Community Heart Failure Nurse Specialist

Job overview

A Band 7 Community Heart Failure Nurse Specialist (HFNS)  opportunity has arisen as the previous postholder is relocating.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills, will be able to work autonomously and as part of a team.  Professional supervision will be provided from an experienced  nurse specialist or consultant cardiologists.  We cover the multi-cultural and vibrant borough of Camden and aim to provide quality care for patients in their own homes and in clinic settings.

The team is based at Peckwater Health Centre, Kentish Town and operates from 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of the multi-disciplinary team aimed at reducing unscheduled hospital admissions and improving quality of life for people with heart failure i.e. Rapid Access Service, consultant cardiologists from UCLH and The Royal Free Hospital, other Long Term Conditions teams, Palliative Care, renal team, GPs and community nursing and therapy teams amongst others.

The post holder will provide support to the Band 8a clinical lead and other team members, including student nurses on placement, support optimisation of heart failure GDMT appropriately as per NICE Guidelines (2025), provide heart failure education, reduce unscheduled hospital admissions and ED attendance. They will promote co-production through working in partnership with patients and their families/carers.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

The Heart Failure team are expected to help meet the health needs of the population in Camden and as a Heart Failure Nurse Specialist you are expected to understand those health needs.  You will often work with people who have complex needs and you will be expected to contribute to the effectiveness of the service by:

• Being a confident, autonomous practitioner who takes responsibility for the care you give to patients and seeks advice when necessary
• Working within your own scope of practice
• Providing highly specialised clinical advice to support patients, GPs and other healthcare teams
• Reducing the risk of deterioration of heart failure patients by reviewing management plans, participating in MDT meetings and engaging with GPs
• Assessing patients with complex needs in collaboration with other services or teams
• Prescribing for patients (or work towards becoming a non medical prescriber)
• Contributing to the development of the Team by ensuring that policies and procedures are up to date and evidence based
• Encouraging the team to learn from adverse events or respond to data analysis from audits or benchmarking exercises and implement sustainable initiatives which improve clinical outcomes