Job summary
- Main area
- Cardiology
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Requires 5 days per week in order to cover the virtual ward.)
- Job ref
- 391-RFL-8082923
- Employer
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Barnet Hospital
- Town
- Barnet
- Salary
- £55,524 - £62,652 per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 20/07/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Band 7 Heart Failure Clinical Nurse Specialist for Virtual Ward
NHS AfC: Band 7
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technology that can perform various tasks that typically required human intelligence. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey. Further guidance can be found in the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.
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Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Royal Free London as an autonomous heart failure specialist nurse, leading nurse‑led clinics and delivering expert assessment, diagnosis, and optimisation of evidence‑based therapy. As an independent prescriber, you will initiate and titrate guideline‑directed treatments and support safe community‑based management.
A major part of the role involves delivering and enhancing admission‑avoidance pathways and managing patients through the virtual ward, including remote monitoring, timely intervention, and coordination. You will work within a supportive, friendly multidisciplinary team, collaborating with community and primary care services to ensure seamless, integrated care across the heart failure pathway.
There are excellent opportunities for ongoing professional development, including advancing autonomous practice skills and contributing to research, education, and training. You will receive a comprehensive induction supported by senior nurses and follow the BSH competency framework to guide structured development. Leadership development is supported through Trust training programmes.
You will also contribute to service improvement through audit, research, and pathway development, act as a role model, and support junior staff while working flexibly across the heart failure and virtual ward services.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will work as an autonomous specialist within Royal Free London, delivering high‑quality cardiology and heart failure care. They will lead outpatient clinics, providing assessment, diagnosis, optimisation of therapy, for patients with newly diagnosed and established heart failure.
As an independent prescriber, they will assess, initiate, and titrate guideline‑directed therapy, including prescribing diuretics and adjusting treatment plans for patients managed in the community and through the virtual ward. They will identify new cases of heart failure, ensure timely diagnostics, and review patients not receiving optimal therapy to improve outcomes.
The role includes specialist management across the heart failure pathway and close liaison with cardiology, acute teams, community services, and primary care to ensure seamless care. A major component is leading admission‑avoidance pathways, supporting remote monitoring, virtual ward‑based diuretic therapy, and timely escalation to prevent deterioration and unnecessary hospital attendance. They will also contribute to virtual ward development, pathway refinement, and digital monitoring processes.
They will participate in MDT meetings, support audit and research, and contribute to service improvement. As a senior team member, they will act as a role model, mentor junior staff, and work flexibly across the heart failure and virtual ward services, including providing cross‑cover for the wider cardiology virtual ward.
Working for our organisation
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17million tests.
Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top
For more information please follow link https://www.royalfreelondonjobs.co.uk/
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
Person specification
Education & professional Qualifications
Essential criteria
- First level registration
- First level degree
- Evidence of post registration qualification in Coronary/Cardiac care
- Heart Failure Module
- Physical Examination course
- Non-medical Independent Prescriber qualification
Desirable criteria
- Teaching/Mentorship/Assessment qualification
- End of Life/Advanced communication qualification or willing to work towards
Experience
Essential criteria
- Minimum 5 years recent cardiology experience with minimum 2 years at band 6 in cardiac environment
- Evidence of teaching and developing others
- Ability to analyse and interpret ECG, Echo and routine blood tests
- Extensive experience of nursing patients living with heart failure.
- Experience of service planning/managing change e.g. provide examples of projects/research undertaken under own initiative
- Experience of running nurse-led clinics
- Experience of managing own caseload of patients
Royal Free World Class Values
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values
Skills and Aptitudes
Essential criteria
- Expert specialist skills for the post
- Ability to work autonomously and as part of team
- Understanding of recognised standards & policies related to heart failure.
- Understanding of advanced practice nursing roles
- Understanding of audit and research process.
- Excellent patient assessment skills
- Good computing skills
- Excellent communication skills and ability to negotiate and influence
- Ability to problem-solve, prioritise and to work to deadlines
- Ability to develop collaborative working relationships with multi professional teams
- Able to manage stressful situations and challenge decisions to ensure that patient needs are met
- Commitment to ongoing lifelong learning and personal development.
Personal Qualities & Attributes
Essential criteria
- Be a positive role model with the ability to demonstrate a credible and professional approach
- Ability to work under pressure
- Ability to work as a team and form professional relationships with colleagues
- To be flexible and approachable
- Flexibility in shift and working patterns to meet the needs of the service
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Caroline Stuart
- Job title
- Cardiology Lead Nurse
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07463123222
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