Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
We are looking for a School Nurse with strong clinical leadership skills who can motivate and challenge practice.
The post holder will be the clinical lead for the Barking and Dagenham Children’s services in supporting the Barking and Dagenham for School Nursing. This will also include the evaluation and management of those developments to ensure best practice is achieved. The focus will be related to 0-19 School Nursing practices but occasionally some of the developments involve multi-professional initiatives, where there is integrated service across statutory organisation/voluntary colleagues. The post holder will also be responsible for the provision of an effective and robust Continued Professional and Practice Development (CPPD) system for registered SCPHNs, nurses and non–registered nurses across the service. This will also include the identification, development delivery and management of a range of support systems as well as education and training initiatives.
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate effective methods of change management and be confident in delivering educational initiatives to support the new commissioned contract focusing on School Nursing delivery.
Main duties of the job
1. To work with 0-19 Operational Leads/Team Leads/Preceptors/SCPTs to agree and develop induction and preceptorship plans for newly recruited Band 5, Band 6, Band 7 registered staff and Community Nursery Nurses and Clinical Assistants.
2. 20% of the role will remain clinically hands on.
3. To organise regular ‘Learning together’ forums which is part teaching session and part action learning set.
4. Identify service gaps and issues relating to effective clinical pathways and /or cross boundary arrangements. Escalate evidence of ineffective safeguarding arrangements within or outside of the early intervention team.
5. Assist in the evaluation and analysis of the health contribution to the early intervention process.
6. Participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects, services and initiatives to provide, information and analytical advice and expertise.
7. To supervise pre and post registration students.
8. Support transformation of school nursing in coproducing with service user, stakeholders and partners.
Working for our organisation
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focusing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High Cost Area Supplement - London
This post attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,551 and a maximum payment of £5,735 per annum pro rata).
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
9. We are kind.
10. We are respectful.
11. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
·To support with leading on the development and delivery of the Healthy Child Programme ensuring local, wider Trust and national agendas are acknowledged, working closely with clinical leaders and their teams to ensure that nursing practice reflects current clinical developments, is evidence based and standards of care are met and monitored.
To support the embedding of the DOH Your Welcome
To support with the recruitment of Specialist Practitioner students, working closely with University Course Directors and Practice Experience Facilitator.
To support the Practice Experience Facilitator to the train new Practice Assessors and Supervisors.
To take a lead role for the Service in developing training needs analysis.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system.
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
12. SCPHN School Nurse
13. 3 years experience
Desirable criteria
14. Practice Educator
15. Post-graduate master’s degree in a relevant subject area or working towards
Experience
Essential criteria
16. 5 years’ experience of working in the community at 2 years at a senior level
17. Significant experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment
18. Evidence of continued professional development in safeguarding children to level 4
19. ExperiencExperience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedurese of managing risks and reporting and escalating concerns
Knowledge
Essential criteria
20. Ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources
21. Able to contribute the health perspective to multi-agency meetings
22. Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans accordingly
23. Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales
24. Evidence of clinical leadership
Knowledge
Essential criteria
25. An awareness of NHS Plan, NSF and clinical governance priorities
26. Sound Knowledge of multi-agency working (children and families)
27. Sound Knowledge of legislation and policy, Children Act 1989, 2004, Data protection, and NHS Confidentiality Guidance
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
28. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
29. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
30. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
31. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.