Head of Nursing - Surgery

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Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 - the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the IC S in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

Lead, Inspire, Transform

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and ambitious senior nursing leader to join Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust as Head of Nursing for Surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

This is a pivotal leadership role within our Surgical Directorate, offering the opportunity to influence strategic decision making, drive quality improvement and lead the delivery of outstanding surgical care across a diverse portfolio of inpatient, outpatient and perioperative services.

As Head of Nursing, you will provide professional, operational and strategic nursing leadership, ensuring the highest standards of patient care, safety, quality and experience. Working closely with the Clinical Director, General Manager, Matrons and multidisciplinary teams, you will play a key role in shaping and delivering the Directorate's vision, supporting service transformation and achieving excellence in clinical outcomes.

This role is ideal for an inspirational and compassionate leader who thrives in a complex environment and is passionate about developing services, supporting staff and achieving the best outcomes for patients.

Main duties of the job

Provide strategic and professional nursing leadership across Surgical Services.

Ensure the delivery of safe, effective, responsive and high-quality patient care.

Lead on nursing quality, patient safety, safeguarding, patient experience and clinical governance.

Drive continuous improvement and innovation across surgical pathways and services.

Support the development and implementation of directorate and Trust-wide strategies and objectives.

Work collaboratively with medical, operational and corporate colleagues to improve performance and patient outcomes.

Lead workforce planning, recruitment, retention and succession planning initiatives.

Foster a culture of compassionate leadership, inclusion, accountability and continuous learning.

Ensure effective management of quality indicators, regulatory requirements and performance standards.

Champion evidence-based practice, research, education and professional development.

Lead and support service redesign programmes that enhance efficiency, productivity and patient experience.

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

• Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
• Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
• Improving the experience of staff with disability
• Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
• Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Current NMC registration.

Significant senior leadership experience within acute hospital services, ideally within Surgery or an associated clinical specialty.

A proven track record of leading quality improvement, service transformation and operational performance.

Strong experience in clinical governance, patient safety and workforce leadership.

The ability to influence and build effective relationships across multidisciplinary teams and organisational boundaries.

Excellent communication, leadership and organisational skills.

Experience of managing complex change within a large healthcare organisation.

A commitment to staff wellbeing, inclusion and professional development.

Educated to Master's level or equivalent senior leadership experience, with evidence of ongoing professional development.

Person specification Qualifications and Training

• Post graduate training in Clinical Specialty, or Business or NHS Management in progress or completed
• Formal education to first degree level or equivalent ability
• RN part 1
• Master's degree or equivalent ability/evidence of skill

Experience

• Minimum 3 years operational management in an acute NHS Trust, including senior level experience & management of specialist services

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note: Information provided during recruitment and pre employment checks must be accurate. Misrepresentation may be investigated as fraud and could lead to withdrawal from the process, professional sanctions, or criminal action.

Please note: that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.

Use of AI in recruitment: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support the initial review of applications against the essential criteria for this role. Where AI is used, it will support rather than replace human decision making, and applications will remain subject to appropriate human review.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Shelly Rose Job title Divisional Director of Nursing and Governance Email address Telephone number