Clinical Nurse Specialist Prescriber (Addictions)

Job overview

We are excited to be recruiting to a Senior Non-Medical Prescriber post to support our community drug and alcohol services to offer safe, effective and rapid prescribing options to our complex and often hard to reach service user cohorts, as well as to offer wider clinical leadership to the teams.

Main duties of the job

To work as a senior non-medical prescriber (NMP) Richmond and Wandsworth Community Drug and Alcohol Services (RWCDAS). Providing clinical assessments, appropriate evidence-based prescribing and follow up for patients presenting with alcohol and substance use disorders. Including prescribing opiate substitution therapy, relapse prevention medication and medication for medically assisted alcohol withdrawal. The post holder will have a clinical operational overview on the day to day running of the service with regards to prescribing and prescription management. This will include ensuring the service is safe and effective, delivers on all performance targets including rapid prescribing of OST and achieves positive outcomes with clients. The Senior NMP will operate as a member of the management team, overseeing the ongoing development of recovery focused and evidence-based interventions for service users. The post holder will provide supervision to other members of the team. It is vital that the post holder has effective assessment, prescribing and leadership skills, can implement and manage change, has a proactive approach to communication and is skilled in developing links and maintaining partnership arrangements with other services across the borough, as well as within RWCDAS.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.       To provide strong and decisive leadership and management of all staff within RWCDAS. To manage the staff team and all day-to-day prescribing issues of the service. To take the lead role in the induction, training and retention of staff. To deputise at designated times in the absence of the Borough Lead or Clinical Team Leaders.

2.       To ensure regular clinical and line management supervision, appraisal and teaching of staff across the team to ensure high standard of client care. To identify and support opportunities for staff development and training, and to support this aim use role modelling to motivate and educate the team.

3.       To take responsibility for the management of a defined caseload of clients with complex needs and facilitation of nurse led clinics or other elements of front-line service delivery where required. To deliver prescriber  specific interventions such as vaccinations and where appropriately qualified deliver non-medical prescribing within scope of practice and Trust guidelines for alcohol and drug clients attending the service.

4.       To ensure service information requirements are met through the production of required statistics and data and ensuring this remains a priority.

5.       Undertaking of regular audits to ensure that all clinical records/ practice is of a high quality.

6.       To actively promote and encourage service user and carer involvement in the service.

7.       To draft/ review/ evaluate clinical protocols/ operational procedures as required, to ensure the service is responsive to changes in practice, trends in substance use and legislation.

8.       To manage human resources issues to optimum effect including being involved in and leading on staff recruitment and selection process, performance management, sickness management etc. as required.

9.       To have knowledge and awareness of expenditure in relation to budget and prescribing costs, identifying and reporting on cost pressures where appropriate.

10.   With RWCDAS seniors, identify appropriate areas of development in collaboration with other partners. To develop and maintain effective links and lines of communication with partnership agencies, Trust departments, commissioners, CCG and other local stakeholders.

11.   To ensure effective investigation of complaints and serious untoward incidents in consultation with RWCDAS seniors, and to identify systems learning as a result of such investigations and implement changes as appropriate.