• Participating in assessment and inspection visits.
• Reviewing evidence and documentation.
• Observing care delivery and clinical practice.
• Speaking with staff, leaders and people using services.
• Identifying examples of good practice and areas for improvement.
• Contributing specialist insight to assessment findings.
• Providing verbal and written feedback to CQC colleagues.
• Supporting evidence-based judgements regarding the quality and safety of care.

Who we are looking for

We are seeking highly experienced clinical professionals with extensive expertise in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services.
Applicants should have current clinical experience and be recognised as knowledgeable and credible practitioners within the field.
We are particularly interested in applications from:

• Consultant Psychiatrists specialising in Addiction Psychiatry
• Consultant Nurses
• Advanced Clinical Practitioners
• Non-Medical Prescribers
• Specialist Substance Misuse Nurses
• Consultant Clinical Psychologists
• Senior Social Workers
• Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs)
• Specialist Pharmacists working within drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services
• Senior clinicians with expertise in detoxification, opioid substitution treatment, prescribing governance and medicines management
• Clinicians with expertise in co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions

Essential criteria

You will be able to demonstrate:

• Extensive clinical experience within drug and alcohol services.
• Current practice within drug and alcohol treatment services.
• Expert knowledge of evidence-based interventions for substance use disorders.
• A thorough understanding of the care, treatment and support needs of people accessing drug and alcohol services.
• Knowledge of safeguarding, risk assessment and risk management.
• Understanding of relevant legislation, national guidance and policy relating to services.
• Experience of working with people with complex needs, including co-occurring mental health conditions.
• The ability to analyse evidence and provide objective, balanced and professional judgement.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• The ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary assessment team.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and reducing health inequalities.

What you'll bring

We are looking for individuals who:

• Act with integrity and professionalism.
• Are able to provide constructive challenge.
• Can make evidence-based professional judgements.
• Have a strong commitment to improving outcomes for people who use services.
• Are passionate about high-quality, safe and effective care.
• Can work collaboratively and respectfully with colleagues and providers.

Being a Specialist Advisor

This role can be undertaken as either a Casual Worker, paid directly to a personal bank account by the CQC for attending in your own time (non-working days, annual leave) or as a seconded position if your service is registered with the CQC and agrees to the secondment. Seconded SpAs' organisations agree in principle that their employees can attend CQC assessments and the seconded SpA seeks their line manager's permission to take leave to attend individual inspections, which can last from one to three days. The seconded SpA's organisation then invoices the CQC for the time the SpA spent away from their substantive role. Please note this is invoiced at the SpA day rate.
You will be offered opportunities to support assessments with 6 weeks’ notice whenever possible, however, you will also be contacted for more short notice support on occasions. You are under no obligation to accept an assessment should it be offered and it not be convenient for you. We are not able to guarantee you a set number of assessment opportunities in a one-year period. You may be offered one a month or one in the whole year depending on the focus of the assessment programme.
If successful at interview we aim to conclude your pre-engagement checks within a 6-8 week window, please complete all forms and take actions to assist the team in achieving this. You will be provided with a dedicated onboarding peer who will support you in completing pre-engagement checks and will be on hand to answer any questions you have.
Please note this role is subject to a satisfactory DBS check.
You will be required to have a current DBS certificate under 3 years old, and we require references going back three years. If you've been with the same employer for three years’ then we'll only require one reference.
Expected time commitment for formal assessments...

• Must be able to commit to at least 2 full assessments within a 12-month period.
• Preparation and planning calls prior to assessment activity.
• Fieldwork activity, typically lasting between 1-3 days on site per assessment.
• Ad hoc advice and input relating to documentation and interviews as required.
• Input into quality assurance activities, typically 6 to 8 hours per assessment.

For an informal discussion or further information about this role, please contact Emma Whittingham-Berry via email at Emma.Whittingham-Berry@cqc.org.uk.

Eligibility to work

If you are successful at interview, CQC will need to verify your right to work in the UK using digital identity verification.
Details of how to complete the right to work check will be provided as part of the conditional offer of employment. If we are unable to verify your right to work digitally, we are required to complete this face to face at one of our CQC Offices.
Please be aware that we are unable to progress any offer of employment until right to work in the UK is confirmed.
We will require all successful applicants to be active in Professional Practice.

To access the full Job Description, please click the link below:
Specialist Advisor Job Description.

Individual Adjustments…

We are committed to being open and transparent around our processes and we endeavour to offer every candidate the opportunity to perform at their best throughout the recruitment process.
We seek to support candidates to identify potential challenges and work with them to identify and facilitate individual adjustments as appropriate.
Should you require assistance and/or would like to request an adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact a member of the team via email: temprecruitment@cqc.org.uk.