Promoting a Positive Employment Culture (PPEC)
Supporting people with severe mental illness and psychosis into employment
Help shape better employment support
At South London and Maudsley NHS trust, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to find and succeed in meaningful employment. This project aims to make that a reality for people living with severe mental illness or psychosis. In partnership with Maudsley Learning, we are developing virtual reality (VR) training programmes for clinicians, including doctors, nurses and care coordinators, to enhance how employment support is provided for service users. To make this training realistic and effective, we are inviting service users and SLaM staff to share their experiences and insights. Your input will help shape authentic training scenarios, ensuring we gain a deeper understanding of real challenges and deliver more person centred support.
How You Can Take Part
Staff from inpatient, community and crisis teams, IPS and employment teams, and clinical teams across the SLaM boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Croydon, as well as Borough Directors, Deputy Directors and clinical and non clinical leaders, are invited to take part in:
• TNA survey
• TNA focus groups or individual interviews
You can find details of these activities below. If you need more information about the project or would like to discuss it with the research team, please contact mlresearch@slam.nhs.uk.
Your contribution will help shape authentic training scenarios and influence how staff are trained to provide more person centred employment support across South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Take the training needs analysis survey
As part of Phase 1 of the Promoting a Positive Employment Culture project, we are inviting staff across South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to complete the Training Needs Analysis survey. This short anonymous survey will help us understand staff training needs to strengthen employment support to service users with severe mental illness within clinical and non-clinical teams within four Trust boroughs. Your responses will guide the design of a new virtual reality training programme for staff supporting service users with severe mental illness with employment. The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. Please click the link below to take part in the survey. The survey closes on 31st January 2026.
Take part in the training needs analysis FOCUS GROUP/INTERVIEW
We are running focus groups or individual interviews with staff and service users to better understand experiences, challenges and training needs related to employment support for people with severe mental illness. Your feedback will directly shape the development of new virtual reality training and other resources for Individual Placement and Support and mental health teams. We are particularly inviting staff from inpatient, community and crisis teams, IPS and employment teams, and clinical teams across all SLaM boroughs, including Borough Directors, Deputy Directors and clinical and non clinical leaders, to share their experiences and contribute to this work.
Staff
Staff from inpatient, community and crisis teams, IPS and employment teams, and clinical teams across all SLaM boroughs, including Borough Directors, Deputy Directors and clinical and non clinical leaders, are invited to share their experiences.
Service Users
We invite service users who have had some current or past involvement with Individual Placement Support services as a patient or carer to share their views and experiences of employment services and Individual Placement Support. Your contribution will help shape realistic training scenarios for staff based on real life experiences.
Focus groups or interviews will last approximately one hour and will be conducted online. Recruitment closes on 31 January 2026.
About the Project
The Promoting a Positive Employment Culture project is a £300,000 South London and Maudsley Charity funded initiative. It aims to strengthen referral pathways into employment services and build a culture that supports employment across the Trust.
This project is delivered by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and supported by Individual Placement and Support Team Leads, Borough Directors and Clinical Leads across all four SLaM boroughs.
Project Goals
We aim to improve employment opportunities for people with severe mental illness and psychosis by:
- Raising awareness of Individual Placement and Support
- Strengthening referrals to employment services
- Embedding a positive employment culture across services
How We Will Make a Difference
- Conducting surveys and focus groups across the four boroughs
- Developing training scenarios and virtual reality training
- Identifying and supporting virtual reality champions
- Creating e learning and Train the Trainer resources
- Delivering face to face virtual reality training
- Monitoring progress and evaluating outcomes
Project Timeline
| Phase | Research Activities | Participant Group | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 – Data Collection | Training Needs Analysis (TNA) | Crisis, Inpatient and Community teams across each borough, senior leaders | November 2025 to January 2026 |
| Focus groups and interviews (TNA; validation of measurement tool) | Borough Directors, Deputy Directors, General Managers, Clinical Service Leads, Crisis, Inpatient and Community teams | November 2025 to January 2026 | |
| Recruitment of VR champions | Clinical teams | November 2025 to February 2026 | |
| Phase 2 – Content Development | Content development focus groups and interviews | Borough Leadership, Clinical Leads, IPS Leads, Care Co-ordinators, Clinical Team Leaders, Psychiatrists, IPS Team Leaders, Service Users | November 2025 to January 2026 |
| Phase 3 – VR Training and Evaluation | Recruitment of participants (via champions, no comms required) | Training participants, VR champions | August to November 2026 |
| Observational analysis | Training participants and VR champions | August to November 2026 |
Employment Support at South London and Maudsley
Our Individual Placement and Support (IPS) teams help people with severe mental illness or psychosis to find and maintain employment.
They work closely with NHS services and local employers, focusing on recovery, inclusion and long-term stability.
Resources, Downloads & Related Links
- VR Champion Recruitment Flyer
- VR Champion Poster
- Service User Flyer
- Email Banner for IPS Leads
- WorkWell Webpage
Project Updates
8/12/2025 – Phase 1 of the PPEC project has begun with the start of data collection.
• Training Needs Analysis survey target: 200 participants (50 from each SLaM borough: Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon)
• Interview and focus group target: 50 participants in total (12 to 13 from each borough)
3/12/2025 – Capacity and Capability approval confirmed by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
11/11/2025 – Health Research Authority approval granted
IRAS project ID: 348442 REC reference: 25/WM/0198
Contact Us
If you would like to learn more about the Promoting a Positive Employment Culture project or explore opportunities to collaborate, we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact us at: