Hospital Liaison Nurse

This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast-paced and growing organisation. We are looking for a Hospital Liaison Nurse for our Kingston service.

Main duties of the job:

• You will play a vital role in bridging acute healthcare services with specialist community addiction services.
• Your input will ensure people who use our services receive seamless, compassionate support when they need it most.
• In this dynamic role, you'll provide expert advice, advocate for safe, person-centred care that genuinely makes a difference by reducing harm, improving treatment outcomes, and bringing a human touch to otherwise busy clinical environments.
• As Hospital Liaison Nurse, you will be joining a vibrant body of clinicians across Via's wider national workforce, with regular meetings for peer support, case discussion and CPD.
• This is not just a job; you'll help people rebuild their lives, reconnect with their family and friends, return to work or education, and much more.

We are looking for individuals with compassion, good communication skills and the ability to stay calm under pressure. If you're someone who is a good listener, stays curious, and wants to make a difference, we'd love to hear from you.

About us:

At Via, our mission is to provide the best health and wellbeing support to as many people as possible, helping them to change their lives for the better. Last year, we supported over 11,000 people across the UK affected by alcohol and drug use. Everything we do is driven by our values: Care, Be human, and Do the right thing.

Job responsibilities:

• To provide specialist nursing assessment, brief interventions and care for patients with drug and/or alcohol related health and social needs who present to hospitals and other secondary care facilities.
• To provide clinical support and advice to reduce harm, facilitate safe inpatient care and create rapid, person-centred pathways to community treatment and recovery services.
• To support collaborative working practices both within Via's defined portfolios and with hospital teams and secondary care partners (e.g. alcohol liaison teams, hepatology).
• Within a defined scope of practice and using agreed clinical screening tools, develop person-centred discharge plans and direct referral pathways into community drug & alcohol services and partner agencies.
• Hold a caseload to provide brief interventions (e.g. naloxone provision/advice, safer injecting advice, BBV screening and vaccination pathways), evidence based low-level psychosocial support and motivational interviewing to encourage engagement with treatment and reduce immediate harms.
• Play a key role in supporting relationships by acting as a liaison between Via, secondary care partners and partner agencies (including housing, mental health and third sector parties) and by providing training, education and support to nurses, medical staff and other allied health professionals around screening and advice for alcohol and substance misuse.
• Identify and respond to safeguarding concerns both internally through participation in MDT meetings and externally by supporting complex discharge planning.
• Working within local and national clinical governance frameworks (e.g. NICE, the orange guide) and using Via's evidence based policies and pathways for substance misuse, maintain accurate clinical records, contribute to service activity, data collection and distribution and detox outcomes.
• Working to the principles of Nursing practice and the pillars, contribute to peer led supervision, teaching and education and service improvement projects including the continued development of the capability framework for the Drug & Alcohol treatment & recovery workforce.

Person specification for the role:

• Passion for working with substance misuse services or with other socially excluded.
• Registered Nurse (Adult) with current NMC registration with at least 2 years post registration experience and 1 year experience working within substance misuse treatment and/or alcohol related illnesses.
• Demonstrable clinical assessment skills including risk assessment, withdrawal risk and physical health assessments.
• Knowledge of harm reduction approaches, BBV testing/vaccination pathways, naloxone and overdose prevention best practice.
• Able to work autonomously to make clinical decisions and elevate appropriately using good communication and motivational interviewing skills; ability to engage people in chaotic circumstances.
• Able to travel as required (i.e. in possession of a valid UK driving licence with access to own vehicle or demonstrate how you will meet the travelling requirements of the role).
• Previous hospital liaison experience or experience working in an ED/inpatient environment including facilitating patient/people who use our services education.
• Training in substance misuse specific interventions (e.g. alcohol care training, RCGP part 1) or qualification in addictions/dual-diagnosis care.

Responsibilities for all Via staff:

• To work within the Via values of Care, Be human and Do the right thing.
• Support and collaborate with all colleagues and engage with the wider organisation.
• To promote and deliver positive, inclusive and anti-discriminatory practices in line with VIA policies, professional and sector requirements, and legislative frameworks.
• To act on all Safeguarding concerns so that all statutory and organisational Safeguarding responsibilities are met and that all learning is shared.
• To observe professional integrity and candour at all times and with all people.
• To comply with all organisational policies and procedures including GDPR and all Health and Safety policy and guidance, taking responsibility for your own safety and contributing to that of colleagues and others as applicable.
• To regularly participate in one-to-one/supervision sessions, objective setting and review, training, practice and learning forums.
• A commitment to learning and to continuously improve everybody's knowledge and skills.
• To work flexibly to enable the delivery of effective services. This may include flexibility across sites or flexible hours and any other duties that may reasonably be required of you within your role.

Qualifications:

• Registered Nurse (Adult) with current NMC registration with at least 2 years post registration experience and 1 year experience working within substance misuse treatment and/or alcohol related illnesses.
• Demonstrable clinical assessment skills including risk assessment, withdrawal risk and physical health assessments.
• Knowledge of harm reduction approaches, BBV testing/vaccination pathways, naloxone and overdose prevention best practice.

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.

£37,282 to £43,272 a year Including London Weighting if applicable.