Sister/Charge Nurse - Virtual Ward

Mersey And West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Nhs Trust; Southampton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Virtual Ward Nurse to support frailty patients at home with acute-level care. The role focuses on comprehensive assessments, discharge planning and co-ordination across acute and community services to ensure safe transitions.

The successful candidate will bring post-registration experience in frailty or elderly care, with strong leadership, education, and pathway redesign capabilities to improve patient outcomes in

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse Diploma / degree level or equivalent experience
• Current NMC Registration
• Evidence of continuous professional development
• Leadership training or qualification (minimum Level 3 ILM or equivalent) or working towards

Responsibilities

• Undertake comprehensive assessments of frail patients to determine suitability for Virtual Ward pathways and support safe discharge from acute services.
• Coordinate care across acute, community and primary care services to ensure seamless patient transitions and continuity of care.
• Manage a caseload of patients, developing and implementing personalised care plans that promote recovery and independence at home.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, including consultants, therapists, pharmacists, community teams and GPs, to support complex patient pathways.
• Monitor patients using remote monitoring technology and respond appropriately to clinical deterioration through agreed escalation processes.

Skills

Leadership

Care coordination

Communication

Teamwork

Education

Nurse qualification (Diploma/degree level)

Current NMC Registration

Job description

Job summary

Are you an experienced and motivated Registered Nurse with a passion for improving outcomes for older people living with frailty? An exciting opportunity to join our expanding Virtual Ward service, supporting patients to transition safely from acute hospital care into community-pathways while receiving acute-level care in their home. The role focuses on advanced assessment, care coordination, discharge planning, and clinical case management for patients requiring ongoing support following an acute episode of illness.

Working within Frailty SDEC, Frailty Wards, and alongside community services, you will play a pivotal role in reducing avoidable admissions, facilitating early supported discharge, and ensuring seamless transitions of care across organisational boundaries. You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams,

This is an excellent opportunity for a nurse with significant post-registration experience in frailty, elderly care, acute medicine, community services, or urgent care, who is passionate about service improvement, clinical excellence, and delivering care closer to home. If you share our values of being Kind, Open and Inclusive, and are committed to providing high-quality care for some of our most vulnerable patients, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

As Virtual Ward Nurse:

• Undertake comprehensive assessments of frail patients to determine suitability for Virtual Ward pathways and support safe discharge from acute services.
• Coordinate care across acute, community and primary care services to ensure seamless patient transitions and continuity of care.
• Manage a caseload of patients, developing and implementing personalised care plans that promote recovery and independence at home.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, including consultants, therapists, pharmacists, community teams and GPs, to support complex patient pathways.
• Monitor patients using remote monitoring technology and respond appropriately to clinical deterioration through agreed escalation processes.
• Support admission avoidance and early supported discharge initiatives, helping patients receive acute-level care in their usual place of residence.
• Contribute to comprehensive geriatric assessment processes and provide education and support to patients, carers and families.
• Provide clinical leadership, support junior colleagues, and contribute to service development, quality improvement and pathway redesign initiatives.
• Maintain high standards of clinical documentation, governance, safeguarding and professional practice in accordance with the NMC Code and Trust policies.

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Details

Date posted: 17 September 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 409-8225208
Job locations: Southport District General Hospital, Town Lane, Kew, Southport, PR8 6PN, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Please find attached job description and person specification for main responsibilities and requirements.

Person Specification

Our Values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse Diploma / degree level or equivalent experience
• Current NMC Registration
• Evidence of continuous professional development
• Leadership training or qualification (minimum Level 3 ILM or equivalent) or working towards

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Able to demonstrate knowledge of NMC professional standards for practice contained within the code
• Experience of leading a team in a clinical environment
• Research awareness and commitment to evidence-based practice
• Experience of clinical risk assessment & management of identified risk
• Understanding key features of Clinical governance
• Knowledge of audit & audit procedures
• Up to date clinical skills in order to ensure quality of services being provided by ward
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent organisational skills - prioritise and coordinate own workload
• Able to act as a leader, effectively managing staff in the department
• Ability to act as a change agent
• Ability to co-ordinate & liaise with MDT members
• Computer literacy eg experience of electronic patient record

Other

Essential

• Frequent sitting or standing in a restricted position; occasional moderate effort for several short period
• Frequent concentration, work pattern unpredictable Concentration for patient clinical work
• Occasional distressing / highly distressing or emotional circumstances. Deals with patient complaints, conveys unwelcome news, complaints, concerns arising from incident communicated to patients and relatives
• Working in ward environment providing direct clinical care

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).

Employer details

Employer name: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address: Southport District General Hospital, Town Lane, Kew, Southport, PR8 6PN, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

Deputy Directorate Manager - Frailty
Gaynor Whalley
[e-mail]
07392128920

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.
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).