Working for Our Organisation

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston.

With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone’s throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

• Build therapeutic, recovery-focused relationships with patients affected by alcohol and drug use, delivering motivational support, brief interventions, and harm reduction advice.
• Support patients throughout their hospital stay, helping them engage with treatment, improve health outcomes, and access recovery services.
• Work closely with specialist nurses, multidisciplinary teams, community services, and partner agencies to ensure coordinated care and safe discharge planning.
• Deliver personalised, evidence-based interventions and contribute to the development and review of individual care plans.
• Support the delivery of specialist addiction services, including SMART Recovery groups and FibroScan clinics.
• Facilitate referrals to community alcohol, drug, and recovery services, promoting continuity of care and reducing barriers to engagement.
• Maintain accurate patient records and use electronic systems to document interventions, outcomes, and service activity.
• Promote awareness of addiction, recovery, and harm reduction across hospital services.
• Contribute to service development, quality improvement initiatives, audits, and patient feedback activities.
• Work independently within agreed competencies while seeking support and escalating concerns appropriately.
• Demonstrate resilience and professionalism when supporting individuals with complex health, social, and addiction-related needs.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Level 3 qualification in healthcare
• Fibroscan Training
• SMART Recovery facilitator training
• Experience of working with patients with problematic drug and/or alcohol use
• Experience of working in an Acute Hospital
• Knowledge and experience of working with a harm reduction approach
• Experience of working in out-patient clinics
• Compassionate and none judgemental approach
• Knowledge of local addiction services

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working with community addiction agencies
• Experience of motivational interviewing and behavior change
• Understanding of the impacts of addiction on health and mental wellbeing
• Experience of working in an Addictions Specialist team

We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.

As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge. The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers. BFT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview. If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system. The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system. By applying for this post, you are agreeing to Bristol NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

Important

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore, please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.