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Head of Nursing - Urgent and Emergency Care

Northampton General Hospital

Northampton, NN1 5BDView on map(opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Salary

£94,356 to £108,814

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Not specified

Closing date

5 October 2026

4 days left

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an exceptional senior nurse leader to join University Hospitals of Northamptonshire as Head of Nursing for Urge...

Provide visible, credible and compassionate nursing leadership across the Urent and Emergency Care portfolio.

Lead the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality patient care and experience.

Drive quality improvement, clinical governance and patient-safety priorities.

Shape workforce strategy, safe staffing, recruitment, retention and professional development.

Work collaboratively with clinical, operational and corporate colleagues to deliver performance and transformation.

Influence senior stakeholders and represent nursing across the organisation and wider system.

Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.

We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.

Education, Training & Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Nurse - with current NMC Registration and no restrictions on practice.
  • Master's degree in Nursing, leadership or management or relevant subject or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level.
  • Post-graduate qualification within a leadership program/study or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level.
  • Evidence of further study/education or courses demonstrating significant additional education, training or experience

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

  • Substantial experience managing nursing services within Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC), including Emergency Departments, Same Day Emergency Care, Acute Medicine, Assessment Units, or other unscheduled care pathways.
  • Proven experience in a senior nursing leadership role with responsibility for quality, governance, workforce, operational performance, and budgetary oversight.
  • Knowledge and experience of human resources management, communicating highly complex and contentious information to individuals and large groups.
  • Evidence of leading and delivering major service transformation programs, including workforce redesign, quality improvement initiatives, and changes to clinical pathways.
  • Experience of preparing services for and responding to CQC inspections within UEC services
  • In depth knowledge of the clinical governance agenda including clinical risk and safety. Up to date with current clinical nursing practice including own area of expertise, to enable deliver of direct patient care if/when required.
  • Demonstrates a clear understanding of and continuing acceptance of the need for financial governance and probity.

Desirable: - Current or recent experience as a Head of Nursing, Deputy Head of Nursing, Associate Director of Nursing, within a UEC setting

Skills

Essential

  • Highly developed communication skills with the ability to communicate on highly complex matters and difficult situations.
  • Ability to establish credibility and develop maintain effective working relationships at Executive and senior management levels.
  • Has strong influencing and negotiating skills.
  • Up to date with current clinical nursing practice including own area of expertise, to enable deliver of direct patient care if/when required.
  • Excellent communicator - providing authentic and clear communication and direction even in times of uncertainty/ambiguity.
  • High level analytical skills and the ability to draw qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of sources and present in clear concise manner.
  • High level professional, people management skills and leadership qualities.

Key Competencies/ Personal Qualities & Attributes

Essential

  • Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality diversity and inclusion of our staff, patients and service users
  • Able to demonstrate a commitment to and understanding of the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect appropriate to their individual needs.
  • All staff are expected to engage in compassionate and inclusive leadership in the provision of high quality care and interactions with others.
  • Engages effectively across boundaries, breaking down silos, while operating in partnership with stakeholders towards a shared vision.
  • Has the drive and energy to make things happen, frequently goes 'above and beyond' the call of duty to achieve outcomes.
  • Ability to participate in On-call rota in line with On-call requirements across UHN

How to apply

Applications are handled entirely by the employer on the original advert. We do not collect CVs, supporting statements or application data.

Provenance

Source

NHS Jobs

First seen

22 September 2026

Last checked

24 September 2026

Salary, closing date and description are taken from the employer's advert. The original advert always takes precedence.

About the employer

NGH
Northampton General Hospital

NHS organisation

This listing was structured from NHS Jobs. Vacancy details and the application process remain the responsibility of the original source.

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