Job summary
- Main area
- Neonatal
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 418-NICU1447-EH
- Employer
- Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Bedfordshire Hospital FT
- Town
- Luton
- Salary
- £47,810 - £54,710 per anum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 06/03/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 17/03/2026
Employer heading
Neonatal Senior Sister - Hospital to Home Team Lead
NHS AfC: Band 7
Job overview
Join our team and play a leading role in shaping and delivering an exceptional community neonatal service. We are seeking a committed professional to lead the development of the local MDT community pathway, supporting early identification, safe discharge planning and effective cross‑site working. You will oversee the creation and maintenance of community policies, SOPs, escalation frameworks and treatment guidance, ensuring alignment with national outreach standards and evidence‑based practice.
You will drive service improvement through innovative projects and by evaluating pathway performance using audit and outcome data. A core part of the role involves facilitating the safe discharge of neonates and providing early support to families in their homes. You will work closely with the multidisciplinary team and liaise with Social Services when concerns arise.
You will continue to develop your clinical skills, represent the Neonatal Unit at case conferences and deliver resuscitation training for parents. You will also lead the RSV immunisation programme. As a senior practitioner, you will supervise students and junior staff, maintaining the highest standards of care in line with the NMC Code and Trust policies. You will assess, plan, implement and evaluate care for infants in the community, always advocating for babies and their families.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will shape an integrated vision for the development of neonatal outreach care, ensuring the service delivers safe, compassionate, and holistic support for babies and their families at home. They will lead innovative, family‑integrated care practices and promote a culture of excellence across all outreach and hospital‑at‑home activities.
Central to the role is maintaining strong and effective communication with all stakeholders, including families, the neonatal unit, community teams, and wider partner services. The post holder will ensure that all outreach practice follows evidence‑based standards and aligns with neonatal unit governance protocols and relevant network guidance.
They will act as a key link between the service and allied health professionals, as well as other multidisciplinary colleagues within the community. Responsibilities include documenting all relevant clinical information in patient records, ensuring robust handovers, and maintaining communication with GPs and any other professionals involved in the infant’s ongoing care. The post holder will also support optimal data quality and collaborate closely with regional or network outreach leads to ensure accurate reporting and service continuity.
Working for our organisation
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.
Our values
We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.
Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Other Clinical Responsibilities:
Act as an effective role model and demonstrate effective organisational and leadership skills
Listen appropriately and take into account any sensitive issues and communicate these to the appropriate persons/agencies ensuring that children are protected and that disclosures are acted upon appropriately commence referrals, early health assessment as required
Feedback the views and needs of the infant/family to the Community Sister as necessary to enable appropriate interventions to be implemented
Participate in planning and implementation of quality initiatives and targets, in conjunction with the Operational Lead/ Head of Nursing
To be conversant with Child Protection policies and procedures and ability to recognise those at risk
Actively promote and implement research and evidence-based practice
Maintain accurate, legible, and timely records.
Other Managerial Responsibilities:
Be aware of and adhere to the Supervisory Responsibilities guidelines as per the Trusts Standards for Practice and Care
Ensure safe use of equipment, ascertaining that both self and staff are competent to operate the equipment and that the equipment is in safe working order
Be proficient in the use of information technology
Ensure nursing staff under your supervision have a clear understanding of their duties and responsibilities, and of the standards of performance and conduct expected of them
Lead on the management of babies that include home oxygen, immunisation clinics or other area identified by Operational Lead
Ensure that complaints and incidents are dealt with proactively in conjunction with Divisional Governance Team
Initiate and lead on and projects and instigate improvements in nursing care and / or management of the ward/Department
Contribute to the recruitment and selection process. Taking a lead in the retention of nursing staff on the Unit and in the outreach team.
Liaise and provide information to report into neonatal network management teams and share practice/guidance with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs); Local Maternity and Neonatal System structures (LMNS’s) and Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVPs).
Oversee referral outreach support required for discharge
Coordinate MDT discussions with neonatology, social services, safeguarding or other services required
Lead operational planning for outreach services
Provide line management to pathway staff, including appraisals, performance review and supervision.
Lead recruitment, induction and ongoing competency development for outreach services
Support training needs analysis and promote continuous improvement in practice across team
Please see attached Personal Specification and Job description for further information.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- • Registered Nurse
- • QIS trained with substantial consolidation of learning
- • Current NLS training
- • Leadership / management training or course
Desirable criteria
- Educated to degree level
- Research experience
- Quality Improvement experience
Communication Skills
Essential criteria
- • Good inter-personal and communication skills
- • Clear and concise written & documentation skills
- • Good level of IT i.e. Email/Internet
Desirable criteria
- • Project leadership skills
Experience
Essential criteria
- • Experience in leading Nurse Education on a level 3 NICU
- • Substantial time working in a Neonatal unit
- • Substantial experience at Band 6 in a NICU/SCU/Community Outreach Team
- • Implementing changes in nursing practice to improve patient care
- • Designing and implementing training programmes on NICU
- • Experience of preparing infants with complex health needs for discharge
- • Experience Social Care/Safeguarding involvement
- • Experience Bereavement/CDOP/PRMT process
- • Demonstrable experience of managing staff, including sickness absence, appraisals, performance and conduct.
Desirable criteria
- • Evidence of involvement in project management
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- • Knowledge of teaching and learning
- • Able to evaluate and analyse results of audit in order to improve the service
- • Computer literacy including using an excel spreadsheet, power point and word
- • Experience in change management and/or quality improvement initiatives
- • Knowledge of National Neonatal policies & guidelines
- • Fully aware of the children’s Act & National/Local Safeguarding Children Board legislation
- • Care of and discharge preparation for the infant with complex health needs
- • Participation on Baby Friendly Initiative
Desirable criteria
- • Knowledge with RSV immunisation programme
Skills
Essential criteria
- • Change management skills
- • Ability to work and communicate as part of the multidisciplinary team
- • Ability to train others
- • Ability to support mothers to feed their babies in a non-judgemental, empathetic and mother-centred way
- • Ability to prioritise in order to meet deadlines when writing reports
- • Effectively carries out tasks related to audit and evaluating services
- • Ability to plan workload and supervise others effectively to meet service needs
- • Ability to deal with operational issues
- • Ability to deliver on the Key NICU performance indicators
- • A knowledge & awareness of diversity and human rights and the competencies appropriate to your role
- • Team worker
- • Subject to the provisions of the Equality Act, the post holder should possess a current valid UK driving licence, have access to a vehicle for work and provide evidence on an annual basis that the vehicle is insured for business use.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Silvia Sampaio
- Job title
- Neonatal Governance Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01582798309
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