🩺 Ward Manager – Adult Mental Health Inpatient Services
Leeds Area
💷 Salary: Up to £52,000 per annum (dependent on experience)
🏥 About the Service
This is a specialist inpatient mental health service providing high-quality care for adult women with complex and enduring mental health needs.
The service supports individuals experiencing severe mental illness, including complex personality disorder presentations, acute psychiatric episodes, and high levels of clinical risk. Care is delivered within a structured, therapeutic inpatient environment designed to promote recovery, stability, and long-term rehabilitation.
The service operates across a full care pathway, including high-dependency inpatient care, acute admissions, and rehabilitation-focused settings. The model of care is trauma-informed, recovery-focused, and underpinned by a commitment to least restrictive practice and continuous improvement in patient outcomes.
🧑 ⚕️ Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Ward Manager to provide clinical and operational leadership to an inpatient ward.
This is a senior leadership role responsible for the day-to-day management of the ward, ensuring safe, effective, and high-quality patient care at all times. You will lead a multidisciplinary team, ensuring strong clinical governance, effective workforce management, and continuous service improvement.
You will play a key role in shaping ward culture, supporting staff development, and ensuring compliance with all clinical standards and regulatory requirements.
🎯 Key Responsibilities
* Provide visible, effective leadership for the ward on a daily basis
* Manage staffing levels, rotas, and workforce planning to ensure safe and effective care delivery
* Oversee all aspects of clinical care, ensuring adherence to evidence-based practice and organisational standards
* Lead on clinical governance, including audits, risk management, incident reviews, and quality assurance processes
* Support, supervise, and develop nursing and support staff through regular supervision and appraisal
* Promote a positive, recovery-focused ward culture centred on dignity, safety, and therapeutic engagement
* Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams including psychiatry, psychology, and allied health professionals
* Ensure compliance with regulatory bodies, internal policies, and safeguarding requirements
* Drive service improvement initiatives and contribute to ongoing development of care pathways
✅ Essential Requirements
* Registered Nurse with valid NMC registration (RMN or equivalent mental health qualification)
* Significant experience in a senior clinical or supervisory role within mental health inpatient services
* Strong leadership experience within a ward or unit-based environment
* Excellent understanding of risk management, clinical governance, and safeguarding
* Proven ability to manage teams in a complex and high-pressure clinical setting
* Strong communication, organisational, and decision-making skills
🌟 Desirable Experience
* Previous Ward Manager or Deputy Ward Manager experience
* Experience within acute inpatient, PICU, rehabilitation, or high-dependency mental health services
* Experience working with women’s mental health or personality disorder services
* Knowledge of trauma-informed and recovery-focused care models
* Experience in quality improvement or service development initiatives
🤝 What We Offer
* A supportive leadership structure with strong clinical oversight
* Opportunities for professional development and career progression
* A values-driven, recovery-focused working environment
* The opportunity to make a meaningful impact in complex mental health care