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Job summary

Main area
Paediatrics
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent: Shift work
Hours
Part time - 23 hours per week (Various shift working)
Job ref
214-W&C-8063761
Employer
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
King's Mill Hospital
Town
Mansfield
Salary
£39,959 - £48,117 pro rata per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
19/07/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Deputy Ward Leader

NHS AfC: Band 6

Thank you for your interest in this role, we would be delighted to welcome you to Sherwood Forest Hospitals.

Sherwood is nationally recognised as being an excellent place to work and deliver care. We are rightly proud of the 5,500 colleagues who work here and know that happy colleagues deliver better care.

Our teams work in a supportive, inclusive environment, which nurtures wellbeing and has opportunities for development and progression. We do not just care for our patients, we also care for you.

At Sherwood Forest Hospitals, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. As such, we particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, or Disabled. We believe that a diverse team better represents the communities we serve and brings a wealth of perspectives and experiences to our work.

Job overview

We are looking for a compassionate, motivated, and experienced Registered Children's Nurse to join our team as a Deputy Ward Leader. This is an exciting opportunity to take the next step in your leadership career, playing a key role in delivering exceptional, child and family-centred care within our busy children's ward.

Working alongside the Ward Leader and senior nursing team, you will help lead, motivate, and develop a skilled multidisciplinary team, ensuring every child and family receives safe, high-quality, evidence-based care. In the absence of the Ward Leader, you will confidently manage the ward, coordinating clinical activity, supporting staff, and ensuring the effective day-to-day running of the service.

As Deputy Ward Leader, you will champion continuous improvement by contributing to clinical audit, research, quality improvement initiatives, and service development. You will mentor colleagues, support the development of students and newly qualified nurses, and help foster a positive and inclusive working environment.

This rewarding role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the lives of children and their families while developing your leadership skills within a supportive organisation. If you are passionate about delivering outstanding paediatric care, committed to professional excellence, and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.

Working for our organisation

We are an award-winning NHS Foundation Trust working alongside health and social care colleagues across the county to provide acute and community healthcare services to more than 420,000 people across Mansfield, Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, and parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

We put the patient at the heart of everything that we do and it is our aim to make sure that every patient is treated as we would want a member of our own family to be treated. At the same time, we expect our staff to be caring, kind and courteous to each other and to look out for each other. We believe that we are truly a clinically-led organisation.

We are proud that our Trust colleagues have voted us the best acute Trust to work for in the East Midlands for seven years running in the National NHS Staff Survey, while the Care Quality Commission has rated our Trust as ‘outstanding’ for care and our King’s Mill Hospital as the only ‘outstanding’ NHS-run hospital in the East Midlands.

Not all of our roles are eligible for visa sponsorship. To find out which roles are eligible, please refer to the shortage occupation list found here:

Skilled Worker visa: eligible healthcare and education jobs - GOV.UK

Home Office guidance has changed as of 9th April. Anyone that requires switching visa type may not be eligible for sponsorship even if the role is on the shortage occupation list.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.

Person specification

Knowledge Requirements

Essential criteria
  • Able to take charge in the absence of Ward leader providing care in line with Trust policies and procedures
  • Specialist clinical knowledge based on research evidence
  • Involvement in leadership, teaching and mentorship
Desirable criteria
  • Evidence of involvement in change / project management incorporating staff or patient involvement
  • Evidence of basic research and development appreciation and application within a given area

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Current NMC registration (RN child, RSCN, Midwife)
  • Evidence of professional / clinical knowledge acquired through CPD and experience
  • Teaching qualification
Desirable criteria
  • Degree level studies or working towards Teaching qualification
  • Management qualification
  • Attendance at LEO or equivalent course

Further Training

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrates involvement in development of protocols and clinical audit
Desirable criteria
  • Evidence of involvement of practice or policy changes arising from audit
  • Paediatric advanced life support training

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Minimum 2 years at E grade
  • Ability to analyse and make decisions in relation to family risk and care in complex cases
  • Effective communicator. Articulate verbally and written. Able to provide and receive complex or sensitive information
Desirable criteria
  • Ability to lead and develop staff

Contractual Requirements

Essential criteria
  • 24 hour cover internal rotation to night duty

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPathway to excellenceCare quality commission - GoodCarer Friendly Employer 2021Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare4NottsTime to changeFair Train Silver StandardStep into healthNational Preceptorship for Nursing Quality MarkArmed Forces Covenant

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Hannah Kingston
Job title
Ward Leader
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01623 622515
Additional information

ext 2765

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