Stop Smoking Practitioner - Hospital in Southport

This role is extremely rewarding in making a difference to people's lives. The role of the Specialist Stop Smoking Practitioner is to support the delivery of evidenced based, equitable stop smoking services to help reduce inequalities throughout the contracted localities. This will include the delivery of services within areas of deprivation. It is essential that the postholder can work flexibly, independently and as part of a team. This role will also have an element of supporting pathways to the service from local hospitals to ensure referrals are coming into the service when clients/patients are discharged from hospital.

Main duties of the job:

• Work collaboratively with team colleagues and local hospital contacts to promote the service, encourage referrals, and embed smoking cessation as a routine part of client and patient care.
• Motivate and empower individuals to address nicotine addiction, explaining the principles of nicotine dependence and the Stop Smoking Service to support informed decision‐making.
• Deliver high-quality, evidence-based smoking cessation interventions in line with the NCSCT Standard Treatment Programme, including one-to-one support, group sessions, drop-ins, telephone and online interventions.
• Analyse health, equality and service data to identify local needs, deliver efficient and cost-effective services across diverse community settings, and lead peer support groups to help prevent relapse following successful quits.
• Provide education on smoking cessation and behavioural change, supporting clients to set realistic and sustainable goals, and ensuring all client and service records are accurate, up to date, and compliant with ABL Health documentation policies.

Reporting to the Head of Service, this is a varied, challenging and rewarding role requiring strong judgement, organisation and the ability to prioritise competing demands as the service continues to develop and integrate across the borough.

About us:

ABL is an exciting fast-paced, growing community health organisation. As an experienced, CQC registered, provider of community health services, we are passionate about delivering evidence based, innovative, effective, and relevant health care services in partnership with individuals, communities, and stakeholders.

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Work with colleagues in the team and local hospital contacts to ensure the service is promoted and referred into and ensure that smoking cessation is embedded as part of routine client/patient care.
• Motivate and empower clients to make changes to address their addiction.
• Explain to clients the principles of the nicotine and Stop Smoking Service to enable them to make informed choices.
• Deliver evidence-based stop smoking interventions, including one-to-one, drop-in, group sessions, telephone, or online support, in accordance with the NCSCT Standard Treatment Programme.
• Understand the analysis of health and equalities data including service data identifying local need to inform local service need.
• Provide high quality, efficient and cost-effective services throughout a diverse range of community settings.
• Lead peer support group sessions for successful quitters following intervention to prevent relapse.
• Provide evidence-based education in all aspects of smoking cessation and behavioural change as well as ongoing motivational support.
• Work with individuals to set realistic sustainable goals.
• Ensure all client and service records are up to date, accurate and satisfy the ABL Health documentation policies.

You will be a motivated, passionate, organised, and proactive individual with significant experience in smoking cessation or addiction. This role will be demanding as services develop and should become integrated in all settings. It will be essential that you use your own judgement to prioritise competing demands and workload effectively to specific timescales.

Skills and Competencies Required:

• Be an experienced Specialist Stop Smoking Practitioner within the community (Training will be given).
• Experience of working with, evolving and developing services.
• Positive and proactive outlook with the ability to motivate, engage and support others to achieve the highest standards and outcomes.
• Adept in communication; a strong communicator who adapts the message to fit the needs of the audience including clients, staff, and volunteers at all levels.
• Build strong relationships, foster trust and co‐operation among colleagues, stakeholders throughout community settings.
• Quality driven; you naturally seek high standards and actively seek to improve them.
• Value and remain open to new ideas and perspectives.

Due to the nature of this role and potential for regular travel across the Borough, we require applicants to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes.

Standard Information:

Employees of ABL Health must comply with the provisions of GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The postholder must not disclose any information relating to service users or employees, or of the lawful business practices, of the organisation during or after their employment.

The postholder will be required to comply with the processing of requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 when appropriate to the role.

The postholder must comply with ABL's policies that protect the information assets of the organisation from unauthorised disclosure, modification, destruction, inappropriate access or use. The postholder will be responsible for maintaining the clinical and/or corporate records that fall within the remit of this role to the standards in ABL's records management policies, and data quality processes and standards.

Health & Safety:

Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 requires the postholder to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, taking appropriate actions and reporting all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

Safeguarding is Everyone's Business:

ABL has a responsibility to ensure that all children/young people and adults are adequately safeguarded and protected. All ABL's employees, temporary staff and volunteers are required to adhere to ABL's safeguarding policies/procedures in addition to local and national safeguarding policies and to act upon any concerns in accordance with them.

ABL is Smoke-Free. Smoking is not permitted on any of our premises or the surrounding land including car parking facilities.

Training:

The postholder must attend any training that is identified as mandatory to their role. The range of duties and responsibilities outlined above are indicative only and are intended to give an overview of the range and type of duties that will be allocated. They are subject to modification in the light of changing service demands and the development requirements of the postholder.

Equality, Diversity & Human Rights:

It is the responsibility of every person to act in ways to support equality and diversity and to respect human rights, working within the spirit and detail of legislation including the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998. ABL is an equal opportunities employer and aims to challenge discrimination, promote equality and respect human rights.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Qualifications:

Higher level education or health/social care/public health/professional qualification, or experience working within smoking cessation or other addiction or behaviour change.

Experience:

Experience of working in community settings, engagement work with key partners within the community, knowledge of child protection and safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, experience of developing and delivering training to target audiences.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.