Alessandro Borca

Alessandro Borca is a Registered Mental Health Nurse at Harbor. He is registered as both a mental health and adult nurse and is a non-medical prescriber, meaning he can prescribe medication even though he isn’t a doctor. Over more than 15 years, he has worked in hospitals and in the community, as well as in clinical research.

He began his career in Italy, where he spent four years in a psychiatric therapeutic community, a residential service in which people live and take part in treatment together. There, he worked with people with complex mental health problems, including those who also had an addiction or a physical health condition.

Since moving to the UK, his work has centred on people living with severe and long-term mental illness, helping them plan their recovery and manage their medication.

Professional Background & Qualifications

Alessandro holds a BSc in General Adult Nursing from the University of Padua and an MSc in Mental Health and Community Services from the University of Trieste.

He also holds postgraduate qualifications in non-medical prescribing and clinical education.

Professional Experience

Alessandro’s NHS career includes Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, where he has worked in clinical care and as a clinical research nurse. He also currently works as a Bank Mental Health Nurse at the Royal Free Hospital.

His research work has included a secondment as a Research Matron, and he works to Good Clinical Practice, the international standard for running clinical studies. He has also led internship programmes and sits on one of the Health Research Authority’s Research Ethics Committees, which reviews proposed studies to protect participants.

Approach to Care

When planning care for someone with complex mental health needs, Alessandro works closely with the other clinicians involved.

Because he can prescribe, he takes a direct part in decisions about medication, and he makes those decisions with the person’s wider recovery plan in mind.