Nurse Associate (Drug and Alcohol)

Greater Manchester Mental Health; Bury; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave

Excellent pension

Cycle to work

Salary sacrifice car

Wellbeing programme

Blue Light Card Discounts

Job summary

Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust in the Greater Manchester area seeks a Nursing Associate to join Achieve Bury Town Radcliffe. The role focuses on delivering patient-centred care within alcohol and drug treatment services, under supervision of clinicians, with emphasis on physical and mental health co-morbidities and education for patients.

Applicants should have NMC-registered status, a specialist qualification in drug and alcohol use, and training in co-occurring conditions.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse Associate compliant with the requirements for NMC registration.
• Specialist qualification in drug and alcohol use.
• Training in Co-occurring substance misuse and mental health.

Responsibilities

• To work within Achieve supporting the nursing and medical team to deliver patient centre care.
• To encourage and support drug and alcohol users to adopt safer practices and healthier lifestyles.
• To conduct health screening assessments related to drug and alcohol use and to assess and manage any identified risks relating to health, for example, injecting behaviour, risk of overdose, COPD, depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide etc.
• To complete clinic support for our medical and non-medical prescriber clinics including urine samples, BBV testing, venepuncture and ECGs when required. To liaise with the local dispensing pharmacy to ensure continuous patient care
• To competed weekly clinical checklists including stock management and place orders as and when required.
• To support the management and facilitation of Buvidal clinics, ensure clinical data remains up to date and transport is arranged in a timely manner.
• To support the clinical duty role within Achieve, discussing requests with the appropriate personnel in a timely manner.
• To support vaccination delivery within Achieve including Flu vaccines and Hep B vaccines.
• To support Needle exchange provisions within Achieve services.
• To liaise with external agencies such as local pharmacies to support patient care.
• To maintain your professional registration, update your professional portfolio, and adhere to the NMC Code of Conduct at all times.

Skills

Nurse Associate

Alcohol & drug support

NMC registration knowledge

Education

NMC registration compliant

Job description

Main area Mental Health Grade Band 4 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday 9-5) Job ref 437-8251577

Site Achieve Bury Town Radcliffe, Bury Salary £28,392 - £31,157 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 29/09/2026 23:59

Job overview

The role of the Nursing Associate is to work with the multi professional team and the Registered Nurse s to assess, plan, organise and deliver clinical care in line with the service pathways and as agreed with supervising clinician(s) .

Nursing Associates are equipped with the knowledge, understanding, skills, values, and behaviours relevant to employment; will work to the current nationally recognised Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Conduct and must meet the NMC standards of proficiency , high quality, cost effective, professional and clinical governance evidence based practice .

Nursing Associates working in alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services are key to achieving a range of health and social care outcomes and bringing enhanced awareness of physical and mental health co-morbidities via care and treatment. The skills of the associates hold a significant role in the sector, they support the Clinical Manager, Nurses , Non-medical Nurse Prescribers and the wider service in delivering key performance indicators.

N urse Associates focus on the physical health, mental health and wellbeing of people who use(d) drugs and/or alcohol . T hey provide education to increase awareness of co-occurring mental and physical health problems and risks.

They practice in line with the NMC professional standards for practice (the NMC Code ( https://www.nmc.org.uk/code/ ), as per registration requirements.

Main duties of the job

To work within Achieve supporting the nursing and medical team to deliver patient centre care.

To encourage and support drug and alcohol users to adopt safer practices and healthier lifestyles.

To conduct health screening assessments related to drug and alcohol use and to assess and manage any identified risks relating to health, for example, injecting behaviour, risk of overdose, COPD, depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide etc.

To complete clinic support for our medical and non-medical prescriber clinics including urine samples, BBV testing, venepuncture and ECG’s when required. To liaise with the local dispensing pharmacy to ensure continuous patient care

To competed weekly clinical checklists including stock management and place orders as and when required.

To support the management and facilitation of Buvidal clinics, ensure clinical data remains up to date and transport is arranged in a timely manner.

To support the clinical duty role within Achieve, discussing requests with the appropriate personal in a timely manner.

To support vaccination delivery within Achieve including Flu vaccines and Hep B vaccines.

To support Needle exchange provisions within Achieve services.

To liaise with external agencies such as local pharmacies to support patient care.

To maintain your professional registration, update your professional portfolio, and adhere to the NMC Code of Conduct at all times.

Working for our organisation

Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over7000members of staff, who deliver services from more than160locations.

We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford,Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.

Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.

Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.

Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

See attached detailed job description and person specification:

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
• Excellent pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Salary sacrifice car scheme
• Wellbeing programme
• Blue Light Card Discounts

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse Associate compliant with the requirements for NMC registration
• Specialist qualification in drug and alcohol use
• Training in Co-occurring substance misuse and mental health

Experience

• experience of working within the health and social care settings
• Experience of providing drug and alcohol information, advice and guidance to people, including families, carers, affected others and other professionals.
• experience in venepuncture, bbv testing and preforming ecgs

Knowledge

• Knowledge of medicines management, and so be able to dispense, administer and advise on medications.
• Awareness of the physical, psychological and social effects (harms) of drug and alcohol use and patterns of use (including new psychoactive substances) and appropriate interventions.
• Knowledge of stigma related to problematic drug and alcohol use, understanding how stigma can affect people and to promote positive regard for people, to actively challenge stigma, promote social inclusion and adopt a non-judgemental approach.
• Knowledge of the biopsychosocial model relating to problematic drug and alcohol use, motivation and behaviour change processes and recovery
• Knowledge of physical health and mental health problems and how these co-occur and interact with problematic drug and alcohol use, and so able to detect early warning signs and be able to respond.

skills and ability

• Able to build and maintain collaborative therapeutic relationships with people, maintaining professional boundaries.
• Able to recognise risk concerns, to carry out a risk assessment, ascertaining psychological, physical and social risks to/from people, and to develop plans to manage these risks (including using harm reduction interventions) and risks that require additional support from senior / regulated clinicians or external services.
• Able to ascertain priorities, tasks and resources, taking account of changing circumstances, risks and the needs of people

Important Information about working for GMMH:

All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website www.nhsemployers.org

The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.

The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application.The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.

Sponsorship

We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – click here .

If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.

The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it here .

Do you have experience outside the NHS?

We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.

We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment. Please contact our Recruitment Team for more information.

**Please note, this vacancy may be closed at any time if sufficient applications have been received**

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

As a service user, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support.