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Job summary

Main area
Deputy Divisional Director of Nursing
Grade
Band 8b
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (cover on call manager shifts.)
Job ref
249-7393048-3
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Great Western Hospital
Town
Swindon
Salary
£66,582 - £77,368 Per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
03/05/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Deputy Divisional Director of Nursing – Urgent and Emergency Care

Band 8b

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used, then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

We are delighted to invite applications for the role of Deputy Divisional Director of Nursing for Urgent and Emergency Care, a pivotal, a high‑impact senior nursing leadership opportunity at the very heart of the Trust’s front door services. This role offers an exceptional opportunity for an experienced, ambitious leader to shape the future of urgent and emergency services in one of the most dynamic and operationally critical areas of the organisation.

Working closely with the Divisional Director of Nursing, Divisional Medical Director and the wider divisional Quad, you will have strong executive and organisational support as you help lead transformation across UEC. You will play a key role in strengthening clinical governance, improving patient flow and safety, developing sustainable workforce models, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement.

We particularly welcome applicants with significant experience in urgent and emergency care, acute medicine, or front door services, who bring credibility, resilience and a passion for delivering consistently high‑quality patient care in complex, fast‑paced environments.

Main duties of the job

The Division of Medicine is large and diverse, encompassing Front Door Services, General Internal Medicine and Diagnostic Services. While a professional background within medicine is advantageous, it is not essential; however, the successful candidate will be expected to rapidly develop a strong understanding of the clinical services delivered across the Division.

As Deputy Divisional Director of Nursing for UEC, you will be empowered to:

  • Shape the long‑term strategic direction of Urgent and Emergency Care from a nursing and patient‑centred perspective
  • Work closely with senior nurses, matrons and service leads to address workforce challenges and embed sustainable staffing, skill‑mix and rota models
  • Lead and strengthen quality, safety and clinical governance across Emergency Medicine, Acute Medicine, SDEC and associated pathways
  • Influence Trust‑wide priorities, including patient flow, admission avoidance, escalation management and elective recovery
  • Contribute to group‑level collaboration and system‑wide UEC transformation

You will be a compassionate, visible and credible registered nurse with a proven track record of leading clinical teams, managing change and delivering improvement at scale. You will champion safety, quality and patient experience, while creating the conditions for staff to thrive and services to evolve in line with the demands of modern urgent and emergency care.

Working for our organisation

Our modern hospital is in Swindon, Wiltshire and we also provide services in primary care and community settings. On the edge of the Cotswolds, there is much to offer in the area with close links to London and Bristol and a huge variety of local villages and towns including Cirencester and Marlborough. 

We offer a rewarding opportunity to join our ambitious Trust with a mandate to make a real impact on the outcomes for the people we serve. Whilst our senior leadership team does not yet fully reflect the people we serve, we are absolutely committed to ensuring it will. We will support any successful candidate to be the best version of them and we would therefore like to encourage applicants from any underrepresented groups. 

If you feel that you have the drive, enthusiasm and resilience to fulfil this high-profile role we would like to hear from you. 

For further information or to arrange an informal discussion with [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Deputy Divisional Director of Nursing is responsible for the effectiveness of professional leadership and development of nursing within the Division and other allocated areas in order to facilitate the delivery of excellent clinical practice. The post holder may hold delegated responsibility for areas of practice from the Chief Nurse

Please see attached full job description 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Registered Healthcare Professional (HCPC, NMC etc)
  • Master’s degree in Nursing, Midwifery or health related field.
  • Demonstrates evidence of on-going continuous professional development.
Desirable criteria
  • Management qualification – NEBs, CMS, DMS etc. Some form of management qualification is highly desirable

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of senior nursing and/or midwifery leadership and management experience.
  • Evidence of clinical management experience.
  • Experience of managing a range of departments which includes managing workforce, operational delivery, finance management.
  • Experience in delivering quality improvement projects with defined outcomes
  • Demonstrable experience of achieving changed clinical practice and improving services to increase quality and efficiency.
  • Experience of working at and influencing at a senior level.
  • Experience of developing collaborative working within teams.
  • Demonstrable experience of developing staff and teams to enhance patient outcomes.
  • Demonstrable experience of implementing and managing change effectively.
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of developing business cases / business planning
  • Track record of serving on a range of committees both internal and external to the organisation.
  • Project management experience.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: GoldCare Leaver CovenantStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed 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
Sharon Smith
Job title
Divisional Director of Nursing
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793 604110
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