Alcohol Specialist Nurse

Job Overview

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Band 6 Alcohol Specialist Nurse to join our Alcohol Care Team on a 12-month secondment or fixed-term contract working 30 hours per week at Frimley Park Hospital, and across other sites.

This rewarding role involves delivering specialist alcohol assessments, brief interventions and care coordination for patients admitted with alcohol-related conditions. You will provide expert advice and support across all hospital departments, working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and external specialist substance misuse and mental health services to ensure patients receive seamless, person-centred care and appropriate onward referrals.

As part of a responsive 7-day service, you will use your specialist knowledge to improve patient outcomes, promote recovery, reduce avoidable admissions and support timely discharge. You will empower patients and their carers to actively manage their health and wellbeing while helping to improve quality of life.

The role also includes developing strong links with community services and delivering alcohol awareness training and education to hospital staff, supporting the organisation to improve the identification and management of alcohol-related harm across the Trust.

Main duties of the job

• Promote the use of alcohol screening Audit C as a key tool in the assessment of patients.
• Support the Trust wide capacity building regarding alcohol awareness, alcohol screening and tools, and competent delivery of alcohol brief advice including the promotion of alcohol learning through NHS platforms.
• Work closely with other senior staff to co-ordinate the emergency department and inpatient alcohol support service.
• Identification of emergency department attenders and in-patients with acute/ chronic alcohol-related problems.
• Provide education, management and optimisation of care for patients and their carers.
• Education and training of all staff in primary and secondary care with a focus on ensuring patients presenting to hospital services are screened for alcohol misuse.
• Development of protocols, integrated care pathway that will be used across the trust for management of alcohol withdrawal and alcohol related diseases by the multidisciplinary team.

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

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Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

For a full list of responsibilities and tasks associated with this role, please refer to the job description/person specification attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• NMC Registration
• Degree in nursing or equivalent

Desirable criteria

• Leadership course
• Advanced communication skills training

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience with working with MDT
• Evidence of post-registration experience in gastroenterology, hepatology, emergency department or any other relevant wardsrds
• Evidence of post registration development relevant to post

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with patients with alcohol misuse
• Experience of staff supervision and mentorship including employee relations, performance, conduct and training needs analysis

Skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to work within a rapidly changing environment.
• Flexible and positive approach to work
• Can work independently
• Ability to work in team
• Awareness of the evolving. national and local agenda relevant to alcohol initiatives

Desirable criteria

• Involvement in project team for developing and implementing departmental business plans and/or organisation wide developments

Special requirements

Essential criteria

• Ability to travel between FHFT sites

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.

We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.

We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing.

Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.

Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.

Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.

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