Clinical Lead – NCL Altered Airway and Complex Respiratory Service

NHS; City Of London; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK is looking for a Clinical Lead to join their team on a 6-month contract. The successful candidate will support patients with complex respiratory needs and manage key operational initiatives. Candidates should have advanced clinical skills, a Nursing or Physiotherapy degree, and significant experience within respiratory care. This role promotes flexible working within a multidisciplinary team, offering a competitive salary of £64,156 to £71,148 pro rata.

Qualifications

• Post registration experience in acute and community respiratory and Altered airway management within the NHS.
• Experience at a Band 7 level within respiratory medicine or Critical Care.
• Evidence of continued professional development.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical support to discharge altered airway and complex respiratory patients.
• Lead, co-ordinate and evaluate altered airway care in the community.
• Develop a sustainable NCL respiratory equipment proposal.

Skills

Advanced clinical skills

Project management

Communication skills

Teamwork

Education

Degree/Diploma in Physiotherapy or Nursing

HCPC or NMC Registration

Job description

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Lead – NCL Altered Airway and Complex Respiratory Service

The closing date is 03 December 2025

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate and experienced physiotherapist or nurse to join our team as 0.2wte for 6-months to cover maternity leave. The NCL Altered Airway and Complex Respiratory Service (NCL AACRS) supports patients and carers living with altered airways and complex respiratory needs across NCL. The main responsibilities for this role are to support the transition to a new community provider for respiratory consumables, streamline current equipment process, provide clinical and non‑clinical supervision for the team and facilitate joint working with the NCL Commissioners.

This role is only for 6-months and would be an ideal secondment for someone looking to further their experience. We are looking for an individual with advanced skills in the management of altered airway and complex respiratory patients and experience of working in a community setting. Project management skills or previous experience with community equipment are desirable.

The successful candidate will be a dynamic and motivated individual who can provide decisive and effective therapy input and demonstrate high level communication skills and a flexible approach when working under pressure.

For more information, please contact Jessica Lipman ([e-mail])

Main duties of the job

To provide clinical support; facilitating the discharge of altered airway and complex respiratory patients from the acute wards, young adults transitioning into adult services and people living with altered airways in the community. To be an expert practitioner in all aspects of altered airway care and respiratory practice. To work within a multi‑disciplinary team, liaising appropriately with all members of the team and service users, both within the acute trusts and across NCL. To lead, co‑ordinate and evaluate altered airway care in the NCL community. To promote UCLH and NCL as a national leader in developing community expertise in altered airway care. To provide expert clinical and operational leadership through supervision, advice, guidance and information to the community nursing and therapy teams.

To develop a proposal for sustainable NCL respiratory equipment provision.

To provide oversight and monitoring of the current NCL/Camden Personal Health Budget (PHB) pilot.

About us

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world‑class research. We provide first‑class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

• University College Hospital
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women's health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.

We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.

Job responsibilities

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*

* UCLH top trust to work at in England – In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England for the third year in a row.

UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff. To find out more, visit: Flexible working.

To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?

Person Specification

Knowledge and Qualifications

• Degree/Diploma in Physiotherapy or Nursing
• HCPC or NMC Registration
• Working at 'M' level as demonstrated by ongoing CPD
• Commitment to advanced clinical and professional development
• Recognised post graduate qualification e.g. MSc
• Membership of SIG
• Member of relevant appropriate multi professional interest group

Experience

• Post registration experience in acute and community respiratory and Altered airway management within the NHS
• Significant experience at a Band 7 level within respiratory medicine, Surgery and/or Critical Care, with responsibility for the whole patient journey following tracheostomy
• Highly specialist knowledge & experience of a wide range of approaches to the management of patients with complex respiratory needs, demonstrated by advanced clinical reasoning.
• Expert level of knowledge in the application of all respiratory modalities including invasive and non‑invasive respiratory support
• Expert level of knowledge of tracheostomy management including development of weaning strategies.
• Evidence of continued professional development – reviewing current practice and research developments within respiratory care and application to clinical practice
• Previous experience of student and staff supervision, clinical education and management.
• Previous experience of formal presentations to multi professional groups
• Experience of project management
• Robust understanding of all aspects of Clinical Governance including previous experience of quality issues, audit and risk management.
• Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team.
• Clear understanding of other disciplines' roles and expectations
• Experience of delivering services in the community
• Previous experience as a clinical specialist (or equivalent) in an acute or community environment
• Experience of working with people with LD and neurological progressive conditions
• Evidence of published data in recognised journals
• Evidence of presentation of own research

Skills and Abilities

• Expert advanced clinical practitioner
• Able to work independently or as part of a team
• Excellent time management, leadership and organisational skills
• Confidence in teaching multi‑disciplinary staff groups
• Conduct professional affairs in a confident and assertive manner.
• Excellent presentation skills
• Able to recognise work related stress and pressures in yourself and individuals.

Communication, Personal and People Development

• Able to present information, written and orally in a clear and logical fashion.
• Able to represent the service within the Trust and to external agencies regularly, and on a local, national and international level.
• Able to effectively articulate expert perspective with medical colleagues and members of the multidisciplinary team, when conflicting management options are available.
• Able to use a range of expert verbal and non‑verbal communication skills to communicate effectively with patients
• Able motivate and persuade others (including staff and patients) through advanced communication skills, using written and electronic information where needed.
• Ability to keep legible and accurate records in English using SOAP format
• Able to deliver highly sensitive and complex information requiring highly developed educational or counselling role.
• Able to diffuse potentially hostile and antagonistic situations with staff, patients and relatives, using highly developed negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Able to identify, develop and agree own personal development plan with feedback from MDT.
• Able to support and develop others to make realistic self assessments of their application of knowledge and skills.
• Able to generate and use appropriate learning opportunities
• Able to develop others in a manner that is consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
• Able to actively promote the workplace as a learning environment.

Responsibilities towards promoting Equality Diversity and Inclusion

• Demonstrable understanding of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and/or Knowledge of the NHS obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duties

Specific Role requirements

• Able to carry out concurrent activities (multi‑tasking) and work in an unpredictable working pattern (will be required to carry a mobile phone).
• Ability to frequently cope with working in a stressful environment and with intense concentration for periods of up to 60 minutes at a time throughout the day
• To be prepared to participate in 7‑day services as required.

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.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

£64,156 to £71,148 a year Per annum inclusive of HCAS, pro Rata