Go back University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW)
The closing date is 13 August 2025
Are you a dynamic critical care nurse ready to advance your career? Join UHBW as Deputy Director of Nursing (DDoN) for Critical Care and help shape the future of high-acuity care. Critical care at UHBW includes a 4-bed ICU at Weston General Hospital, a 32-bed general ICU at Bristol Royal Infirmary, and a 23-bed cardiac ICU at Bristol Heart Institute. As DDoN, you'll oversee all adult critical care units, driving service development, continuous improvement, and innovation. You'll use your clinical and leadership expertise to champion quality care across the Trust, network, region, and beyond. Working closely with the Director of Nursing, you'll be part of the divisional leadership team with line management and professional accountability for critical care matrons and acute pain lead nurses. You'll inspire excellence in patient care, lead diverse teams, and craft a clear, ambitious vision for the service. A deep understanding of critical care and its systems is essential for meaningful engagement with staff, patients, and families.
As a lead clinician, the post holder will work across Critical care UHBW (Bristol and Weston sites), to strengthen the input into improving clinical care and outcomes for critical care patients in a variety of clinical settings. The post holder will support the Director of Nursing, in ensuring that patients receive high quality, compassionate patient centred care within the resources available within critical care services. Working closely with the Clinical Director, Assistant General Manager and Deputy Divisional Director for Critical Care Services, the post holder will support and, where appropriate, lead service development. The post holder will lead cross divisional projects that enhance both patient and staff experience. They will provide clinical expertise and be a health educator, teacher and resource for multi-disciplinary teams. They will work across organisation and professional boundaries to bring about improvements in care and treatment outcomes. The post holder will line manage the Critical Care Matrons for General Intensive Care at Bristol, Intensive Care Unit Matron for Weston ICU, and Acute Pain Lead Nurses at Bristol and Weston, with professional leadership for the Cardiac Intensive Care Matron.
The post holder will act as the Director of Nursing in the absence of the Director of Nursing and will support in ensuring that patients receive high quality, compassionate patient centred care within the resources available.
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, bringing together a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff and over 100 different clinical services across 10 different sites, serving a core population of more than 500,000 people across South West England. UHBW has been rated by the CQC as 'Good' overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent care to the people of Bristol, Weston and beyond. As a forward- thinking multi-award winning Trust and a digital exemplar committed to improving patient care, our world-leading research and innovations are having a positive local and global impact. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer. UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we're meeting our pledge.
For a more detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.
In addition to the leadership role in the specialist area, the clinical lead will support and work with the Divisional Management Team and Chief Nurse team, focusing on the corporate strategic professional agenda. This may involve working on corporate professional issues and will involve acting as a clinical expert and senior role model. Depending upon experience and interests, it is anticipated that the post holder will spend part of the week working directly with clinical teams in a critical care services patient facing role.
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 Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW)
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