Job summary
- Main area
- Practitioner
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 388-8063010-PC&S
- Employer
- Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Torbay Hospital
- Town
- Torquay
- Salary
- £28,392 - £31,157 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 28/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Nursing Associate / Assistant Practitioner - Alcohol Care Team
NHS AfC: Band 4
Job overview
We are seeking a dedicated and proactive Band 4 Nursing Associate / Assistant Practitioner to join our growing Alcohol Care Team. In this post, you will play a key role in building and embedding our Alcohol Harm Reduction Programme across the Trust.
You will work closely with clinical teams on the front line to optimize alcohol screening practices, deliver training on harm reduction advice, and empower staff to identify and manage alcohol-related harm early.
A central focus of your role will be supporting admission avoidance and timely discharge. By initiating pre-discharge contact, following up with patient’s post-discharge, and applying structured motivational interviewing techniques, you will provide critical psychosocial support that aids recovery and reduces hospital re-attendances. As part of this post-discharge care, you will actively contact patients who were unable to be seen during their inpatient stay due to being admitted out of operational hours or missed due to capacity.
The Assistant Practitioner will function at a higher competency level than that of other Healthcare Support Workers with responsibility for actively participating as part of the Multi-Disciplinary Team within the ward/dept, to provide a seamless service to patients with proximal supervision from a registered nurse/practitioner.
Main duties of the job
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Trust-Wide Harm Reduction & Screening: Support acute wards and clinical departments to embed robust, standardized alcohol screening; deliver practical guidance and training to multidisciplinary teams on applying screening tools and harm reduction principles.
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Inpatient Screening & Identification: Proactively identify and screen patients across hospital wards to recognize those at risk of alcohol-related harm at the earliest opportunity.
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Patient Care & Psychosocial Interventions: Utilize motivational interviewing and evidence-based brief interventions (IBA) to support patients in understanding their alcohol use, setting personal recovery goals, and implementing effective harm reduction strategies.
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Patient & Carer Education: Deliver clear, specialist information and advice to patients and families living with alcohol use disorders and/or diagnosed liver disease, empowering them to manage their conditions.
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Admission Avoidance & Post-Discharge Support: Conduct follow-up contact with patients (in-person or telephone) following discharge to support safe transitions, maintain recovery gains, and reduce hospital re-attendances.
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Service Coordination & Operational Support: Assist in managing the day-to-day operations of the Alcohol Care Team (ACT) - handling triage, referrals, emails, phone inquiries, and patient communications efficiently.
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Team Collaboration & Support: Work closely with ACT clinical nurse specialists and the multidisciplinary team to support the ongoing care, management, and escalation of complex patient cases.
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Data Collection & Quality Improvement: Accurately record patient interactions and track screening compliance and follow-up metrics to contribute to service audits, quality assurance, and ongoing program development.
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This is currently a Monday to Friday service subject to change
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Working for our organisation
This is an exciting opportunity to join and continue to develop a service within Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.
The Alcohol Care Team works within a well-established Gastroenterology Department that provides seamless multi-speciality care, with an ethos in facilitating the right care, at the right time, in the right place.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification.
#caretojoinus
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Foundation Degree in healthcare
- Care Certificate or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Courses/further study attended to demonstrate evidence of personal development
- Knowledge or experience in Alcohol Services
Knowledge and experience
Essential criteria
- Good written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Able to learn and assimilate information quickly
- Proven ability to work to deadlines, prioritise and multi-task
- To have awareness of limitations and boundaries
Specific skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to assess, plan and evaluate patient care
- Management of an acutely ill patient
- Good interpersonal skills with ability to liaise effectively with multidisciplinary team members
- Evidence of working well within a team
- Ability to demonstrate motivation
- Ability to work accurately and reliably under pressure
- Ability to make decisions, organise and prioritise own workload
- Evidence of commitment to customer care
Desirable criteria
- Experience with acute care or GI service setting
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Simon Proctor
- Job title
- Lead Alcohol Specialist Nurse
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01803 656096
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