Band 6 Substance Misuse Hospital Liaison Nurse

Band 6 Substance Misuse Hospital Liaison Nurse

Location: Southend on Sea

Salary: £44,962 per annum plus benefits

Vacancy Type: Permanent, Full Time

As a Band 6 Hospital Liaison Nurse, you will play a key clinical role within the Southend STARS service. Based primarily within Hospitals in Essex and STARs, you will assess, support, and coordinate care for individuals admitted with drug- or alcohol-related presentations. This role ensures the effective transition from hospital to community services while supporting hospital teams with specialist advice.

You will also lead on Hepatitis C screening and referrals, acting as the key link between substance misuse services and hepatology departments. This position supports both the clinical care of complex patients and the wider public health goals of reducing liver-related harm.

Roles Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Clinical and Patient Care
• Complete thorough clinical assessments and risk evaluations for inpatients with substance misuse issues.
• Provide or facilitate safe and appropriate alcohol or opioid withdrawal management in collaboration with medical staff.
• Identify patients requiring Hepatitis C screening and ensure timely testing (venous or DBST) and onward referral to hepatology teams for treatment.
• Promote liver health by supporting referrals for FibroScan assessments where clinically indicated.
• Deliver harm reduction interventions, including alcohol advice, naloxone distribution, and BBV awareness.
• Develop discharge plans in partnership with patients, hospital teams, and community services to support continuity of care.
• Refer individuals to inpatient or community detoxification and structured psychosocial support as appropriate while working collaboratively with their Recovery work to develop referral pathways for service users with specialist services

The Ideal Candidate

Please see below a list of skills and experience needed for this role.

• Registered Nurse with valid NMC PIN
• Experience in substance misuse or related health/social care field
• Clinical assessment, care planning, and risk management experience
• Knowledge of Hepatitis C pathways and BBV management
• Strong partnership working and interagency coordination skills
• Phlebotomy or DBST trained (or willingness to train)
• Experience working in or alongside hospital services
• Non-Medical Prescribing qualification
• Motivational interviewing and brief intervention skills
• Knowledge of liver disease risk factors and FibroScan referral criteria

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often-interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits:

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays
• Contributory Pension Scheme - Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years' service and up to 9% thereafter
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary)
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Diversity at Forward Trust

The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with 'Lived Experience' of addiction, offending, or homelessness.When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work

We recognise the importance of safeguarding, dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the 'Eligibility to Work in the UK' requirements.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for the Forward Trust, please click apply to be redirected to their website to complete your application.