Lead Practice Nurse

Job purpose

To provide safe, effective and

person-centred nursing care while leading, coordinating and supporting the

practice nursing team. The Lead Nurse will provide professional leadership,

help maintain consistent clinical standards, oversee agreed nursing systems and

provide assurance to the Practice Partners and management team. The post holder

remains personally accountable for their own clinical practice and does not

replace the individual professional accountability of other registered

clinicians.

Accountability framework

Each registered nurse remains

professionally accountable for their own decisions, actions, omissions,

competence and compliance with the NMC Code.

The Lead Nurse is accountable

for the reasonable leadership, coordination, monitoring and escalation

functions allocated to the role, including acting when concerns are identified.

automatically personally accountable for every act or omission of another

clinician merely because they lead the nursing team.

Where work is delegated, the

Lead Nurse must ensure that delegation is appropriate, instructions are clear,

and the person accepting the task has the necessary competence and support.

Ultimate organisational and

employer accountability remains with the Practice Partners and the practice

management structure. Significant clinical, staffing, safety or resource

concerns must be escalated promptly.

The scope of the role must be

supported by appropriate authority, protected leadership time, access to

information, and agreed reporting arrangements.

Key duties and responsibilities1. Clinical practice

Provide nursing treatments

independently or with GPs, within professional competence and agreed practice

protocols.

Undertake general and specific

health assessment and screening, referring to a GP or other appropriate

clinician when required.

Provide services applicable to

the practice, which may include cervical screening, immunisations, wound care,

blood pressure monitoring, family planning, chronic disease management, healthy

living advice, venepuncture and new-patient assessment.

Maintain accurate,

contemporaneous patient records and relevant activity data.

Work in accordance with the NMC

Code, evidence-based practice, local pathways, patient group directions and

practice policies relevant to the service delivered.

Maintain confidentiality,

informed consent, safeguarding awareness and appropriate clinical escalation.

2. Professional leadership and team coordination

Provide visible day-to-day

professional leadership for the nursing team and promote a supportive,

respectful and learning-focused culture.

Coordinate nursing workload and

deployment within the authority and resources agreed by the Practice Partners

and management team.

Clarify roles, responsibilities

and expected standards across the nursing team.

Support induction, supervision,

mentoring and development of nurses, nursing associates, healthcare assistants,

students and other learners, within the post holders competence.

Hold or contribute to regular

nursing team meetings, communicate agreed actions and monitor completion.

Identify capability, conduct,

health, wellbeing or performance concerns and escalate or address them through

the appropriate practice process. Formal employment decisions remain with

authorised managers or Partners.

Support recruitment and

appraisal activity where requested and appropriately trained.

3. Clinical governance, quality and safety

Coordinate nursing-related

audits, quality improvement activity and reviews of clinical practice, with

actions recorded, allocated and followed up.

Monitor adherence to agreed

nursing protocols and identify where policies, training or systems require

review.

Promote effective incident

reporting, learning and implementation of agreed actions. Escalate serious or

recurring concerns promptly.

Support the investigation and

clinical review of complaints relating to nursing services, while ensuring the

practice complaints process and responsible manager are followed.

Contribute nursing evidence and

assurance for CQC readiness, infection prevention and control, safeguarding,

medicines and vaccine governance, cold-chain management, emergency preparedness

and other applicable regulatory requirements.

Review relevant nursing

performance, safety and service information and provide proportionate assurance

reports to the Practice Partners and management team.

Work with the practice

safeguarding, infection prevention, medicines and other designated leads. The

Lead Nurse only holds a named lead portfolio where this has been expressly

allocated, supported and documented.

4. Workforce competence, training and professional

registration

Maintain an overview of

role-relevant nursing competencies, mandatory training and professional

registration checks through agreed practice systems.

Identify training needs and

support an annual or role-based training plan for the nursing team.

Ensure staff are not knowingly

allocated work outside confirmed competence and escalate any gaps that affect

safe service delivery.

Provide or arrange clinical

supervision and learning opportunities within available resources.

Maintain the post holders own

NMC registration, continuing professional development, required training and

evidence of competence.

Undertake or coordinate

competency assessments where the Lead Practice Nurse is appropriately trained,

competent and authorised to assess the relevant area of practice.

Maintain an agreed competency

framework and assurance record for nursing staff and healthcare assistants,

identifying gaps, supervision requirements and review dates.

Ensure effective induction and

preceptorship arrangements are in place for new members of the nursing team,

proportionate to their experience and role.

5. Clinical systems, supplies and service delivery

Oversee agreed systems for

vaccines, medicines, clinical stock, equipment, emergency medicines,

consumables and associated records, with specific tasks delegated to competent

staff where appropriate.

Ensure identified equipment or

supply issues are acted upon or escalated to the responsible manager.

Contribute to safe, effective

use of the clinical system, templates, coding and recall processes relevant to

nursing services.

Help plan and improve nursing

services according to patient need, practice priorities, commissioned

requirements and available capacity.

Liaise as appropriate with GPs,

managers, pharmacies, community services, commissioners, local authorities,

social care and voluntary organisations.

Contribute to nursing workforce

planning, skills-mix review, clinic design, rota planning, annual leave

coordination and service-capacity reviews, with final staffing decisions

remaining with authorised managers or Practice Partners.

Monitor nursing capacity and

identify where staffing levels, skill mix or clinical demand may affect patient

access, safety or service delivery, escalating concerns appropriately.

Support delivery and monitoring

of nursing contributions to QOF, enhanced services, locally commissioned

services and other agreed practice clinical targets, while maintaining safe,

individualised patient care.

Oversee the effective use of

nursing templates, SNOMED coding, clinical searches, recall systems and

data-quality processes relevant to nursing services.

6. Policy, audit and improvement

Lead or contribute to the

development, review and implementation of nursing policies, protocols, standard

operating procedures and clinical pathways.

Participate in research, audit

and quality improvement approved by the practice.

Identify areas requiring

improvement, agree proportionate actions with relevant leads and monitor

progress.

Promote equality, dignity,

patient involvement and reduction of health inequalities within nursing

services.

Act as, or support, the

practice Infection Prevention and Control Lead where this portfolio is

expressly allocated, including completion of audits, maintenance of action

plans, staff training, monitoring and provision of assurance evidence.

Where the IPC Lead portfolio is

not allocated to the post holder, work closely with the named IPC Lead and

support implementation of agreed IPC actions across the nursing team.

Support governance of vaccine

storage and cold-chain processes, including monitoring, incident escalation and

implementation of learning, within the responsibilities allocated by the

practice.

7. Information governance, health and safety and security

Follow practice requirements

for confidentiality, information governance, data protection, record security

and safe use of clinical systems.

This is more than simply another nursing role.

It is an opportunity to become a key member of our clinical leadership team, help develop a high-performing nursing service and make a lasting difference to the health and wellbeing of our patients.

We value the knowledge, experience and ideas our nurses bring to the practice and encourage a culture of mutual respect, professional development and continuous improvement.

If you are looking for a rewarding leadership role where you can combine your passion for nursing with the opportunity to lead and inspire others, we would love to hear from you.

Qualifications

Essential: - see supporting doc

Desirable: - see supporting doc