Substance Misuse Practitioner | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Sheerness; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS healthcare provider in Sheerness is seeking a Band 6 Nurse to deliver specialist care for offenders with substance misuse concerns. The role includes collaboration within a multidisciplinary team and managing various health needs. Ideal candidates will have nursing qualifications, preferably with experience in substance misuse or mental health. This position offers significant training and support to ensure quality care.

Benefits

Training and support

Opportunity to make a difference in community health

Free healthcare services

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with a valid NMC registration.
• Experience in a healthcare setting, preferably with offenders.
• Ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist substance misuse care to offenders.
• Manage a mixed caseload of substance misuse concerns.
• Collaborate with community mental health teams for continuity of care.

Skills

Experience with substance misuse

Experience in mental health

Ability to work under pressure

Education

Registered Nurse qualification

Job description

Overview

This is a unique opportunity to be part of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and to work at one of the largest prisons in the UK. You will assist us to provide excellent primary care and substance misuse services for our population. Offenders are a challenging population group to work with and they often have complex healthcare needs. Offenders often have chaotic lives in the community and a history of poor engagement with community healthcare services. With high rates of substance misuse and mental health problems, this is a real chance to make a difference.

Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

You will join our established team of nurses across the prison and will be part of a multidisciplinary team supporting the following services: Primary Care services including First Night in Custody screening, secondary screening, nurse clinics, long term condition management, health promotion; Inpatient Unit; Emergency Response and Substance Misuse nursing services. You will be supported by our friendly team of healthcare staff in an environment where no two days are the same.

We are looking for Band 6 nurses from a wide variety of backgrounds. Experience of working with patients with substance misuse and mental health issues, or experience within a prison environment would be an advantage, but not essential as full support and training will be provided.

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We’re Kind
• We’re Fair
• We Listen
• We Care

JOB PURPOSE & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• To provide specialist substance misuse care to offenders and to work as part of an integrated and multi-disciplinary health service, which may include in-reach services, reception duties, resource centre services, dual diagnosis management and primary care nursing.
• To deliver a range of specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level.
• To include: referral management, screening assessment, triage and evidence- based interventions.
• One-to-one and group-work facilitation.
• Assertive outreach interventions.
• Managing a mixed and challenging caseload.
• To contribute to alternatives to the need for inpatient admission and where necessary assisting with early discharge from in-patient services through the implementation of substance misuse management clinical interventions and complex case management arrangements resulting in continuity of care for an offender on ordinary location.
• To perform robust assessment, screening and interventions to offenders with substance misuse concerns.
• Ensure that all waiting time, assessment and interventions are delivered in a timely manner, and positively contribute to the achievement of the service’s performance targets.
• Ensure integrated and collaborative working with other specialist services, including continuity of care and through the gate arrangements and liaison.
• Work closely with community mental health teams (CMHTs) to ensure appropriate sharing of information, continuity of care and the Care Programme Approach (CPA) for all offenders as necessary.
• To provide comprehensive and timely reports and mental health expertise to multi agency public protection panels (MAPPA), police, probation services, solicitors and court liaison teams as directed.
• Provide supervision to junior staff and to receive supervision as directed (line management and clinical).
• To participate in resource centre services as directed, delivering group therapy and specialist activities under the direction of the team leader.
• To work in a psychologically minded way with offenders in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.
• No direct budgetary responsibility but must be aware of the financial impact of decision-making.
• Close working relationships with all prison and Serco staff, to include participation in sentence planning, resettlement, safer custody and ACCT processes.
• To develop and take on a specialist lead role as appropriate and provide peer support and training in this area.
• To contribute towards support, advice, consultation and training for other prison departments.
• The post holder will be part of skilled multidisciplinary teams comprising all healthcare staff, including strategic partners, and prison managing a single referral pathway.
• The post holder will be required to undertake training to maximise uptake of screening, health promotion and prevention activity, including vaccinations.
• The post holder will ensure a named care co-ordinator is allocated for every patient with complex needs who will ensure a proactive, evidence-based approach to clinical interventions, health promotion/prevention activity, and management of acute and long-term conditions using our stepped care approach.
• The post holder will ensure that a single, integrated, care plan is developed, and that the individualised care is regularly reviewed.
• The post holder will ensure that a comprehensive risk assessments and care plans are regularly reviewed in a needs-led review cycle.
• The post holder will ensure a care coordination criteria and MDT meetings for patients with complex needs will be tailored to the needs of the establishment.
• The post holder will ensure that they undertake all training in evidence-based CBT approaches, to enhance consistency and quality of care delivery.
• The post holder will support patients to manage their health at every stage, from oral health to long term conditions.
• The post holder will ensure that health promotion embedded into every aspect of the service.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

• Proof of right to work documentation
• Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
• Proof of address documentation
• Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

• 5 years address history will be needed.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.

Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.

In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).

This advert closes on Tuesday 23 Sep 2025