Dual Diagnosis Practitioner

at  Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Do you have a passion for helping vulnerable people improve their lives? Do you enjoy working in partnership with service users to help facilitate change?
The Dual Diagnosis Team is an exciting and dynamic team that works with service users who have a mental illness and substance use comorbidity across the diverse population of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.
The principle duties involved in this role include offering assessments, care planning, harm minimisation advice, structured psychosocial sessions, and group work to vulnerable services users who have complex needs.
The Dual Diagnosis Team uses a flexible approach to working in which it is expected that you will spend some of your week working from NHS and local authority sites , and some of your time working from home.
To support service users who have a mental illness and substance use comorbidity to improve their life outcomes by offering assessments, care planning, harm minimisation advice, structured sessions, and group work.
To manage a caseload of service users who have complex needs.
To work assertively, delivering individual psychosocial sessions to vulnerable services users who have complex needs and often a history of difficult engagement with services.
To assess inpatients for eligibility for the service and assist inpatient services with care planning.
To promote the health and well-being of service users and carers and to maintain a safe, caring, and therapeutic relationship with a focus on the service users’ substance use needs.
To identify and refer to substance use day and/or residential rehab programmes for service users where appropriate.
To co-facilitate training, groups, and supervision for professionals regarding substance use in mental health
To be familiar with The Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act and to operate according to this legislation.
There’s a place for you at CNWL.
We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.
CNWL NHS Foundation Trust is committed to workforce development and is keen to enable the successful applicant to innovate and evolve with the service.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

To provide comprehensive, culturally appropriate, evidence-based assessments to establish eligibility for health and social care services and consult/refer to other services, when appropriate, in relation to the service user’s substance use needs.
To provide all service users with a holistic substance use assessment encompassing health and social care needs in line with The Care Act, The Mental Health Act, The Mental Capacity Act and other relevant legislation.
To formulate, monitor and review service user care plans in relation to their substance use needs and discharge when appropriate, ensuring a smooth flow of patients through the service.
To complete TOPs forms as required.
To undertake continuous risk assessment and risk management.
To provide direct therapeutic care to users in their own home or other community settings using evidence-based nursing skills or other relevant skills such as psychosocial interventions; including Motivational Interviewing, harm minimisation and relapse prevention to meet the service user’s substance use needs.
To offer supervision, training, and guidance to external agencies as required.
To identify cultural, spiritual, and communication needs of users within a diverse community, and ensure that these needs are addressed in the care plan.
To participate in multidisciplinary responses to crisis situations.
To identify and support carers and to participate in carers’ assessments.
To work in partnership with other agencies such as Housing, Social Services and GPs.
To complete all necessary documentation including financial assessments to refer service users to day and residential rehab programmes, to meet their substance use needs.
To provide comprehensive reviews of placements and services in relation to the service user’s substance use needs.
To identify and work proactively to address Safeguarding and Child Protection issues and to implement procedures as required.
Communication
To ensure open channels of communication with both internal and external agencies.
To possess excellent communication skills and form positive therapeutic relationships using warmth and empathy.
To be aware of own verbal and non-verbal communication.
To participate in and provide a specialist substance use perspective to multidisciplinary team meetings/case discussions, to include business and clinical meetings, supervision groups and staff support groups.
To maintain close working liaison with the inpatient services.
To provide continuity of care by covering for colleagues across RBKC and WCC when on annual leave, sickness, or when the service requires it etc.
To communicate via an interpreter when required.
Education and Training
To provide, where necessary, high-quality supervision and teaching in both formal and informal settings on substance use in mental health.
To work in conjunction with Dual Diagnosis Workers across the Trust to provide training on substance use in mental health to staff in mental health services, substance use services and other relevant agencies.
To lead, present and participate in team training sessions to share skills and knowledge within a multi-disciplinary team.
To attend ongoing training including statutory and mandatory courses to meet the objectives set in your personal development plan and/or appraisal.
To ensure clinical information on working practices and developments are up-to-date.
To take an active interest in research into mental health and substance use, utilising findings where appropriate and developing research-based practice.
Management of Resources
To work within agreed levels of resources, both human and financial.
Data Recording/Administration
To collect and record clinical data in the required format on both CNWL and local authority databases.
To maintain integrated client records accurately in line with NMC, CNWL and local authority policy and The Data Protection Act/GDPR.
To write reports, complete substance use assessments and other documentation for referrals to day and residential rehab programmes.
Management, Supervision and Accountability
To be managerially accountable to the Team Manager and Clinical Team Leaders.
To receive caseload supervision and appraisal in accordance with CNWL Policy and to use this time to reflect on clinical and professional practice and professional development.
To be professionally accountable to Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.
To maintain professional registrations, inform the Team Manager if these lapse, and adhere to the appropriate codes of conduct.
To uphold the principles of the NMC Code of Professional Conduct and adhere to all other statements as required by the NMC or other any professional Code of Conduct.
To act up for the Clinical Team Leader when required.
To offer support and guidance to junior members of staff, in the absence of seniors, on a day-to-day basis.
To be available as a Clinical Supervisor if desired, in line with Trust Policy.