For the past seven years I have been providing clinics in a variety of settings. I see clients who have either referred themselves to our services or have been referred by GPs, community services or prisons. Clients may be involved in the misuse of alcohol or other substances including legal highs, or in the abuse of prescribed medication. On three days of my working week I usually hold two clinics. My work is with clients to improve their understanding of their psychological interaction with their social environment and how they respond to particular situations. This work takes a motivational interviewing approach; it also involves prescribing substitute medication. Clients move towards becoming stable and recovery; it is a process that may include detoxification programmes and rehabilitation.
During 15-minute appointments at my clinics, I see regular patients as well as those newly referred. Clinics are supported by administrative staff and drug (Key) workers are assigned to each client. The frequency of a client’s appointments is dependent on their risk and need.
My other area of interest, anticoagulation, came as a result of starting up new services across the PCT, shutting down the existing secondary care services, and project managing the delivery of all aspects of the new service. Through this work I have been involved in running services in primary and secondary care, delivering regular training courses for GPs, nurses and pharmacists and reviewing services for CCGs.
I enjoy training and helping others to learn. This involves designing, developing and delivering learning modules to diverse audiences for a variety of organisations.