Lead Practice Nurse

Penrose Health; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Penrose Health is seeking an experienced Lead Nurse to provide clinical leadership across our nursing service while continuing hands-on patient care.

In this blended role you will lead the nursing team, oversee clinical governance and quality, and work with the Central Management Team to ensure safe, efficient care across multiple sites. You will also mentor, coach and develop staff and participate in long-term planning and improvement initiatives.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of general practice nursing, clinical governance and quality requirements.
• Safeguarding, infection prevention, medicines management and clinical risk understanding.
• Ability to lead and develop nursing staff while maintaining patient care.
• Experience with audits, incidents and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead and line-manage Practice Nurses, HCAs and Phlebotomists, including inductions and performance reviews.
• Set clear priorities, give feedback, and coach colleagues to remove barriers.
• Oversee clinical governance, safety and quality, including audits and incidents.
• Lead safeguarding, infection prevention, medicines management and clinical risk within the nursing team.
• Work with Central Management Team on rotas, cover, recruitment and retention.
• Ensure long-term condition reviews, cervical screening, immunisations and NHS Health Checks run safely.
• Monitor performance against targets and drive improvement plans.
• Continue hands-on Practice Nurse duties across the week.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical governance

Staff development

Communication

Education

NMC registration

General Practice Nursing qualification

Independent prescribing qualification

Job description

Job summary

The Lead Nurse works with clinical and non-clinical teams to deliver the best healthcare to our patients while providing leadership and oversight of the nursing service across Penrose Health.

The Lead Nurse is responsible for:

• Leading the nursing team and nursing service across Penrose Health
• Overseeing clinical governance within the nursing function
• Working with the Central Management Team to ensure the nursing service operates efficiently and effectively
• Continuing to work as a Practice Nurse and provide direct patient care for the majority of the working week.

Specific protected time will be allocated for leadership responsibilities. However, the Lead Nurse is expected to provide visible leadership and fulfil the responsibilities of the role across all their working hours.

Main duties of the job

• Leading and line-managing Practice Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Phlebotomists including inductions, mentoring, supervision and performance reviews
• Setting clear priorities, giving timely feedback and coaching colleagues to remove barriers to performance
• Overseeing clinical governance, safety and quality including audits, significant events, complaints and incident learning
• Leading on safeguarding, infection prevention, medicines management and clinical risk within the nursing team
• Working with the Central Management Team on rotas, cover, recruitment and retention
• Ensuring key clinical programmes run safely and on target long-term condition reviews, cervical screening, immunisations, wound care and NHS Health Checks
• Monitoring performance against QOF, contractual and internal targets, and driving improvement plans where needed
• Continuing to deliver hands‑on Practice Nurse duties across the working week, including long‑term condition management, screening, immunisations and patient education

About us

Penrose Health is on a mission to deliver outstanding healthcare to every patient we serve.

We care for 75,000+ people across 9 sites in South East London, supported by a team of 200+ clinicians and staff. Our model is built on permanent, diverse teams, strong governance, and a clear focus on continuity, quality, and access.

We work closely with NHS partners to deliver a full range of services from routine checks to complex, long‑term care backed by robust systems and a culture of continuous improvement.

We're proud to hold a CQC "Good" rating and consistently receive strong feedback from patients.

Learn more at penrosehealth.co.uk.

Job responsibilities

We're looking for an experienced Lead Practice Nurse to provide clinical leadership across our nursing service. Someone ready to shape how nursing care is delivered, while still doing the hands‑on clinical work that drew them into nursing in the first place.

This is a genuinely blended role. You'll continue to work as a Practice Nurse, delivering direct patient care for the majority of your working week, while also leading and supporting our Practice Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Phlebotomists - mentoring, coaching and developing the team around you. You'll oversee clinical governance and quality across the nursing function, working closely with our Central Management Team to make sure the service runs safely, efficiently, and to a consistently high standard for every patient we see.

We know that stepping into leadership often means stepping away from the patient care you love, that's not the case here. Protected time is built into your week specifically for leadership responsibilities, so you're never trying to squeeze it in around a full clinical caseload. But this isn't a desk‑bound management role either: you'll be a visible, trusted presence on the floor, someone your team can turn to, learn from, and lean on when it matters.

If you're an Experienced Practice Nurse who enjoys leadership without giving up the clinical work, and you want a genuine say in how nursing is delivered across a growing, multi‑site organisation – we'd love to hear from you.

Person Specification

Knowledge

Essential

• Strong knowledge of general practice nursing, clinical governance and the quality requirements affecting primary care.
• Understanding of safeguarding, infection prevention, medicines management and clinical risk.

Desirable

• Knowledge of CQC inspections, QOF and population‑health management.

Behaviours

Essential

• Patient‑focused and clinically accountable.
• Fair and consistent in applying standards.
• Takes ownership of decisions, outcomes and mistakes.
• Deals with difficult issues directly and respectfully.
• Follows through on commitments to the team.

Desirable

• Able to influence effectively across different teams and professional groups

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse with current NMC registration. Recognised General Practice Nursing or Primary Care Nursing qualification, or equivalent post‑registration training and assessed competence.
• Substantial recent experience working as a Practice Nurse, including long‑term condition management, cervical screening, immunisation and wound care.
• Experience leading, supervising and developing clinical colleagues, including managing performance concerns. Experience of clinical audit or quality improvement.

Desirable

• Independent prescribing qualification.
• Leadership, management, teaching or clinical‑assessment qualification.
• Experience leading a nursing service across multiple sites.

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.

UK Registration

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