Are you an experienced and dynamic nursing leader with a passion for providing exceptional care in an acute setting? We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Divisional Director of Nursing for Acute Care. This is an exciting opportunity to lead and inspire nursing teams across a range of urgent and emergency care services and ensure that we continue to provide safe, high-quality care to our patients.
As the Divisional Director of Nursing for Acute Care you will be responsible for the leadership and strategic development of the nursing workforce within our Acute Care Division. You will work closely with the Divisional Medical Director, senior clinical leaders, and executive colleagues to drive improvements in patient care, safety, and staff development.
Your role will focus on:
1. Leading and developing a team of senior nursing professionals across acute care services
2. Developing and implementing strategies to improve patient outcomes and enhance the quality of care
3. Promoting a culture of excellence in clinical practice, patient safety, and staff wellbeing
4. Leading and supporting nursing staff in delivering high standards of care, in line with national standards and best practice
5. Driving innovation, service improvement, and patient-focused care initiatives
6. Ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks and supporting the delivery of high-performing, sustainable services
Main duties of the job
You will be an inspirational and strategic nursing leader with significant experience in acute and emergency care nursing, ideally at a senior level. A strong background in operational and people management along with the ability to influence at all levels is essential.
To be considered for this role you will have:
1. Extensive experience in acute and emergency care nursing with proven leadership experience at a senior level
2. A record of achieving positive patient outcomes and delivering high-quality services
3. Strong operational management skills and the ability to lead change in a complex environment
4. Excellent communication, interpersonal and decision-making abilities
5. A passion for developing and mentoring nursing teams, ensuring their ongoing professional development
This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of nursing within a large, vibrant and forward-thinking multi-site hospital. You will work in a supportive and collaborative environment, alongside highly skilled clinical and managerial colleagues as part of the divisional leadership team, committed to delivering exceptional care to the communities we serve.
If you are ready to take on a challenging but highly rewarding role and make a real difference in the lives of patients and staff we want to hear from you. We look forward to welcoming a passionate and dedicated Divisional Director of Nursing for Acute Care to our team!
The assessment centre for this post will be held on 10th February 2025.
About us
We are an acute trust caring for over half a million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients' homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Job responsibilities
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
1. Assist the Chief Nurse and other members of the Executive team by setting a range of strategic and operational activity in relation to the nursing workforce and its roles, behaviour and structure, or the nursing aspects of multi-disciplinary, Trust-wide activity, in order to ensure that safe and high-quality patient care is provided consistently and improved across the Trust, in line with Trust objectives and requirements.
2. Ensure that the fundamentals of care and annual quality goals are delivered effectively within own allocated division and departments and that competence in clinical practice is both developed and maintained in order to maximise the patient experience, safety and quality of service.
3. Assist the Chief Nurse with the implementation of the corporate nursing and AHP agenda; taking a specific strategic lead as required via the allocated corporate component of the role.
4. Consistently improve patient experience through a programme of listening and engagement with patients, their representatives, other key stakeholders and our workforce; and by analysing feedback provided through a variety of data sets, which will be evidenced by translation into improvement (as per Trust Quality Strategy).
5. Reduce healthcare associated infections (HCAI) and other safety incidents, evidenced by the translation of learning into improvement (as per the Trust Quality Strategy).
6. Consistently use co-design in the development and transformation of services.
7. Participate in and lead as required system transformation and service improvement in line with organisational strategies.
8. Ensure that co-production is integral and utilised at all levels of the division.
Leadership
1. Is responsible for the professional leadership and development of nursing within the division and other allocated areas in order to facilitate the delivery of excellent clinical practice.
2. Provide professional advice to nursing teams and the Clinical Leads, Clinicians, Divisional Director of Operations (and Deputy) and Specialty Managers within the division and Trust wide as required.
3. Assist the Chief Nursing Officer in the implementation of the corporate non-medical agenda; taking a specific strategic lead where requested.
4. Act as a role model for effective leadership within the organisation and ensure that poor clinical leadership is identified, challenged and improved/rectified.
5. Initiate and implement a range of ways for patients and users of the services to feedback on services and to be involved in service development.
6. Ensure all areas act on and learn from patient, carer and family feedback on their experiences.
7. Lead with compassion and kindness, setting a tone and culture that enables people to grow, develop and operate at the top of their licence.
Management
1. Act as a key member within the divisional senior management team in implementing and maintaining the clinical governance and risk management work plan.
2. Ensure complaints are responded to in a timely manner and processes are in place to ensure learning is facilitated.
3. Responsible for ensuring infection prevention and control practices are adhered to within the division.
4. Responsible for the performance management of nursing services within the division and other allocated areas.
5. Ensure that Clinical Managers and Matrons (and through these Ward Managers and other team leaders) within the division and other allocated areas have the change management and quality improvement skills to challenge clinical practice.
6. Appropriately manage and resolve employment issues within the division and as a senior manager across the Trust.
7. Ensure that all issues in relation to professional practice and other external regulation are properly considered and dealt with in support of the Chief Nursing Officer.
8. Ensure that financial controls are in place within the division and other allocated areas for the effective management and control of temporary staff.
9. Ensure that financial control of nursing expenditure is kept within agreed targets.
10. Act as an investigating officer when appropriate for complaints, serious untoward incidents or safeguarding adult investigations.
11. Regularly prepare and present written reports for: Trust Board; tier one committees; internal and external governance and assurance meetings.
12. Work collaboratively with the Chief Nursing Officer in developing the nursing shared governance infrastructure and development.
13. Participate in the senior manager on call rota and deputise for the Chief Nursing Officer internally and externally.
Strategy and Planning
1. Represent the Chief Nurse internally and externally where requested.
2. Work with the Chief Nurse in the implementation of the corporate nursing agenda in order to support the achievements of strategic objectives.
3. Lead, participate and work with Trust and Divisional Workforce Groups to design and deliver the most effective and efficient structures, roles and processes to meet the organisational and patient needs.
4. Lead and contribute to an effective quality improvement work programme as part of the corporate nursing agenda.
5. Work with the Divisional Medical Director and Divisional Director of Operations, setting the strategic direction for the division.
6. Lead the safe staffing agenda within the division, ensuring establishments comply with regulatory standards.
7. Lead a bi-annual nursing establishment review across the division.
8. Lead an ambitious programme of improvement of the quality and safety agenda using quality improvement methodology.
9. Responsible for the writing, updating and monitoring of all policies relating to the division nursing agenda.
Education and Development
1. Ensure that all direct reports are supported and supervised.
2. Ensure that appraisal compliance includes personal development plans.
3. In collaboration with the corporate nursing team, monitor the uptake of the contract and the quality of the outcomes.
4. Act as a professional resource for the nursing workforce in order to ensure a high-quality learning environment is achieved.
5. Advise the corporate nursing team and education providers regarding the pre and post registration programmes and curriculum content that is required.
6. Support the development and delivery of adequate and appropriate mandatory training for all Trust staff.
7. Develop a highly skilled, compassionate workforce that excels in clinical practice whilst demonstrating the Trust values.
Person Specification
Knowledge and Understanding
1. Understanding of National Strategies and their interpretation and application for Nursing, Midwifery and therapies.
2. Good knowledge of infection control and prevention, safeguarding, compliance, clinical governance, risk management, improving patient safety, patient experience and clinical effectiveness.
3. Knowledge of key performance indicators and compliance against quality/risk/governance agendas.
4. Evidence of delivering and supporting waste reduction and efficiency and productivity strategies.
Personal Attributes
1. An effective leader with a track record of delivery.
2. Team player with a can-do attitude.
3. Self-motivated, proactive and creative.
4. Demonstrates a commitment to continuous self-development.
5. Has good self-awareness and self-management skill set.
6. Personal value base conducive with agreed values and behaviours in Trust.
7. Highly motivated, confident and tenacious.
8. Able to deal both with multi-tasking in a complex environment as well as able to focus intense concentration on single issues for periods.
9. Professional and personal credibility.
Skills
1. Effective and demonstrable communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.
2. Able to present to Board credibly both through written and verbal reports.
3. Communicate with a range of stakeholders to explain complex information.
4. Ability to communicate highly contentious information.
5. Possess natural authority and able to gain respect from others.
6. Deploy coaching and mentoring skills to bring the best out in people.
7. Ability to lead and contribute to policy development.
8. Highly developed report writing and analytical skills.
9. Highly skilled in influencing, negotiating and building working relationships.
10. Experience of working with Clinical Service staff.
11. Evidence of delivering objectives and improving services through working with teams.
12. Ability to demonstrate leadership and delivery of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services.
13. Ability to use IT systems and software to support care delivery and effective management.
14. Able to deliver without direct line management control.
15. Proven ability to consistently achieve results and challenging targets.
16. Able to take tough decisions and calculated risks and see required actions through.
17. Ability to hold others to account and manage demanding programmes of work.
Qualifications
1. Current NMC Registered Nurse Registration.
2. Educated to masters degree or equivalent level, supplemented by extensive, specialist clinical and nursing training.
3. Required to have a post-graduate management/leadership/teaching qualification e.g., MBA or equivalent experience.
4. Evidence of extensive continued professional development in a variety of professional disciplines.
Experience
1. Extensive experience at a senior nursing level in the NHS, private sector or education organisation.
2. Extensive senior nurse management experience with demonstrable track record of success in a complex healthcare organisation.
3. Evidence of participation in corporate decision making and managing in a complex change environment.
4. Evidence of leading multi-professional and cross-organisational service development.
5. Experience of comprehensive business planning and translating organisational strategy and vision into operational objectives.
6. Experience of developing, investigating and implementing systems to improve working knowledge of governance and risk performance.
7. Demonstrate significant experience of effective people management and development.
8. Experience of leading change and service improvement at a senior level.
9. Desirable to have experience of working at system, place and/or regional and national level.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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