Kent and Medway appoints first peer support worker  

Tracy Gibbons has been appointed as a peer support worker after a successful stint as a volunteer. She is the first of 20 peer support workers due to be recruited by spring 2014.

She will use her experience to support the occupational therapy team at a Maidstone rehabilitation unit.

Ms Gibbons said:  “I’m very proud to be the trust’s first peer support worker. It shows that if you get the support and help you need, with your own perseverance, you can get better.”

Community recovery service director Mark Dinwiddy said: “I actively welcome the use of peer support workers and encourage staff on the ground to work closely with them to ensure that this is part of our culture of care going forward.”