District Nurse Team Lead

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Woolwich; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS trust in Woolwich seeks a District Nurse Team Leader to manage and deliver high-quality care. The role includes overseeing a team, ensuring optimal patient outcomes, and leading clinical practices. Candidates must have at least 2 years managing a nursing team and strong clinical assessment skills. This is a full-time position with a commitment to community health improvement.

Qualifications

• Minimum two years managing a District Nurse team caseload.
• Experience in leading healthcare teams and managing complex patient needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Greenwich District Nursing Team to deliver high-quality nursing care.
• Perform delegated management duties and support the Matron.
• Contribute to clinical performance monitoring and reporting.

Skills

Patient care

Team leadership

Communication skills

Autonomous practice

Clinical assessment

Job description

Important Sponsorship Information

We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

Role Overview

This role combines management responsibility for the Greenwich District Nursing Team. The post holder will lead team of nurses and support staff with the responsibility of managing the care for a defined caseload. Community nurses work as part of a team delivering high‑quality evidence‑based nursing care to clients within their own homes, residential homes and clinical environments. As part of a District Nursing team you will emphasise prevention and rehabilitation as well as curative and palliative care. The post holder will work autonomously, making diagnoses, initiating medical and/or nursing treatments, prescribing medications, referring appropriately and leading coordination of care with partner agencies and key stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform delegated line‑management duties and support the Matron, taking over responsibilities for running the service in her absence.
• Support the Matron in delivering the service objectives and in performance managing the service.
• Contribute to the collection, monitoring and reporting on clinical statistics.
• Provide team leadership and take responsibility for co‑ordination, supervision, teaching and appraisal of other staff services as appropriate.
• Provide effective line management to ensure all nursing and staff within the team are appropriately managed and that resources are controlled and utilised effectively, demonstrating value for money and high‑quality patient care.
• Carry out staff management responsibilities for directly line‑managed staff in line with appropriate policy & procedure and the "Managing People" guidelines, including recruitment, appraisal and necessary performance‑management measures, and support the CNS in carrying out these responsibilities.
• Ensure that:
  • All staff have a yearly PDR (including a 6‑monthly review) and regular one‑to‑one meetings with their line manager.
  • All clinical staff complete the clinical competency framework relevant to their professional role, including any specialist competencies identified through PDR or service development.
  • Robust systems are in place for managing and reducing sickness and other forms of absence and performance/conduct problems.
  • All staff maintain statutory and mandatory training.
  • All staff have up‑to‑date DBS and NMC registration, work within the NMC code of conduct and carry an up‑to‑date work permit where appropriate.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Work closely with and support the Senior Management Team within the Service to ensure optimal utilisation of Community Teams resources, monitoring patient dependency, caseload duration and proactive audit measures.
• In support of the Greenwich DN Matron, provide professional and specialist clinical leadership to the LTC Sub‑Directorate, ensuring all Nursing staff within the team are clinically and professionally developed.
• Act as a sign‑off mentor as per NMC requirements.
• Embed the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust Core Values within the allocated teams.

Clinical Responsibilities

• Use advanced clinical practice and assessment skills to undertake comprehensive assessments of physical and psychosocial needs and perform clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner.
• Analyse and interpret highly complex information to make a differential diagnosis and decide on an appropriate course of action or treatment.
• Instigate therapeutic treatments/interventions consistent with best available evidence to improve health outcomes.
• Provide expert clinical care for patients with complex needs and formulate appropriate treatment and care plans.
• Recognise and manage early symptoms of disease exacerbation and acute illness based on disease knowledge, current evidence and practice standards.
• Work with GPs and/or hospital physicians to ensure robust communication around clinical care as indicated.
• Provide full assessments and interventions and undertake nursing procedures as indicated, for example catheterisation, phlebotomy.
• Request appropriate investigations, interpret results and act on them in consultation with GPs and/or secondary care clinicians.
• Design and monitor Care Plans for patients, ensuring they are patient‑focused with robust clinical safety and patient dignity frameworks.
• Deal sensitively with distressing or emotional circumstances regarding patient care and communicate complex information with empathy and reassurance to patients, carers and MDT members both verbally and in writing.
• Maintain full knowledge of evidence‑based practice and clinical management options, demonstrating the highest level of expertise and clinical reasoning skills.
• Refer appropriately and timely to relevant services where clinically indicated, e.g. Intermediate Care, General Medicine, and other specialist teams.
• Prescribe treatment as an independent prescriber, actively managing polypharmacy and medication issues in accordance with Department of Health, Professional and organisational guidelines.
• Incorporate patient preferences into treatment decisions, such as planning advanced directives near the end of life.
• Manage patients at high risk of readmission proactively and minimise the risk of hospital admission wherever possible.

Communication Responsibilities

• Use advanced communication skills to convey sensitive and complex information effectively to patients and carers, overcoming obstacles to understanding or acceptance.
• Prepare patients and families for changes in condition and support choices about end‑of‑life care, e.g. living wills and care options.
• Competently and sensitively break bad news following good practice guidelines.
• Communicate at all organisational levels to a variety of professionals and external organisations.
• Use medical terminology confidently when communicating with medical practitioners.
• Keep accurate documentation and care plans (Patient Held Records and RIO) in accordance with Trust/Professional guidelines and provide written reports as required.
• Record all own activity on RIO and ensure that this is maintained within the larger team.
• Liaise and collaborate with other agencies such as social services and voluntary community sectors to mobilise resources as needed.
• Provide targeted health education strategies and personal coaching to support lifestyle changes and proactive self‑management.

Qualifications

• At least two years of experience managing a District Nurse team caseload is essential.

Inclusion Statement

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. If you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme – please ensure you select this on your application form. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting the request.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Using AI or other tools to assist in writing your application requires you to personalise the information, particularly your supporting statement. While AI can help streamline the writing process, it may generate generic, impersonal, or misleading content. We do not advocate AI‑generated applications and specifically prohibit the use of AI during the interview process. We monitor applications for fairness and check references carefully.

Apply and Develop

You will be committed to the development of the team through effective leadership and given the opportunity to develop your own clinical skills through delivery of a wide range of evidence‑based care and an active personal development plan.

About Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure settings. Services include district nursing, speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities, and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and work closely with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services, serving the South of England and surrounding counties.

Core Values

• We’re Kind
• We’re Fair
• We Listen
• We Care