Harm Reduction Practitioner

Job summary

We are looking to recruit an experienced harm reduction worker to enhance our clinical offer. This is an opportunity to join a developing service as a harm reduction practitioner, supporting individuals with co-occurring mental health and addictions needs.

CREST is part of the integrated care systems approach focused on providing different ways of working with individuals who have spent long periods of time in hospital, to improve outcomes for this service user group. As a regional service we cover Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield supporting individuals in transitioning from Level 2 rehabilitation placements who have likely experienced a long hospital admission and previous unsuccessful discharges.

This new role will focus on individualised support to a range of service users in collaboration with the wider MDT to identify a range of individualised direct and indirect interventions which will support service users to reduce the harmful impact of their drug and/or alcohol use, and support their recovery in the community. The role will form part of our MDT offer to address rehabilitation needs of the caseload to empower them in their recovery journey.

Our commitment to you if successful is that you will be offered strong support structures including reflective practice and clinical supervision, be supported to develop new skills, psychologically informed training and opportunities to be part of evaluation and development of the service.

Main duties of the job

CREST work with individuals within level 2 rehabilitation to address barriers to community discharge, assess their ongoing rehabilitation needs and readiness for discharge. The varied needs of service users on CREST's caseload and their long history of support within inpatient environments mean that CREST need to take an innovative approach to developing therapeutic relationships and engaging service users in interventions.

The post holder will work closely alongside the wider MDT . CREST is a supportive team with a strong focus on co-production and multi-agency working, many of the caseload being supported by private hospital providers, supported living and a range of statutory and non-statutory organisations.

If successful, you will be responsible for working with individuals on the team's caseload with a harm reduction/substance misuse focus to coproduce care plans and plan interventions which can support individuals in addressing their substance misuse and working towards their harm reduction goals. Due to the nature of the cohort the successful candidate will need to demonstrate an ability to think creatively and utilise a range of engagement skills to achieve positive outcomes. There will be a mixture of independent direct work with service users and indirect work through the MDT where service users may not be ready for direct work.

About us

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount also have an incredible bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.

Applicants should be aware that for any individual who requires a visa to work in the UK, the Trust provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles only. This is an essential requirement of the role, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you are unable to meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Job description

Job responsibilities

CREST was established as part of the complex rehabilitation project with the aim to support repatriation from locked rehabilitation placements and a strong focus on empowering service users and carers in being actively involved their recovery journey. The service currently operates 8-6 during the week and 9-5 at weekends and bank holidays but this may increase in the future

The Complex Rehabilitation project is part of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care System (WYICS) Programme for Mental Health and Learning Disability. Consultation with service users, carers, commissioners and mental health providers has highlighted the service user experience and challenges for people placed within mental health complex (locked) rehabilitation placements from West Yorkshire. Many people have experienced long lengths of stay in locked hospital placements, are disconnected from a community. Service users have shared very powerful experiences with us, describing a community model as not just about keeping me safe its about building a life worth living.

In order to meet the aims identified as part of the consultation project CREST has been working on developing a clinical model which supports individuals on their pathway from locked rehabilitation. This psychologically informed model focusses on placing the service user and their loved ones at the heart of what we do, assessing the need and identifying interventions that are needed to support and empower individuals on their recovery journey.

If working in an innovative recovery focused team is something that you like the sound of and youd like additional information then please do get in contact to find out more about the role and CREST.

The post holder will be expected to support the team in developing awareness and understanding of principles of harm reduction and substance misuse. As a new role there is the opportunity for the successful candidate to shape the development of this post to address the needs of the team and caseload.

There will be the need for close liaison with service users, carers and loved ones, other service providers and the wider MDT to ensure high-quality care is delivered.

Travel will be required across the West Yorkshire Area. There will also be some travel to out of area hospitals outside of the West Yorkshire Footprint as part of assessment and engagement

We recognise the importance of ensuring that our services are reflective of the communities we serve and champion diversity and inclusion. As part of a wider strategy to improve healthcare career opportunities for all, we would particularly welcome applicants from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. We are committed to implementing the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards and welcome staff members from all racial backgrounds who commit to these standards.

Person Specification

Skills

Essential

Communication and Interpersonal Skill Ability to work autonomously within scope of practice.

Experience

Essential

Experience of working with Clients with dual diagnosis Experince of multi-agency working

Qualifications

Essential

Drug/Alcohol Qualification Recognised professional qualification RMN, RN (Mental Health).

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