Substance Misuse Specialist Healthcare Assistant

Job overview

Are you ready to unlock your potential within a challenging, creative and fast paced work environment? Do you want to work with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past?

This is an excellent opportunity for a healthcare assistant to join our team of diverse, talented healthcare professionals to deliver care that is not only efficient but deeply centred on the patient.

Our healthcare team have a real impact on promoting health and well-being to those in prison and we pride ourselves on using skills and strategies that instil hope for patient’s future resettlement back into the community. We directly deliver Mental Health, Physical Health, Pharmacy and Clinical Substance Misuse in an integrated healthcare delivery model to provide effective and responsive care to improve wellbeing and support better outcomes in the future.

Applicants are required to have hospital/primary care or community care experience and be competent at taking blood pressure, ECGs and other observations. Knowledge of wound care is also a requirement for this post.

Important Sponsorship Information for this post: Due to service budget restrictions we are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

Main duties of the job

As a Healthcare Assistant working within the Substance Misuse Team you will assist in the delivery of high quality nursing care to patients in prison with the support of a registered nurse.

You will be providing physical care to patients according to a written care plan. This will include withdrawal observations, ECG’s and wound care as well as supporting medication rounds.

You will be able to demonstrate good communication skills and be able to confidently liaise with other services to effectively support the patient throughout their time in prison setting.

You will be actively engaging with patients in the provision of holistic, needs-led care which will consider the physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the individual.

You will be promoting health and well-being through the delivery of health promotion activities and programmes, responding to patients needs and assisting patients to attain optimal physical health.

Working for our organisation

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 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
• We Listen
• We Care

• Providing physical care to patients according to a written care plan
• To work as directed by a registered nurse.
• Responding to the needs of patients in an honest, non-judgemental, and open manner, which respects the rights of individuals and groups.
• Actively engaging with patients in the provision of holistic, needs-led care which considers the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of individuals and groups.
• Responding to the needs of people sensitively with regard for age, culture, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability, especially regarding patient privacy and dignity.
• Understanding the need for promoting health & well-being and the delivery of health promotion activities and programmes (including patient self-help programmes) in support of a registered nurse.
• Understand the complex needs of those patients with a substance misuse history,
• and assisting patients to attain optimal physical health and provide psychosocial support.
• Developing an understanding of and demonstrating use of clinical supervision to reflect upon and modify practice.
• Contributing appropriately to risk assessment and individualised care planning.
• Ensuring good working relationships with patients, carers, relatives, other professionals and prison and healthcare staff.
• Understanding the need for and always maintaining patient confidentiality and security.
• Adhering to all organisational and prison policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Always behaving in a professionally acceptable manner.
• Demonstrates a commitment to equal opportunities for all people.
• Demonstrates a knowledge of the term ‘professional boundaries’ and how to apply this to working with patients, offenders, and others.
• Demonstrating good verbal and non-verbal communication skills.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, 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).

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• NVQ level 3 or equivalent experience

Experience

• Experience within a hospital/primary care setting
• Experience of taking blood pressures, ECGs and other observations
• Keen interest of experience of working within a substance misuse service

Skills /Abilities /Knowledge

• Ability to assess risk and care plan effectively, whilst understanding the needs and rights of people.

We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.

If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.

We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.

Thank you.