About this role
Job summary
Northside House comprises three wards: Catton and Drayton Wards, which are medium secure mental health units, and Blakeney Ward, a low secure unit for males aged 18 and over. Together, the wards provide admission, assessment, and treatment within a secure environment for individuals experiencing severe mental health difficulties who require a structured, supervised, and therapeutic approach to their care.
We are committed to delivering high-quality, recovery-focused care that supports individuals in transitioning to environments with lower levels of security, helping them achieve a greater sense of personal fulfilment.
This is an exciting time within Secure and Forensic Services, with a strong emphasis on quality improvement and ongoing organisational development. Following the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in October 2025, Secure Services achieved an overall rating of Good. In addition, Catton and Drayton Wards have been accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists through the Quality Network for Forensic Mental Health Services, reflecting the high standards of care delivered by the teams.
We are now looking to recruit three motivated and enthusiastic Charge Nurses to join the team at Northside House. The successful candidates will have experience or a strong interest in quality improvement, demonstrate a proactive "can-do" attitude, and share our ambition to progress the service from Good to Outstanding.
Main duties of the job
Leadership and Management
Responsible for the line management of identified members of the service. Monitor the practice of junior staff, identifying learning and development needs in relation to their clinical skills. Maintain, and lead others in maintaining, professional and therapeutic relationships and boundaries with patients, carers, and colleagues. Provide regular line management supervision and complete annual appraisals for junior staff. Complete and oversee ward rotas, ensuring the ward is safely staffed at all times in line with service needs. Clinical Responsibilities
Be accountable for your own professional practice in line with the NMC Code and organisational policies. Support the development and delivery of recovery-focused care and interventions for patients with mental illness. Work flexibly, managing time effectively to meet the changing demands of the service. Make sound clinical judgements, identifying appropriate courses of action and ensuring the delivery of high-quality care. Provide clinical leadership and support to colleagues, promoting best practice across the team. Training and Development
Provide training, mentorship, and support to colleagues and students as appropriate. Deliver or contribute to training for partner organisations, including non-statutory agencies where required. Actively contribute to staff development, promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
About us
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
Job description Job responsibilities
Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!
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Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
RMN
Experience Essential
At least 2 years post basic experience, 1 year at Senior Staff Nurse.
Desirable
Management / Leadership of junior staff.
Knowledge Essential
Understanding of issues surrounding confidentiality
Desirable
Awareness of security and its impact and willingness to expand knowledge on it Working knowledge / application of the Mental Health Act 1983
Other Essential
Fitness to undergo full PMA training and perform full duties of the post
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 Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust
Address Northside House
St Andrew's Business Park
Norwich
NR7 0HT
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)