Acute Surgical Navigator

Bristol Nhs Foundation Trust; West of England; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an Acute Surgical Navigator (Registered Nurse) to join the Surgical Same Day Emergency Care unit. You will guide patients along the correct pathway, provide treatment guidance, and support the development of new patient pathways.

You’ll work with the MDT across SSDEC and may cover Weston or Southmead as required. The role emphasises autonomy, professional judgment, and delivering timely, safe care within a fast-paced 7-day service.

Qualifications

• Senior-level surgical experience is required.
• Proven ability to teach in various settings.
• Demonstrated ability to support colleagues and manage workload.
• Ability to exercise professional judgment and clinical reasoning.

Responsibilities

• Provide safe, timely, and effective urgent surgical care across SSDEC and inpatient settings.
• Contribute to developing pathways and service improvements (e.g., CholeQuic, diverticulitis, abscess management).
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary team and across sites to optimise patient care.
• Communicate clearly with patients and families, ensuring informed decisions and follow-up plans.

Skills

Surgical leadership

Clinical decision making

Teaching / mentoring

Communication

Education

NMC/HCPC registration

Job description

Acute Surgical Navigator
The closing date is 30 October 2026

Job summary

Are you a dynamic, proactive, and compassionate Registered Nurse ready to shape the future of urgent surgical care? We're looking for an Acute Surgical Navigator to join our innovative and friendly multidisciplinary team within the Surgical Same Day Emergency Care (SSDEC) unit -- a fast-paced, 7-day service for acute surgical patients. As a key member of our team, you'll help ensure patients are on the right pathway from the moment they arrive, providing clear communication, treatment guidance, and follow-up plans. You'll manage a varied caseload with support from the surgical team, using your clinical judgement and autonomy to make complex decisions. This role plays a vital part in driving service improvements, including evolving pathways such as CholeQuic, diverticulitis, and abscess management, as well as supporting the further development of new patient pathways. You'll also support cross-site collaboration and may be required to work across both the Weston and Southmead Hospital operating units to streamline and enhance patient care. Working closely with NHS @ Home and the wider urgent surgical MDT, you'll help deliver timely, safe, and effective care -- whether in SSDEC, as an inpatient, or through outpatient support.

Main duties of the job

• Practice in compliance with your code of professional conduct and within your agreed scope of practice, being responsible and accountable for your decisions, actions and omissions at this level of practice.
• Develop, improve and promote the service ensuring the delivery of high quality, cost effective care utilising the support and guidance of clinical colleagues
• Develop the skills to act as a resource and as a patient advocate, to help negotiate their care needs and journey, ensuring optimum level of service to patients and families
• Support patient investigations and treatments in conjunction with wider MDT
• Use professional judgement regarding when to seek help, demonstrating critical reflection on your own practice, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and openness to change.
• Have independence in working in partnership with individuals, families and carers, using a range of assessment methods as appropriate
• Demonstrating effective communication skills, supporting people in making decisions, planning care or seeking to make positive changes, using HEE framework to promote person centred approaches in health and care
• Demonstrate professional judgement to manage risk appropriately, especially where there may be complex and unpredictable events and supporting teams to do likewise to ensure safety of individuals, families and carers.

About us

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston. With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we're meeting our pledge.

Details

Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum, pro rata for part time roles
Band: Band 7
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Location: Bristol Royal Infirmary, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol, BS2 8HW

Essential

• Relevant surgical specialty experience at a senior level
• Proven evidence of teaching in a variety of environments
• Demonstrated ability to support colleagues
• Ability to organise and prioritise own workload effectively
• Clinical expert in surgical speciality
• Ability to apply critical thinking to identify solutions
• Ability to demonstrate commitment to high quality patient care
• Professional NMC registration or HCPC registration
• Evidence of formal ongoing professional development
• Teaching or mentoring qualification or equivalent experience
• Supportive
• Respectful
• Innovative
• Collaborative
• Resilience
• Ability to perform in stressful and complex situation
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to inspire and lead a team
• Ability to build effective working relationships
• Ability to gain credibility and influence colleagues
• Ability to work alone or as part of a team
• Flexible
• Enthusiastic and motivated
• Pro-active, dynamic and organised
• Sound clinical reasoning and decision making

Desirable

• Proven leadership and management experience in a surgical setting
• Experience or sound knowledge of change management as part of a leadership role
• Have experience of leading research or quality improvement projects
• Familiar with local, regional, National healthcare initiatives
• Evidence of masters level academic study or willingness to work towards (in relevant health related subject)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact: Charlotte Ball, [e-mail]