About this role
Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the newly established Community Services Division at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as our Divisional Nursing Director.
This is a unique opportunity for an experienced and inspirational nursing leader to help shape, develop and lead a newly formed Division serving communities across St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Southport, Formby and West Lancashire. The role offers the opportunity to influence the future direction of community healthcare, strengthen integration across health and care systems and champion the highest standards of patient care, quality and safety.
The newly established Community Services Division brings together a broad range of services delivered closer to people's homes and communities, creating a significant opportunity to improve patient outcomes, reduce health inequalities and develop innovative models of care in partnership with primary care, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and NHS partners.
Main duties of the job
The role will be professionally accountable to the Chief Nursing Officer and report to the Divisional Director of Operations. The post holder will work closely with the Divisional Medical Director, and wider Community Services leadership team to provide strategic, professional and operational nursing leadership across the Division. You will play a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe and effective services whilst driving continuous improvement in patient experience, clinical outcomes and professional standards.
Why this role?
This is more than a traditional senior nursing leadership role. As Divisional Nursing Director within a newly established Division, you will have a rare opportunity to shape nursing and AHP leadership, influence service redesign, strengthen governance and quality arrangements, and create a culture where innovation, compassion and excellence thrive.
Interviews will be held on Friday 11th September 2026
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018 Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal) National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Job description Job responsibilities
You will work as part of the Divisional Triumvirate to:
Lead improvements in quality, patient safety and patient experience. Provide professional leadership for nursing and AHP colleagues across Community Services. Develop highly engaged, high-performing clinical teams. Deliver quality improvement and transformation programmes. Strengthen partnerships across neighbourhoods, places and the wider health and care system. Ensure strong governance, assurance and risk management arrangements are in place. Support the development of innovative and sustainable models of community care About You
We are seeking an experienced senior nursing leader who can demonstrate:
Significant senior nursing leadership experience within community services. A strong track record of delivering improvements in quality, patient safety and patient experience. Experience of working at senior level across complex healthcare organisations and systems. Exceptional leadership, engagement and influencing skills. Experience of managing change and leading service transformation. A commitment to developing nursing and AHP leadership. Strong partnership working skills across health, social care and voluntary sector organisations. The ability to inspire teams and create a culture of continuous improvement and clinical excellence. You will be a registered nurse with a masters degree or equivalent experience, substantial senior leadership experience within community services and a passion for delivering outstanding care for patients and communities.
Person Specification
Values Essential
We are kind We are open We are inclusive
Qualifications Essential
First level registered Nurse Master's degree or equivalent qualification Specific Community Nursing qualification / experience Evidence of continuous professional development in current and previous roles Post graduate Leadership qualification or relevant experience
Knowledge & Experience Essential
Substantial experience at senior nurse level in community setting is essential Excellent awareness of and experience of clinical governance, patient safety, patient experience and clinical quality.XA/I Experience of managing and motivating professional teams in clinically focused environments Experience of delivering organisational change in a complex environment Extensive experience of working at senior leadership level in a community and place / system environment Experience of leading organisational / service changes to deliver improvement Proven ability to achieve targets and objectives within a pressured environment against challenging deadlines Substantial experience of working at a senior level in a large complex organisation / system in the NHS or other industry leading on digital, IT and information services Evidence of further relevant training e.g., National Performance metrics and their calculation methodologies which ensures Trust meets its legal reporting and recording requirement Can demonstrate excellent leadership and engagement skills including the ability to inspire, motivate and innovate Experience of managing budgets and delivering year-on-year cost improvement programmes supported by quality impact assessments Experience of managing large teams in a matrix structure Excellent practical understanding of national standards and best practice in NHS complaints management and experience of working with service users An in depth understanding of the statutory framework governing nurses and midwives and care givers. Identifying and leading the development of business plans and service objectives. A proven record of building partnerships and alliances both internal and external to the organisation Excellent practical understanding of national standards and best practice in community services Proven management experience in Senior Nursing or AHP's within a provider organisation. Sub board experience desirable Demonstrate leadership skills in nursing & AHP's. A wide knowledge and understanding of the political context, policy environment and financial regime in which a Trust operates. Extensive knowledge of compliance framework and code of governance and understanding of the Care Quality Commission requirements. Evidence of leading innovative practice/service changes Effective written and oral communication skills
Skills Essential
Experience of managing and developing individuals and senior nurses & AHP's Proven track record of service development Strong professional knowledge base Ability to act autonomously and to escalate issues appropriately Ability to analyse complex information and use judgement to make difficult decisions Able to write board level reports and external reports to a high standard Ability to act as a role model, encouraging others to value and respect staff with exemplary personal standards of conduct and behaviour A decisive and visible leader able to motivate and inspire others.
Desirable
Project management experience.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address Whiston Hospital
Warrington Road
Prescot
L35 5DR
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)