Consultant Nurse – Co-Occurring Mental Health, Alcohol & Drugs

Job overview

8C or development post 8b-8c

Location: Various sites across the Trust, Main Base Springfield Hospital Salary: Band 8b or Band 8c (Dependent on experience)

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Consultant Nurse to lead and drive improvements in the care of individuals with co-occurring mental health, alcohol, and drug issues. This acting-up opportunity is open to experienced senior nurses looking to take the next step in their leadership journey.

As a Consultant Nurse, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and developing clinical services for patients with complex needs, ensuring the integration of mental health and substance use care. You will provide advanced clinical expertise, lead service development, and contribute to policy-making across the Trust.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• Registered Nurse (NMC) qualification with relevant post-registration experience.
• Extensive experience in mental health and substance use services.
• Strong leadership skills with a passion for service improvement.
• Demonstrable expertise in managing complex cases with co-occurring conditions.
• A Master’s degree (8B), Doctorate (8c)  or can demonstrate equivalent level clinical experience & training.
• Experience in teaching, training, and policy development
• Independent non medical prescriber (8C)

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for:

• Providing expert clinical leadership in co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders across the Trust.
• Driving evidence-based practice and supporting staff in developing competencies in this  area.
• Leading service transformation initiatives, ensuring holistic, person-centred care.
• Developing and implementing training programmes for multi-disciplinary teams.
• Building partnerships across mental health, addiction services, and community networks.
• Supporting quality improvement and governance to enhance patient outcomes.
• Providing day to day clinical leadership and support to the Community Service Line COMHAD provision.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Job Summary:
• To provide expert advice, support and leadership relating to Co-occurring mental health, alcohol & drugs issues both within the Trust and externally, at local and national level.
• To lead Co-occurring mental health, alcohol & drugs strategic service development in the Trust, working in collaboration with key stakeholders
• To work as an autonomous practitioner providing expert, evidence-based practice to people with a Co-occurring mental health, alcohol & drugs.
• To lead the development and delivery of policies and practices which will deliver evidence-based care for people with a Co-occurring mental health, alcohol & drugs across the Trust.
• To initiate and contribute to the development and evaluation of Co-occurring mental health, alcohol & drugs training programmes
• To initiate research, audit and Quality Improvement initiatives, and disseminate findings.

Key areas deliverables:

• Clinical
• Strategic and service development
• Professional leadership and consultancy
• Education and training
• Professional leadership & consultancy
• Communication and engagement