Deputy Head of NursingNHS

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and highly motivated senior mental health nurse to join the Adult Community Services Division as Deputy Head of Nursing.

Working with the Head of Nursing, Consultant Nurse, Community Matrons and wider leadership team, you will provide visible and influential professional nursing leadership, with a strong focus on safe, effective and high-quality care, professional standards, clinical governance and developing nursing practice.

This is an exciting time to join a Division where innovation and quality improvement are central to nursing practice. Our community nurses won the HSJ Early-Stage Patient Safety Innovation of the Year Award 2025, were runners-up for the HSJ Nurse-Led Patient Safety Award 2025, and shortlisted for the Nursing Times Awards 2026 - Nursing in Mental Health.

In 2026, the Division was also rated GOOD across all domains by the CQC.

We are looking for an inspiring senior nurse who can build on these strengths and help us continue to deliver excellent community mental health care.

Main duties of the job

The Deputy Head of Nursing will work alongside the Head of Nursing to provide senior professional nursing leadership across the Adult Community Services Division and support delivery of the Trust's nursing, quality and patient-safety priorities.

The postholder will provide visible professional leadership and support to Community Matrons and senior nurses, promoting high standards of nursing practice, professional accountability and continuous improvement. They will strengthen clinical governance and assurance, using audit, evidence, benchmarking and quality-improvement approaches to improve the safety, effectiveness and quality of care.

The role will lead and support quality improvement, innovation and service development, ensuring learning from incidents, audits, complaints and service-user experience is translated into practice. The postholder will support nursing workforce development and work collaboratively with service users, carers, multidisciplinary teams and system partners.

They will deputise for the Head of Nursing as required and represent the Division at Trust and wider system forums.

Job description

The Deputy Head of Nursing will work closely with the Head of Nursing to provide visible, effective professional nursing leadership across the Adult Community Services Division.

The postholder will:

• Provide professional leadership, support and challenge to Community Matrons and senior nursing teams, promoting high standards of practice and accountability.
• Strengthen nursing governance and assurance, with a focus on patient safety, quality, clinical effectiveness and service-user experience.
• Lead quality improvement, innovation and service development, using evidence, audit and benchmarking to improve care and reduce variation.
• Support nursing workforce development, professional supervision, leadership and succession planning.
• Work collaboratively with the Consultant Nurse, Community Matrons, Divisional Leadership, multidisciplinary teams, service users and carers to embed evidence-based practice.
• Contribute to divisional and Trust-wide nursing, quality and patient-safety priorities.
• Deputise for the Head of Nursing and represent the Division as required.

The role requires a credible and inclusive senior nurse who can inspire others, lead change and translate innovation into safe, effective and high-quality care.

About us

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission

Our family of over 4,500 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.