Sexual Health Nurse

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare trust is seeking a senior, autonomous clinician to deliver integrated sexual and reproductive healthcare in prison settings. The role involves assessing and managing sexually transmitted infections and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to ensure patient safety and continuity of care. Candidates must have strong clinical knowledge and the ability to communicate effectively with vulnerable patients, along with a professional clinical qualification.

Qualifications

• Must have a solid understanding of confidentiality principles.
• Fluent in both spoken and written English.
• Ability to manage a diverse caseload of patients.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare in prison settings.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure patient safety.
• Lead on clinical operations and service improvement initiatives.

Skills

Clinical knowledge in sexual and reproductive healthcare

Strong communication skills

Organizational skills

Analytical skills

IT literacy

Ability to work with emotional distress

Education

Professional clinical qualification

Job description

Role Overview

The post holder will serve as a senior, autonomous clinician within a multidisciplinary team, responsible for the delivery of high-quality, integrated sexual and reproductive healthcare across male and female prison settings. This includes the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and broader genitourinary conditions, in accordance with national guidelines and local protocols.

Where appropriately trained and qualified, the post holder will also assess contraceptive needs and support reproductive healthcare. They will apply a trauma-informed approach and uphold patient dignity and confidentiality within the constraints of the secure environment.

The role involves close collaboration with prison healthcare teams, security staff, safeguarding leads, external sexual health services, and public health agencies to ensure continuity of care, safety, and best practice in managing vulnerable and complex patients.

Responsibilities

• Act as a role model for best practice in sexual health care and professional conduct
• Contribute to staff development through education, mentoring, and clinical supervision
• Lead on clinical operations such as results management, follow-up planning, contact tracing, and outbreak response
• Support service improvement initiatives and development of clinical guidelines, pathways, and patient group directions

For staff not directly managing HIV caseloads, there must be a clear understanding of when urgent referral to HIV specialist services is required and the ability to act swiftly and appropriately.

Must be able to autonomously assess contraceptive needs, offer evidence-based counselling, and supply and/or insert the chosen method. Should also be competent to perform cervical cytology if indicated.

Must have a solid understanding of confidentiality principles, particularly within secure environments, including when and how to share sensitive information appropriately for safeguarding, clinical care, or legal purposes.

Demonstrates the ability to communicate effectively and compassionately with a wide range of service users, including those who may present with emotional distress, trauma history, mental health needs, cognitive impairments, or language barriers. Capable of delivering and receiving highly sensitive or complex information in a professional, supportive, and non‑judgemental manner.

Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise competing demands.

Demonstrates excellent analytical skills, including the ability to gather, assess, and interpret clinical findings, laboratory results, and relevant public health data to inform safe and effective decision‑making.

Able to present information in a clear, structured, and meaningful way, whether to patients, staff, stakeholders, or for education, audit, and governance purposes.

Must be fluent in both spoken and written English, with the ability to conduct complex history-taking, often involving sensitive or challenging information, and to communicate clearly with patients and colleagues across multidisciplinary teams.

Must be able to document information accurately and legibly, including within electronic patient record systems. Strong IT literacy is essential for accessing, inputting, and retrieving clinical information and contributing to digital reporting and audit.

Possesses the clinical knowledge and decision‑making ability to independently manage a diverse caseload of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients presenting with issues related to Genitourinary Medicine, contraception, reproductive health, and HIV. Care delivery should align with UK national guidance.

About the Trust

NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools. We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.