Job overview
The Service Lead for Neighbourhood Nursing provides senior clinical and operational leadership across the service, working jointly with a second Service Lead and the Directorate Management Team to ensure the delivery of high‑quality, safe and effective patient care. The postholder is jointly responsible for meeting key performance indicators, managing resources, and ensuring the service operates within financial and clinical governance frameworks. They will maintain a visible clinical presence, offering senior expertise, supervision and support to teams, while upholding the highest professional standards.
The role includes accountability for staff management, appraisal systems, workforce development, recruitment, induction and professional supervision. The Service Lead promotes a culture of learning and continuous improvement, ensuring robust investigation of incidents and complaints, while driving quality assurance, infection prevention and control, and evidence‑based practice.
The postholder will contribute to strategic planning, service redesign and the implementation of Integrated Neighbourhood Team (INT) working. They also support research, education and training initiatives, uphold excellent patient experience, and represent the Trust across internal and external forums. The role requires strong leadership, performance management, and the ability to foster collaborative working to deliver integrated, patient‑centred neighbourhood nursing services
Closing date: 17th April 2026
Interview date: 15th May 2026
Main duties of the job
The Service Lead for Neighbourhood Nursing provides senior leadership, ensuring delivery of high‑quality, safe and effective patient care. The role includes overseeing the deployment of resources, monitoring performance against clinical, financial and operational targets, and taking timely action where standards fall or risks arise. The postholder holds managerial accountability for supporting, supervising and developing staff, ensuring robust appraisal, job planning, induction, professional supervision, and competency development across the service.
The Service Lead maintains a senior presence, contributing to patient‑facing care and offering expert guidance. They ensure full compliance with clinical governance requirements, leading on incident investigation, Duty of Candour, complaints handling, and the implementation of learning and improvement plans. The role provides clinical leadership for infection prevention and control, guideline implementation, antibiotic stewardship, FP10 prescribing and alignment with agreed standards.
They drive quality assurance through audit, risk management, performance monitoring, and delivery on KPI, The postholder leads service improvement, contributes to strategic planning, and supports the development of research, education and training. Additional responsibilities include representing the Trust in internal and external forums, acting as investigating or hearing officer, and maintaining their own clinical practice and registration.
Working for our organisation
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest, and most successful healthcare Trusts, renowned for clinical excellence, research and education. Staff contribute to a wide range of hospital and community services across South London, while supporting nationally recognised specialist programmes including cancer, renal and cardiovascular. The Trust’s major sites host leading facilities such as the Guy’s Cancer Centre and one of the country’s biggest critical care and emergency departments.
Working within the Trust means being part of an organisation committed to delivering outstanding patient experience, maintaining some of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS, and continually developing innovative models of care. The integration with the Royal Brompton and Harefield has strengthened its position as a world‑leading heart and lung centre.
Staff benefit from a supportive, inclusive culture shaped by the Trust’s values—Caring, Ambitious and Inclusive—and reflected in high workforce engagement. Community services, including Integrated Local Services, play a vital role in providing care closer to home and work in partnership with GPs, local authorities and voluntary organisations. With more than 23,500 employees and one of the NHS’s most ambitious investment programmes, Guy’s and St Thomas’ offers a dynamic, collaborative and forward‑thinking environment where staff can thrive and make a meaningful difference to patient care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Leadership & Management
1. Provide senior clinical and operational leadership for the Neighbourhood Nursing service.
2. Deliver agreed clinical, financial and operational performance targets.
3. Ensure effective resource deployment and escalate risks where necessary.
4. Maintain a visible presence across teams and support MDT working.
5. Hold managers and teams to account through regular performance reviews.
Clinical Governance & Quality
6. Lead investigations, Duty of Candour and complaints management.
7. Ensure compliance with Trust policies, national standards and IPC requirements.
8. Oversee guideline updates, audit activity, KPIs and risk management processes.
9. Promote learning from incidents, near misses and patient feedback.
10. Uphold high standards of infection prevention, antibiotic stewardship and safety.
Workforce & Professional Standards
11. Manage staff performance, supervision, enhanced appraisal and job planning.
12. Lead induction, recruitment, retention and workforce development.
13. Ensure robust professional supervision, revalidation readiness and competency assessment.
14. Support clinical placements and ensure environments are suitable for learners.
Service Improvement & Strategy
15. Lead service improvement initiatives and contribute to organisational strategy.
16. Support integrated working with partners across health, social care and voluntary sectors.
17. Represent the Trust at internal and external forums as required.
Education, Training & Clinical Role
18. Maintain own clinical practice and deliver senior clinical input via a job plan.
19. Support research, education and ongoing training across the service
Person specification
Qualifications/ Education
Essential criteria
20. Registered Nurse – RGN Adult Branch
21. A Masters Level qualification or post graduate qualification in nursing or equivalent experience and ability
22. Post registration qualification in relevant clinical area
23. Proven track record of developing nursing practice
24. Evidence of training in first line management and leadership disciplinary/ grievance, recruitment and selection, change management.
25. Post qualification courses or portfolio of evidence demonstrating comprehensive understanding of relevant clinical area to include management and leadership.
26. Post qualification training in management and leadership skills
Desirable criteria
27. Completed a recognised management qualification
28. Experience with working with marginalised groups
29. Experience working within the Health Inclusion Field
30. Completion of the V300 prescribing course
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
31. Substantial post qualification senior clinician experience within the community setting and as part of a multi-disciplinary team
32. Post qualification ward experience as Matron/Unit Manager or equivalent, managing nursing teams in a complex setting. To include embassy and international patients.
33. Demonstrable previous success in leading and delivering change and performance by engaging clinical teams in strategic direction and delivery plans, establishing clear work priorities with them, delegating effectively, ensuring a capability to deliver, monitoring performance and giving feedback
34. Proven ability to analyse complex problems and to develop and successfully implement practical and workable solutions to address them
35. Ability to think and plan strategically, tactically and creatively, and to prioritise work programs in the face of competing demands.
36. Knowledge and ability to implement principles of clinical governance including audit, risk management, supervision, clinical effectiveness, continuing professional development, quality standards and outcomes.
37. Experience of managing and configuring budgets and the skills to monitor, assess and act on financial information.
38. Previous experience of successfully delivering national and local infection control policies and procedures.
39. Ability to collaborate constructively with internal and external partners to create the conditions for successful partnership working.
Skills/ Knowledge/ Ability
Essential criteria
40. Well developed leadership and influencing skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams, and have them understand the Trust’s and your performance expectations.
41. Evidence of high levels of expertise in clinical care and management of medical and surgical patients, with complex co morbidities and long-term conditions.
42. Sound knowledge of relevant National Service Frameworks, guidelines, strategies and initiatives and the ability to appraise, interpret and implement in practice
43. Ability to rapidly synthesise and analyse complex information and present options, appraisals, recommendations and reports
44. Skilled in word processing, spreadsheets email, databases and using the internet.
45. Highly developed communication skills (written and verbal) and the ability to communicate on complex matters issues and ideas in challenging situations
46. The ability to implement sound performance and reporting mechanisms for service activity, quality and outcomes and recognise and respond early to variances
47. Able to demonstrate tact and sensitivity with staff, colleagues and the public
Desirable criteria
48. A clear understanding of the changing NHS environment.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.