Lead Practice Nurse

Penrose Health is recruiting a Lead Practice Nurse to head the nursing service across its multi-site network in South East London. The post combines leading Practice Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Phlebotomists with oversight of clinical governance and quality. It is a blended role: the postholder keeps a clinical caseload for most of the week, with protected time set aside for leadership.

Applicants need current NMC registration and substantial recent practice nursing experience.

• Lead and line-manage Practice Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Phlebotomists, including inductions, mentoring, supervision and performance reviews
• Oversee clinical governance, safety and quality, including audits, significant events, complaints and incident learning
• Lead on safeguarding, infection prevention, medicines management and clinical risk within the nursing team
• Work with the Central Management Team to ensure the nursing service runs efficiently and effectively
• Manage rotas, cover, recruitment and retention with the Central Management Team
• Set clear priorities, give timely feedback and coach colleagues to remove barriers to performance
• Ensure key clinical programmes run safely and on target: long-term condition reviews, cervical screening, immunisations, wound care and NHS Health Checks
• Monitor performance against QOF, contractual and internal targets and drive improvement plans where needed
• Continue hands-on Practice Nurse work for most of the working week, including long-term condition management, screening, immunisations and patient education
• Provide visible leadership across all working hours

• Recognised General Practice Nursing or Primary Care Nursing qualification, or equivalent post-registration training and assessed competence

• Current NMC registration as a Registered Nurse

• Substantial recent experience 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

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

• 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

• Independent prescribing qualification
• Leadership, management, teaching or clinical-assessment qualification
• Experience leading a nursing service across multiple sites
• Knowledge of CQC inspections, QOF and population-health management
• Influence effectively across different teams and professional groups

• Protected time for leadership responsibilities within the working week