Addictions Clinical & Assessment Support Worker

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; Hounslow; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust is hiring an Addictions Clinical Support Worker in Hounslow to join a multidisciplinary team. You will provide drug and alcohol assessments, brief interventions and help prepare prescriptions for printing under supervision, contributing to care planning and evaluation of patient needs.

You will lead in embedding recovery values within the service, work with peer supporters, and promote learning across the Addictions Directorate.

Qualifications

• Experience of working with people with substance use issues.
• Experience of working within Mental Health and/or addictions setting.
• Experience of supporting with the development of individual care plans for managing recovery.

Responsibilities

• Provide duty and full comprehensive assessments to clients referred to the service.
• Review and process referrals presented to the ARC team via emails or self-referral.
• Assess and triage drug-using clients discharged from hospital, applying harm minimisation.
• Use Outcome Monitoring Tools and other quality measures.
• Utilise motivational interviewing, relapse management and evidence-based interventions.
• Ensure risk assessment and risk management are delivered under supervision.
• Follow Trust policies and maintain high quality service delivery.
• Prepare, print and log prescriptions for the team under supervision.

Skills

Empathy

Interpersonal skills

Effective listening

Non-judgemental

Attention to detail

Good organisational skills

Team player

Anti-discriminatory practice

Education

NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care

Basic Level 2 English and Maths

Job description

Job Overview

As an integral and highly valued member of the multi-disciplinary team, the Addictions Clinical Support Worker will be able to provide drug and alcohol assessments, brief interventions, prepare prescriptions for printing and recording on FP10 records. Participating in the care planning, provision and evaluation of patients’ needs under the supervision of trained staff.

The clinical support worker will take a lead role in embedding recovery values within the service setting in which they work, alongside peer support workers from other agencies in Addictions and act as an ambassador of recovery for the Addictions Directorate with external agencies and partner organisations.

The clinical support worker will promote their role, through the provision of information and a range of Learning opportunities for the multidisciplinary teams and others across the Addictions Directorate.

To work under the supervision of line management.

As a core member of the multi-disciplinary team, the clinical support worker will work with members of the MDT. The Addictions Clinical Support Worker will support service users to engage in structured treatment and will complete triage & assessments in a timely manner (e.g. liaising with the Alcohol Care Team at West Middlesex Hospital when referring patients to ARC Hounslow.)

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will take a predominant role in providing duty and full comprehensive assessments to clients who are referred or present to the service.
• To contribute in reviewing and processing all referrals presented to the ARC team via emails or self-referral.
• To be able to assess and triage drug-using clients discharged from hospital , applying the precepts of harm minimisation and provide support to the clinical team in bridging treatment gaps in the community.
• To use agreed and established Outcome Monitoring Tools (e.g. TOPS, CRFs etc.) and any other relevant quality measures.
• To use motivational interviewing, relapse management and other evidence-based interventions.
• To ensure full risk assessment and risk management is delivered effectively, under supervision.
• To ensure the highest quality of service is delivered by following local and national quality and performance standards, guidance, protocols, procedures and practice guidelines.
• To ensuring that all work is performed in accordance with Trust policies and procedures, including the Serious Incident policy.
• To prepare, print and log prescriptions for the team under the supervision under supervision of the clinical team.

Working for our organisation

The Addictions Directorate with CNWL Foundation Trust is a large, well-established provider which offers a wide range of specialist NHS drug and alcohol treatment interventions to the diverse and multicultural populations in Central and North West London. We also run Smoking Cessation Services, a National Gambling Service and a Club Drug Clinic.

Our substance use services are dedicated to helping reduce the harm caused by substance misuse dependency; helping people overcome their dependency on substances and helping clients and their families rebuild their lives and enable recovery. We are committed to working in partnership with other providers and service users in local systems of treatment and recovery.

CNWL is committed to providing high quality, evidence-based treatment options and is a learning organisation which promotes staff competence and training and values clinical governance, audit and research. We are linked with Imperial College, University of London, University College London and numerous other local universities and are committed to evaluating our services and developing new and innovative approaches.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Please note: This vacancy does not meet the criteria for Skilled Worker sponsorship, unless you meet the criteria by temporary exemption from current changes to immigration rules put in force on 22/07/2025. “Separate provisions are applied to workers who have been sponsored and continuously held a Skilled Worker visa since prior to 04/04/2024.

As such, if you don’t meet the Transitional Provision (above) we are unable to consider your application unless you can provide documentary evidence of your right to work in the United Kingdom. If you believe you are eligible for sponsorship or already hold a valid right to work in the UK, please ensure you provide full details of your immigration status in the Pre-Screening Immigration section of your application form.

Please note role eligibility also depends on whether the role meets the salary threshold for the relevant occupational code (SOC CODE).

For further info please visit: Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK

Main Duties And Responsibilities

• The postholder will take a predominant role in providing duty and full comprehensive assessments to clients who are referred or present to the service.
• To contribute in reviewing and processing all referrals presented to the ARC team via emails or self-referral.
• To be able to assess and triage drug-using clients discharged from hospital , applying the precepts of harm minimisation and provide support to the clinical team in bridging treatment gaps in the community.
• To use agreed and established Outcome Monitoring Tools (e.g. TOPS, CRFs etc.) and any other relevant quality measures.
• To use motivational interviewing, relapse management and other evidence-based interventions.
• To ensure full risk assessment and risk management is delivered effectively, under supervision.
• To ensure the highest quality of service is delivered by following local and national quality and performance standards, guidance, protocols, procedures and practice guidelines.
• To ensuring that all work is performed in accordance with Trust policies and procedures, including the Serious Incident policy.
• To prepare, print and log prescriptions for the team under the supervision under supervision of the clinical team.

Person specification

Education And Qualifications

Essential criteria

• NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care
• Basic Level 2- English and Maths
• Commitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work based learning and mandatory training

Desirable criteria

• Accredited certificate in Life Coaching
• Any specific training in Dual diagnosis
• Completion of courses that are DANOS compliant
• Motivational Interviewing

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with people with substance use issues.
• Experience of working within Mental Health and/or addictions setting.
• Experience of supporting with the development of individual care plans for managing recovery
• Experience of working within a team.
• Experience of working with a multi-cultural environment.

Desirable criteria

• Group work
• Voluntary experience in the field of addictions and/or mental health

Skills and knowledge

Essential criteria

• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of treatment pathways in addictions.
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form good relationships with service users and carers
• Effective listening skills.
• Ability to communicate on all levels and to a broad scope of individuals, both internally and externally to the Addictions Services.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of basic food hygiene
• Awareness of local services

Attitudes, aptitudes, personal characteristics

Essential criteria

• Ability to interact with staff from all disciplines.
• Ability to demonstrate empathy, compassion and patience.
• Ability to be non-judgemental
• Attention to detail with tasks
• Understanding of issues arising from experiencing ill health related to substance use.
• Ability to work unsupervised in a range of settings
• Sensitive understanding of diversity issues and an ability to promote anti-discriminatory practice/ equal opportunities
• Good organisational skills
• Effective team player

Desirable criteria

• Ability to speak other languages