What are Lived Experience Recovery Workers (LERW)?
CAPITAL is working with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to change the culture of care on inpatient mental health wards, through the introduction of Lived Experience Recovery Workers.
The team brings lived experience into everyday ward life. Their perspective can help staff see how routines, language, relationships and decisions feel to the people receiving care. They will contribute to conversations about what helps people feel safe, respected and involved, and where practice needs to change.
The role is about more than having personal experience. It calls for judgement, clear boundaries and the ability to work constructively with ward teams while bringing a perspective that might otherwise be missed.
CAPITAL employs and supports the team and helps protect that distinct lived experience contribution.
What does the role involve?
Lived Experience Recovery Workers are based across three Sussex Partnership inpatient sites: Langley Green Hospital in Crawley, Meadowfield Hospital in Worthing and Oaklands in Chichester.
Their work can include:
- building positive relationships with people receiving inpatient care
- listening to and learning from people’s experiences of the ward
- sharing lived experience perspectives in conversations with staff and ward teams
- helping identify what makes people feel safe, respected, heard and involved
- supporting opportunities for people to have their voices and experiences reflected in care
- contributing to discussions about ward culture, language, routines and practice
- working alongside staff to explore what could be done differently.
The role is deliberately distinct from clinical roles. LERWs are not there to provide therapy or clinical advice. Their contribution comes from their own lived experience and their ability to use that experience thoughtfully and constructively within a professional role.
A Different Perspective
Lived experience can offer insight that is difficult to gain from policy, training or clinical knowledge alone. LERWs can help bring attention to the small things that can have a significant impact on someone’s experience of inpatient care, from the language used and how information is shared, to how people are listened to and involved in decisions.
LERW bring their own perspective, remain curious about the experiences of others and help create opportunities for people receiving care to be heard.
Meet the team
Our Lived Experience Recovery Workers are Michelle Montesino-Chinea, James Foster, Cherelle Herd, Yve Coney and Mandy Milsom.
Each member of the team brings their own experience and understanding to the work. Together, they are exploring how lived experience can influence relationships, decisions and the wider culture of inpatient care.
Individual bios, photos and quotes to be added soon.
Learning from the pilot
This one year pilot began in September 2026.
Independent evaluation will be undertaken to understand what changes on the wards, how people receiving care and staff experience the role, and what conditions help lived experience workers make a meaningful contribution.
We will use that learning with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to shape the future of the role and support care that is more compassionate, respectful and responsive to people’s lives.
