Lucie Jones – I am a…

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO WORK IN THIS FIELD?
When I qualified as a nurse 32 years ago, all I wanted to do was work in this type of field, specifically in homelessness. I’ve always had a passion for the marginalised in society, so I qualified as a nurse and then went directly into working in a hostel for the homeless.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked in a variety of different areas. I’ve managed rough sleepers’ projects, sex worker projects and worked in prisons, secure units and with prolific offenders. I’ve run a project for young people at risk of sexual exploitation and then worked in community and drug and alcohol services.

My work is so varied; you come across so many different people with multiple and complex needs. That’s been my passion.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?
We come across lots of different people with different life experiences and from all walks of life every day. You’ve got to be very flexible, patient, and understanding – no two days are the same.

My role as prescriber with the complex needs and rough sleeper groups has been about developing excellent engagement skills to reach underrepresented groups and people who aren’t accessing services.

A typical day could be to go to a homeless hub and run a drop-in clinic for people to get into drug and alcohol treatment or visit hostels, temporary housing, and night shelters to offer outreach to people who don’t feel comfortable coming into the service. As a prescriber, I’d be talking to them about the different treatment options and health interventions available. I would be assessing their needs and offering support and health interventions, as well as developing treatment plans to aid their chances of recovery.

As a prescriber, you might be offering vaccinations and tests for blood-borne viruses, issuing naloxone or initiating opiate substitute therapy. You could be referring to pathways for treatment, giving harm reduction advice, or improving health outcomes.

WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING?
Seeing people re-engage with services and access the support and treatment they need because of the way we are working with them – my team is about delivering an excellent service and quality interventions to our community. I raise my team’s awareness of how to respond to people’s needs differently and upskill them to work with complex people in whatever way produces the best outcomes for them.

Being able to engage some­one in the right environment and in the right way has a massive impact. Issues they had when they were younger might be affecting them now, so I look at the barriers that prevent them from accessing support. I look at what environment they might engage best in and what trauma they might have gone through that causes them to need a different response from services like ours.

Some of the most complex, entrenched, hard-to-engage people have really engaged because we changed their environment, put the right member of staff there, and changed the way that we speak to them. We’ve had some amazing responses and this has been the most rewarding thing for me. We’ve had so many good outcomes for people who have mental health issues or learning difficulties, who are neurodivergent, or who have experienced all kinds of trauma. We build the trust, and they start opening up and want to talk.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE?
There’s a lot of training and awareness-raising needed around complex needs – for partner agencies, hospitals, GPs etc. All the different services need to have training around the importance of trauma-informed approaches and environments. If we worked with our clients in different ways, outcomes would improve across the board.

WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING A SIMILAR CAREER?
Recently we had two members of staff join us as prescribers. They had worked in completely different fields and said they wished they’d come to this sector years ago. They absolutely love it. Each member of our team brings their own set of unique skills and abilities. This job is just so interesting and rewarding – and we’re a friendly, approachable and happy team!