Deputy Director of Nursing

Clinical Leadership and Professional Role Modelling Act as the clinical and professional nursing lead for the organisation, championing excellence in hospice and palliative nursing care. Provide direct line management, professional supervision, and performance oversight of Senior Clinical Nurse Specialists, ensuring high standards of specialist nursing practice, service delivery, and professional development. Hold full line management accountability for the Community Hospice Services team, including Community CNSs and associated roles, with responsibility for workforce management, performance, capability, and professional conduct. Ensure effective leadership, governance, and integration of the Community Hospice Services, including clarity of roles, accountability, and multidisciplinary working across organisational and system boundaries. Provide highly visible leadership across inpatient, community, and specialist services. Model compassionate, evidence-based, person-centred care in all clinical interactions. Act as a professional role model aligned with the NMC Code, hospice values, and national best practice. Deliver hands on nursing care commensurate with seniority. Advanced Clinical Practice and Expert Professional Leadership Maintain advanced clinical expertise in palliative and end of life care. Undertake direct clinical activity appropriate to role seniority, including assessment, planning and management of patients with complex palliative care needs. Practice as an Independent Non-Medical Prescriber. Act as a source of expert clinical advice for nursing, medical and multidisciplinary colleagues. Lead the development of advanced clinical practice pathways across hospice Services. Support and supervise nurse prescribers and advanced practitioners. Contribute to complex case review, ethical decision making and service development. Promote evidence-based practice and implementation of emerging best practice within specialist palliative care. Clinical Standards, Quality, and Governance Hold organisation wide professional responsibility for nursing clinical standards, quality, and professional practice. Leads the development, implementation, and assurance of nursing standards across the organisation. Ensure care is safe, effective, responsive, caring, and well-led in line with CQC frameworks and statutory requirements. Oversee the development, implementation, and review of clinical policies, procedures, and guidelines. Lead professional input into clinical governance, including audit, learning from incidents, safeguarding, complaints, and patient and family feedback. Provide expert advice to the Executive Team and Board on clinical risk, quality assurance, and professional assurance. Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO) Responsibilities Act as the organisations Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO) in accordance with legislative and regulatory requirements. Provide strategic and operational oversight of controlled drugs governance across all hospice services. Ensure robust systems are in place for the safe prescribing, storage, administration, documentation, disposal, and monitoring of controlled drugs. Chair or provide senior oversight of controlled drugs governance arrangements, including incident review, trend analysis, and learning. Ensure concerns relating to controlled drugs are promptly investigated, escalated, and addressed, including liaison with relevant external bodies where required. Provide assurance to the Senior Leadership Team and Board regarding compliance with controlled drugs legislation and associated risks. Education, Research and Workforce Development Provide strategic leadership for clinical education across the hospice. Develop a future-focused nursing workforce capable of meeting evolving patient and system needs. Lead the development of clinical competency frameworks, career pathways and succession planning initiatives. Create opportunities for clinical placements, apprenticeships and leadership development. Support nurses undertaking specialist qualifications and independent prescribing programmes. Act as Practice Assessor and mentor for advanced practice trainees and nurse prescribers. Foster a culture of enquiry, innovation and continuous learning. Promote engagement in audit, quality improvement, research and evidence-based practice. Develop strong partnerships with Higher Education Institutions and professional bodies. Culture, Values, and Staff Experience Foster a culture of psychological safety, kindness, accountability, and professional pride. Support staff wellbeing while maintaining clear professional expectations and standards of practice. Actively contribute to the organisations approach to values-based leadership and compassionate workplaces. Address poor performance or practice decisively and consistently, using supportive, fair, and proportionate approaches. Operational Oversight and Deputising Responsibility Deputise for the Director of Patient Care and Quality, providing leadership and decision-making authority in their absence. Provide operational oversight of clinical services, ensuring safe staffing, effective patient flow, and continuity of care across all hospice settings. Support the Director of Patient Care and Quality in the delivery of operational objectives, service performance, and quality improvement plans. Contribute to operational rota oversight, escalation management, and risk mitigation as required. Work closely with service managers and clinical leads to address operational challenges while maintaining clinical standards and patient experience. Lead or support operational responses to serious incidents, safeguarding concerns, and regulatory inspections as required. Escalate to the Director of Patient Care and Quality only where risks cannot be mitigated operationally, have strategic impact, or require executive decision-making. Strategic and Organisational Leadership Ensure nursing services respond proactively to national policy, population need and emerging models of palliative care delivery. Contribute at Senior Leadership Team and Board level to organisational strategy, service development, and transformation. Ensure nursing and professional perspectives inform all major organisational decisions. Lead the development of the hospice nursing strategy and contribute to the strategic development of palliative and end of life care services across the wider health and care system. Represent the organisation as a senior nursing leader with commissioners, Integrated Care Boards, system partners, regulators, universities and professional networks. Act as a public and professional ambassador for hospice and palliative care nursing. Scope and Accountability Overall professional leadership and accountability for all registered nurses within the organisation. Delegated responsibility for nursing education, professional standards, quality assurance, and clinical leadership. Management accountability for the Community Hospice Services team, including Community Clinical Nurse Specialists, with responsibility for staffing, appraisal, capability management, and service delivery within community settings. Direct line management accountability for Clinical Nurse Specialists, with professional leadership responsibility for all registered nurses across the organisation. Delegated operational responsibility when deputising for the Director of Patient Care. Work collaboratively with medical, allied health professional, and operational leaders to deliver safe and effective services. Provide professional and operational assurance on nursing standards, quality, and safety to the Director of Patient Care and Quality. Statutory accountability as the organisations Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO), with responsibility for providing assurance on the governance, safety, and regulatory compliance of controlled drugs management. Job description Job responsibilities Clinical Leadership and Professional Role Modelling Act as the clinical and professional nursing lead for the organisation, championing excellence in hospice and palliative nursing care. Provide direct line management, professional supervision, and performance oversight of Senior Clinical Nurse Specialists, ensuring high standards of specialist nursing practice, service delivery, and professional development. Hold full line management accountability for the Community Hospice Services team, including Community CNSs and associated roles, with responsibility for workforce management, performance, capability, and professional conduct. Ensure effective leadership, governance, and integration of the Community Hospice Services, including clarity of roles, accountability, and multidisciplinary working across organisational and system boundaries. Provide highly visible leadership across inpatient, community, and specialist services. Model compassionate, evidence-based, person-centred care in all clinical interactions. Act as a professional role model aligned with the NMC Code, hospice values, and national best practice. Deliver hands on nursing care commensurate with seniority. Advanced Clinical Practice and Expert Professional Leadership Maintain advanced clinical expertise in palliative and end of life care. Undertake direct clinical activity appropriate to role seniority, including assessment, planning and management of patients with complex palliative care needs. Practice as an Independent Non-Medical Prescriber. Act as a source of expert clinical advice for nursing, medical and multidisciplinary colleagues. Lead the development of advanced clinical practice pathways across hospice Services. Support and supervise nurse prescribers and advanced practitioners. Contribute to complex case review, ethical decision making and service development. Promote evidence-based practice and implementation of emerging best practice within specialist palliative care. Clinical Standards, Quality, and Governance Hold organisation wide professional responsibility for nursing clinical standards, quality, and professional practice. Leads the development, implementation, and assurance of nursing standards across the organisation. Ensure care is safe, effective, responsive, caring, and well-led in line with CQC frameworks and statutory requirements. Oversee the development, implementation, and review of clinical policies, procedures, and guidelines. Lead professional input into clinical governance, including audit, learning from incidents, safeguarding, complaints, and patient and family feedback. Provide expert advice to the Executive Team and Board on clinical risk, quality assurance, and professional assurance. Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO) Responsibilities Act as the organisations Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO) in accordance with legislative and regulatory requirements. Provide strategic and operational oversight of controlled drugs governance across all hospice services. Ensure robust systems are in place for the safe prescribing, storage, administration, documentation, disposal, and monitoring of controlled drugs. Chair or provide senior oversight of controlled drugs governance arrangements, including incident review, trend analysis, and learning. Ensure concerns relating to controlled drugs are promptly investigated, escalated, and addressed, including liaison with relevant external bodies where required. Provide assurance to the Senior Leadership Team and Board regarding compliance with controlled drugs legislation and associated risks. Education, Research and Workforce Development Provide strategic leadership for clinical education across the hospice. Develop a future-focused nursing workforce capable of meeting evolving patient and system needs. Lead the development of clinical competency frameworks, career pathways and succession planning initiatives. Create opportunities for clinical placements, apprenticeships and leadership development. Support nurses undertaking specialist qualifications and independent prescribing programmes. Act as Practice Assessor and mentor for advanced practice trainees and nurse prescribers. Foster a culture of enquiry, innovation and continuous learning. Promote engagement in audit, quality improvement, research and evidence-based practice. Develop strong partnerships with Higher Education Institutions and professional bodies. Culture, Values, and Staff Experience Foster a culture of psychological safety, kindness, accountability, and professional pride. Support staff wellbeing while maintaining clear professional expectations and standards of practice. Actively contribute to the organisations approach to values-based leadership and compassionate workplaces. Address poor performance or practice decisively and consistently, using supportive, fair, and proportionate approaches. Operational Oversight and Deputising Responsibility Deputise for the Director of Patient Care and Quality, providing leadership and decision-making authority in their absence. Provide operational oversight of clinical services, ensuring safe staffing, effective patient flow, and continuity of care across all hospice settings. Support the Director of Patient Care and Quality in the delivery of operational objectives, service performance, and quality improvement plans. Contribute to operational rota oversight, escalation management, and risk mitigation as required. Work closely with service managers and clinical leads to address operational challenges while maintaining clinical standards and patient experience. Lead or support operational responses to serious incidents, safeguarding concerns, and regulatory inspections as required. Escalate to the Director of Patient Care and Quality only where risks cannot be mitigated operationally, have strategic impact, or require executive decision-making. Strategic and Organisational Leadership Ensure nursing services respond proactively to national policy, population need and emerging models of palliative care delivery. Contribute at Senior Leadership Team and Board level to organisational strategy, service development, and transformation. Ensure nursing and professional perspectives inform all major organisational decisions. Lead the development of the hospice nursing strategy and contribute to the strategic development of palliative and end of life care services across the wider health and care system. Represent the organisation as a senior nursing leader with commissioners, Integrated Care Boards, system partners, regulators, universities and professional networks. Act as a public and professional ambassador for hospice and palliative care nursing. Scope and Accountability Overall professional leadership and accountability for all registered nurses within the organisation. Delegated responsibility for nursing education, professional standards, quality assurance, and clinical leadership. Management accountability for the Community Hospice Services team, including Community Clinical Nurse Specialists, with responsibility for staffing, appraisal, capability management, and service delivery within community settings. Direct line management accountability for Clinical Nurse Specialists, with professional leadership responsibility for all registered nurses across the organisation. Delegated operational responsibility when deputising for the Director of Patient Care. Work collaboratively with medical, allied health professional, and operational leaders to deliver safe and effective services. Provide professional and operational assurance on nursing standards, quality, and safety to the Director of Patient Care and Quality. Statutory accountability as the organisations Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO), with responsibility for providing assurance on the governance, safety, and regulatory compliance of controlled drugs management.