Band 5 Senior Recovery Worker

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Thank you for your interest for the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT), it is an exciting time to join us and being part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:

• Collaborate at every level by living our Values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
• Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
• Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
• Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
• Ensure that research, Quality Improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
• Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do

We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.

The North London Way to deliver, Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/

Job overview

The North London Forensic Service is a NHS tertiary forensic mental health service based at Chase Farm Hospital in the London Borough of Enfield.

We provide care and treatment to people aged over 18 who have a primary diagnosis of mental illness or learning disability and who are liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act (1983). The service supports those whose risk of harm to others or escape from hospital cannot be safely managed in other mental health settings and therefore require care and treatment within a secure mental health service. The post holder will help deliver dual diagnosis services, ensuring that high quality services are delivered to service users with complex diagnosis. The post holder will work alongside the other members of the Substance Misuse (STAR-Team) team to offer evidenced based interventions to service users in the in-patient services. The post holder will assist the Team Lead to develop and maintain high quality standards of care.

The post holder will help deliver dual diagnosis services, ensuring that high quality services are delivered to service users with complex diagnosis. The post holder will work alongside the other members of the STAR-team to offer evidenced based interventions to service users in the in-patient services. The post holder will assist the STAR-Team Lead to develop and maintain high quality standards of care.

Main duties of the job

1.1. The Senior Recovery Worker role involves working with service users in the in-patient service of the North London Forensic Service who have issues relating to their use of drugs and/or alcohol. This can involve the screening and assessment of service users, 1:1 counselling sessions, delivering evidence-based interventions for substance misuse or co-facilitating group sessions. The key skills involved are the ability to establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with service users . A background in either substance misuse or mental healthcare is essential, as is a good knowledge of substance misuse models of care & treatment and a good understanding of illicit drugs.

Working for our organisation

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
4. We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To carry out initial screening and triage, and develop and implement treatment within the field of dual diagnosis (mental health and substance use/misuse) for service users identified as potentially having a dual diagnosis within NLFS.

To carry out substance misuse assessments, as appropriate

To provide one to one sessions with service users, ensuring that care and recovery planning in relation to Substance misuse is conducted on an individual basis according to the specific needs of the service user.

To communicate highly sensitive information requiring the development of persuasive or re-assurance skills to service users and colleagues.

To establish, sustain and disengage from therapeutic relationships with individuals.

To interact and co-operate with service users, relatives, and other professionals within NLFS and any community services as appropriate.

To have professional responsibility for promoting equality, diversity, and rights.

To work closely with ward-based nursing teams and multidisciplinary teams to support the implementation of substance misuse care plans

To design, implement and monitor treatment plans with service users that address their needs in relation to mental health and substance misuse problems.

To assess and act upon immediate risk of danger to service users and/or others.

To educate and give information to service users and others in the care of the client on issues related to mental health problems and substance misuse.

To support service users to engage in interventions aimed at addressing their substance misuse difficulties.

To deliver structured psychosocial interventions including harm reduction/minimization strategies, motivational interviewing, CBT programmes, problem solving, behavioural interventions and counselling techniques as negotiated with individual service users.

To co-facilitate and support the delivery of group programmes throughout NLFS in-patient services and within the community.

To understand the rationale for UDS (urine drug screening), Ion tracker screening and breath alcohol testing and support such testing as necessary.

To actively participate in CPA meetings, professionals meeting, case review meetings and also advising others regarding management of cases.

Person specification

Qualifications/ Registrations

Essential criteria

• Possession of an appropriate qualification or relevant experience and can demonstrate its relevance to this role i.e. the National Diploma Level 3 in Substance Misuse and/or a minimum of two years' experience in the field of addictions

Desirable criteria

• Experienced in the use of ITEP or other psychosocial interventions such as addictions counselling or Motivational Interviewing
• An awareness of the role of CPD and Reflective practice in effectively working in this setting
• Evidence of recent study

Experience/ Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Recent and relevant experience of working with clients experiencing issues with substance misuse.
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team
• Experience of assessment of people with substance misuse and related problems.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in forensic settings
• Experience of working in community settings
• Experience of working in dual diagnosis service
• Experience in case/care management for vulnerable and complex mental health and substance misuse problems
• Evidence of working with complex mental health and substance misuse service users • within in-patient and/or community settings
• Able to apply advanced understanding of physical, psychological and social needs of complex mental health and substance mis-users - dual diagnosis
• Experience in contributing to multi agency case/care management plans for service users with dual diagnosis presentations

Skills/ Abilities

Essential criteria

• Ability to work independently if necessary and as part of a team, coupled with the ability to share skills
• An understanding of the principles and practice of harm minimisation. A commitment to working within the harm reduction model of practice.
• The ability to conduct a strengths-based assessment eliciting a client's recovery capital.
• An awareness of the physical, psychological, and social needs of substance misusers
• A commitment to obtain an understanding of the theories and practices of safeguarding procedures for children and vulnerable adults.
• Ability to establish working therapeutic relationships and maintain professional boundaries.
• Ability to work with stable drug users in a low threshold support setting.
• An understanding and knowledge of the main psychoactive drugs used by this client group, their effects and current treatments.
• Ability to manage challenging behaviour/ crisis intervention.
• Ability to work in sometimes highly distressing and emotional circumstances.

Desirable criteria

• An understanding of Public Health directives and their impact on service delivery
• Experience of using electronic case management systems
• Evidence of applying working knowledge of complex interactions in mental health and substance misuse
• Able to formulate assessment, risk and care management of dual diagnosis service users.
• Evidence of ability to develop, sustain and provide support to individuals with drug, alcohol and mental health needs.
• Evidence of knowledge of good practice guidelines on Dual Diagnosis and implications on service delivery
• Able to develop and maintain professional and service user relationships across multiple Hospital and Community settings A&I

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• A keenness to make a positive contribution to improving the quality of life for people with mental health problems.
• Ability to acknowledge diversity and promote anti- discriminatory practice/equal opportunities
• An ability to act calmly in emergencies and to respond in a professional manner to stressful and challenging behaviour.
• Empathy, compassion, and patience
• Reliable, trustworthy, and enthusiastic
• A caring, responsible and positive approach

Other Requirements

Essential criteria

• Effective IT skills able to use Word, case note software etc.
• Good general health record
• Willingness to learn.

Desirable criteria

• Car driver/ability to travel to different sites

References will be required to cover your last 3 years of employment/training. One has to be from your current or most recent employer and the others from your previous employer. The references should be from persons with management responsibility or HR.

If you have been unemployed for a period of four years or more, please give the details of your last employer and one character referee of your choice (not members of your family). If more applicable, references will be requested from your teacher or head of faculty. Please ensure you provide full contact details.

Vacancies that are advertised as Fixed Term Contracts will also be available as secondment opportunities for substantive internal staff.

Please be aware that your documents eg. Passport/NI Card, will be electronically scanned using Home Office accredited Verification System.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts, we will close vacancies before the stated closing date once the first 50 applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible.

All non-medical posts with the Trust are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the Trust's satisfaction, your suitability for the position in which you will be employed.

Should you not hear from us within three working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted.

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at improving efficiencies within the NHS both to make costs savings for NHS organisations but also to save you time when your employment transfers.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

• Job Description & Person Spec (PDF, 424.4KB)
• Band 5 Senior Recovery worker Functional Requirement (PDF, 608.5KB)