Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 30 hours per week (required to cover day and night shifts - day shifts 7.30am to 9.30pm - night shifts 9pm to 8.00am)
- Job ref
- 246-WSU6903024-D
- Employer
- Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Wedgwood House, West Suffolk Hospital
- Town
- Bury St Edmunds
- Salary
- £37,338 - £44,962 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 09/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Charge Nurse- Abbeygate
Band 6
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience
Please note, NSFT uses tools to screen any applications generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Job overview
We’re looking for aspiring leaders and clinically credible nurses to join our dedicated team in Suffolk as a Charge Nurse on Abbeygate Ward!
This role is a great opportunity for you to develop your leadership skills and progress your nursing career
Abbeygate ward is a 17 bedded admission ward with which provides assessment and treatment for people with either an organic or functional mental health presentation.
We are looking for a registered nurse with great clinical expertise in the treatment of Older people who is ready to move from staff nurse to charge nurse, or who already has experience to share in this field.
Whilst experience in working with acute later life adults would make you perfectly suited to this role, we are really open to welcoming people from clinical backgrounds who have experience in other areas of mental health. But we would like individuals to be well motivated, have good interpersonal skills, personal resilience, and an enthusiasm for working with acutely unwell adults and their families whilst they are going through a difficult and stressful period in their lives, in terms of their mental health and well-being.
We also offer great training opportunities to support staff development.
Main duties of the job
We will look to support you to develop your skills in a variety of ways, including through leadership courses, mentorship as well as formal recognised qualifications too.
It can be a challenging environment at times, so we need clinicians with a positive attitude, compassion, resilience, and a hands-on approach. It is vital that the clinician is reflective around issues of power and difference, see the importance of working across systems, and can do that effectively.
If you have the drive to provide excellent care, can demonstrate high quality clinical skills and are willing to go the extra mile to help make a difference to people’s lives then we would love to hear from you.
This post does require full PMA fitness (full training will be given) and to be able to work shifts including nights and weekends over a 7 day period.
Working for our organisation
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly, and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established nursing networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you’ll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We are close to London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops, and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
We can accommodate some flexible working in line with the service need.
Benefits included with this role are:
*NHS pension
*a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
*career progression
*starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
*staff physiotherapy service
*gym membership
*NHS discounts and many more
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As Charge Nurse, you will be expected to take responsibility for supporting your care team, working within governance processes to support the implementation of individualised and responsive care.
You will work supportively and collaboratively with the Clinical Team Leader and Clinical Nurse Specialist in ensuring the effective management of the ward in all respects, environmental, financial, and clinical.
Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!
Some of the benefits you can expect:
- NHS pension
- a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
- career progression
- starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
- staff physio service
- NHS discounts and many more.
Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs
* Previous applicants need not apply *
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Registered Mental Health Nurse
Desirable criteria
- Leadership / Management Training
Experience
Essential criteria
- Relevant post registration experience in a mental health setting
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to demonstrate effective risk assessment and risk management
Desirable criteria
- Ability to supervise others
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Understanding of issues surrounding confidentiality
Desirable criteria
- Working knowledge / application of the Mental Health Act 1983
Other
Essential criteria
- Ability to travel
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
- Kate Gleeson
- Job title
- Ward Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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