Substance Misuse Practitioner: HMP Lowdham Grange

NHS; Lowdham; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity for a Substance Misuse Practitioner at HMP Lowdham Grange, working within a committed team to provide innovative interventions for patients with substance misuse issues. This role offers career progression and training opportunities in a challenging yet rewarding environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in substance misuse multidisciplinary work.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development related to substance misuse.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality patient care for substance misuse problems.
• Support patients to achieve recovery goals.

Skills

Communication

Problem-Solving

Education

Professional Registration

Job description

Go back Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Substance Misuse Practitioner: HMP Lowdham Grange

The closing date is 15 May 2025

Do you want to make a real difference to the lives of those in substance-use recovery?

We have an exciting opportunity for a Substance Misuse Practitioner to join our Offender Health Care Group working at HMP Lowdham Grange, a Category B Prison.

We are looking for a dynamic, experienced Substance Misuse practitioner to join our innovative and committed service. You will be part of a supportive team with effective management, guidance, and supervision to aid your career progression, with training opportunities to develop your practice.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

Main duties of the job

Your role will provide high-quality patient care through assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating the care for people with substance misuse problems working to both harm reduction and health promotion/recovery agendas.

Working with a caseload of often complex and challenging patients, you will provide high-quality, innovative substance misuse interventions, supporting patients to achieve their recovery goals and improve their health and social functioning. You will contribute to the prison's work on reducing re-offending and the wider drug strategy.

The role is both challenging and rewarding and offers an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of people with often complex backgrounds and needs within a prison setting.

The Substance Misuse Team is part of the Healthcare Department, which also provides Mental Health and Physical Health services, all working together to provide an integrated Healthcare Service.

About us

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.

Job responsibilities

The Offender Health Care Group is one of the largest and most successful providers of prison healthcare in the UK. The Care Group provides physical, mental health, and substance misuse healthcare services in prisons across the East Midlands, Lincolnshire & Leicestershire.

We are committed to working in partnership with prison services, the national probation service, other healthcare providers, and our criminal justice system partners to improve health and support justice in reducing re-offending behavior. The Offender Health Team believes it can make a difference to the lives of offenders by offering consistent, high-quality care in primary, mental health, and substance misuse services that are equivalent to health services delivered outside of prison.

Please be advised that Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has made the difficult decision to serve notice on its offender health contracts. Over the coming months, we will be working with NHS England on the transition of the services to a new provider. We still need to recruit to these valued positions and welcome your application. However, in line with our values, honesty is important: if successful, your employment would eventually transfer from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to another provider who would then be your new employer.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Either a current professional registration e.g., O.T, Social Work, Counselling, etc., or equivalent training and experience in the provision of structured psychosocial interventions.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development related to substance misuse.

Experience

• Experience of community or custodial environment related to Substance Misuse multidisciplinary work. This could include voluntary work or work in a related field e.g., housing.
• Experience of working with individuals and groups.
• Experience of record keeping, report writing, and correspondence.
• Experience of working in a secure setting.

Knowledge

• Theoretical knowledge of substance misuse and evidence-based psychosocial interventions.
• Awareness of local and national substance misuse strategies, e.g., the recovery agenda.
• Familiarity with the roles of relevant agencies e.g., health and housing.
• Understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the members of the Multidisciplinary Team.

Skills

• Ability to undertake comprehensive assessments.
• Excellent and effective written, verbal, and non-verbal communication skills.
• Effective problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Values and Behaviours

• Act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust, Honesty, Respect, Compassion, Teamwork.
• Demonstrate understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to the role. The Trust's expectations are outlined within our EDI Policy, and associated legislation.

Contractual Requirements

• Flexibility to meet service needs, including some unsociable hours.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975. A Disclosure check will be required to verify any previous criminal convictions.