Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Job summary
ARC-MK help people over the age of 18, residing in Milton Keynes, who want to break a cycle of addiction to substances or long-term alcohol addiction. We offer a variety of psychosocial and clinical interventions to support clients throughout their treatment journey.
The post holder will be a registered nurse and experience prescriber in Addictions. They will provide a service specific to rough sleeper and hostel residents across Milton Keynes. The role will include a range of activities assessing and addressing the residents health and well-being needs, development of pathways into specialist services, training of hostel staff and partner agencies to support clients out of hours, improving overall health inequalities via;
Health promotion including prescribing
General Health screening
Support access early engagement via outreach into addiction services
Engagement in Primary Care services and facilitate access to organised health care
Support access into secondary healthcare
Support access into mental health services
Support access with housing
Main duties of the job
Ensuring that there are risk assessment processes and that staff are adhering to these, to keep the people using our services as safe as possible
Ensuring that there are systems in place for Safeguarding people and that staff are supported in recognising and responding when an adult or child might be at risk from abuse and are able to escalate concerns when necessary
Addressing safety concerns and by doing so acting as effective advocates for those who use our services.
Supervising systems are in places
Ensure that the team has mechanisms in place for reflecting on everyday practice to identify areas where improvements in safety or quality can be made.
Working with others to create a culture of continuous improvement
Ensure that the services maintain compliance with their mandatory training requirements.
Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential
- Registered Nurse (RMN/RGN)
- Evidence of continuing personal development and post-registration training in the nursing care, assessment and treatment substance misuse clients
- V300 Independent Nurse Prescriber
Desirable
- Diploma in Drugs and Alcohol Studies or equivalent qualification
- Training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Completed the Motivational Interviewing Training Module
Previous Experience
Essential
- 5 years post-registration experience in Mental or general Health
- 3 years minimum experience in senior role and managing staff
- Experienced in the supply and administration of Hepatitis vaccines
- Experienced and competent in the supply and administration of CNWL Trust Hepatitis Patient Group Directions
- Extensive clinical experience
- Case management experience
- Experience in undertaking Risk Assessments and Risk Management
- Teaching and Assessing qualification ENB 998 / SLICE or equivalent eg: mentorship
- Experience of working in and delivering services to injecting drug users.
Desirable
- Community Nursing Experience
- Experience of teaching others and willingness to undertake Teaching and Assessing qualification within six months of commencing post.
Skills and knowledge
Essential
- Sound clinical knowledge and understanding of current NHS policies and national drug issues/policies.
- Good verbal, written and presentation skills.
- Good interpersonal skills in order to communicate and negotiate effectively, both inside and outside the Trust.
- Ability to work independently and to prioritise effectively
- Ability to assess and treat people with dual diagnosis
- Evidence of effective leadership and organisational skills.
- Evidence of the ability to work in a changing and stressful situation.
- Evidence of ability to teach/disseminate knowledge and skills
- Ability to treat service users with respect and dignity at all times, adopting a culturally sensitive approach, which considers the needs of the whole person.
- Able to build constructive relationships with warmth and empathy, using good communication skills
- IT literate: competent using Microsoft Word and able to report clinical activity data on patient information systems.
Desirable
- Experience of working with stimulant users and people with alcohol problems.
- Experience of group facilitation
- Experience of managing a caseload within the community
- Awareness/knowledge of research skills
- Awareness of counselling models
- Motivational Interviewing skills / Relapse Management skills
Attitudes, aptitudes, personal characteristics
Essential
- Committed to multidisciplinary team work
- Committed to User involvement
- Flexible & responsive to a developing service. The post holder must have the ability to understand and implement the Equal and Diversity policy at a level appropriate to the job
Closing Date: 24 August 2026
To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.