported thousands of people into employment across various industries. The service works closely with individuals to match them with the job they want and help them retain work in the long term.

Nik GalNik Galanis - Employment Services Team Leaderanis is the Employment Service Team Leader for Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC), Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) and Early intervention Service Team (EIS). In this interview, Nik speaks about the service’s progress through the Covid pandemic and the ways in which staff and patients can engage more. 

​​​​​What are some of the different roles that you’ve secured for patients?

Throughout the previous financial year, we’ve helped people to secure jobs such as researchers, fire safety apprentices, executive assistants working for large companies, support workers, retail staff, administrators within CNWL – there’s a huge variety.

It was very difficult to secure jobs during the pandemic as many industries were closed. So, we’ve had to do a lot of employment engagement ourselves through LinkedIn and social media. As of March 2021, we had managed to secure seven jobs using contacts we made through LinkedIn since the Covid crisis, and a further five jobs for positions that allowed for remote working.

How do you work with people to pin down the kinds of roles they might be interested in?

We are practicing the Individual Placement and Support Model – a well-researched, evidence-based, supported employment model. We always support individuals secure their job of their choice. We start with an Employment Profile Assessment. As part of this, we talk to patients about their passions, interests, aspirations and dreams as well as any strengths or experience they might have. It’s also important to consider the support patients might need in a new role considering that they will have experienced some mental health difficulties.

We agree on a ‘job goal’ for each person – it’s absolutely fine for this goal to change further down the line as long as there is openness and honesty between us. As the Employment Service, we will speak to employers directly and then offer feedback on any promising and relevant opportunities in our next appointment with the patient.

Is there anything that staff from across the Trust can do to better promote the work of Employment Services?

Absolutely. We’ve been quite successful in helping people secure positions, such as administrators, within CNWL. This happened because we engaged with certain managers and discussed the roles they had within their teams. I would encourage CNWL teams, and managers, to get in contact with us, if they have any vacant roles within their teams. We can place people with the relevant skillset in these jobs and also offer support to managers to ensure this is a success for their service too. This way everyone benefits!

The people we support are often quite surprised when they find out we even have Employment Services within the Trust. So, I would encourage colleagues, especially clinicians, to ask patients some key questions about employment:

  • Do you have a job?
  • Do you want to get a new job?
  • Are you struggling in the job you have at the moment?
  • How is your work life going?  

Clinicians can be powerful in helping patients believe they can work. It’s worth noting that patients also don’t need to be completely well to engage with employment services as employment often helps people get better.

If the patient is interested in having these conversations, they can be referred to a local employment specialist. We have employment specialists in all of the community mental health teams across Kensington & Chelsea and Grenfell. There is a similar setup in other boroughs as well. We have the Westminster Employment Service which supports patients accessing primary and secondary care. The Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon Employment Services are based in Secondary Care and Early Intervention Teams. We also have an Employment Service in Milton Keynes as part of the Rehab Team. We are a big team! We also have a website that people can refer to.

What do you enjoy most about working in Employment Services?

So many things! I work for a service that really focuses on hope and recovery. We get to focus on solutions, which is an incredible privilege. We also get to see tangible results. Whenever someone secures or sustains a job, that’s a big indication that something is going well.

 Many of the people referred to us initially have feelings of hopelessness and they don’t believe they’ll be able to achieve anything. By the end of the process, most people have secured the job they wanted, they’re happy in their work environment and many don’t even need mental health services anymore. It’s such a pleasure to go on that journey with people.

“Having a job has made me think of new goals in my life, such as getting a driving licence, learning a new trade, becoming a supervisor within my organisation and sharing my experience with staff. Also having a new job made me feel better in myself. I am happy, I feel more positive in life and I feel like am in a better place than I was a year ago […]”

Service User feedback – North K&C CMHT

You can contact Nik Galanis by email at n.galanis@nhs.net