Deputy Head of Nursing within the Specialist Directorate

Job summary

We are looking for an experienced, compassionate and values-led senior nurse to join our Specialist Directorate as Deputy Head of Nursing. This is an exciting opportunity to provide visible professional nursing leadership across regionally commissioned specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, including Mother and Baby inpatient services, eating disorder inpatient services, and Learning Disabilities and Autism inpatient provision.

The post holder will work closely with the Strategic and Operational Lead, senior nursing colleagues, ward managers, multidisciplinary teams, service users, carers, commissioners and partner agencies to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality, evidence-based, trauma-informed and recovery-focused care. The role will support effective governance, performance, workforce planning, quality improvement and service development across a complex specialist inpatient portfolio.

Interviews are scheduled to be held the week commencing the 2nd November 2026

Main duties of the job

• Provide visible, inclusive and compassionate senior nursing leadership across specialist inpatient services, supporting teams to deliver safe, effective and person-centred care.
• Support the Strategic and Operational Lead in the delivery of operational performance, quality assurance, clinical governance and service improvement priorities.
• Work collaboratively with ward managers, matrons and multidisciplinary teams to maintain high standards of care, improve patient and carer experience, and embed learning from incidents, complaints, audits and feedback.
• Lead and support safer staffing, workforce planning, recruitment, supervision, appraisal, staff wellbeing and professional development across inpatient areas.
• Oversee and contribute to quality improvement, risk management, CQC readiness, infection prevention and control, restrictive practice reduction, medicines safety and patient safety improvement activity.
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external partners.
• Represent the Specialist Directorate at Trust-wide and external forums and deputise for the Strategic and Operational Lead where required, including delegated decision-making relating to staffing and patient safety.
• Promote efficient use of resources, contribute to business planning and support delivery of financial and productivity.
• Foster a compassionate, inclusive culture that attracts, develops and retains a diverse workforce

About us

About Devon Partnership Trust

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Details

• Date posted: 07 October 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 8b
• Salary: £66,582 to £77,368 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Flexible working
• Reference number: C9369-26-0761
• Job locations: Wonford House, Dryden Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 5AF, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

Please refer to the attached job description - the below is a summary of the main duties and responsibilities.

The Deputy Head of Nursing for Specialist Inpatient Mental Health, Learning Disability and Neurodiversity Services provides senior professional nursing leadership across the Trusts specialist inpatient services, including Mother and Baby inpatient Services, Eating Disorder inpatient Services, and Learning Disabilities and Autism inpatient unit. The postholder will support the strategic and operational lead in ensuring the delivery of compassionate, safe, high quality, and evidence based care aligned with Trust strategy, national standards, and regulatory requirements.

Working with the multi-disciplinary team and particularly the Ward Managers to ensure that the quality of care delivered is maintained and improved and not compromised. To ensure that the Directorate is striving for continuous quality improvement and excellence in every service and to ensure that every member of staff is supported and empowered to deliver high-quality care that exceeds patient and carer expectations. Establishing and maintaining effective governance structures and approaches incorporating monitoring metrics on quality, ensuring effective information, easy access to accurate data and learning from errors, concerns and incidents. Provides clarity around the roles and responsibilities for quality and safety of individuals. Ensures there is a clear and agreed approach to taking swift and coordinated action in the event of quality issues being identified.

The postholder will provide visible, values-led leadership, drive performance and continuous improvement. They will be required to model and embed a culture within the Directorate that is consistent with Trust values and supporting achievement of the Trusts vision and strategic objectives. Ensure the directorate use the resources allocated to it efficiently and effectively. Contribute to continuous improvement, increased productivity and realisation of benefits within financial cost improvement savings.

The post holder will be required to represent the specialist directorate in a range of Trust wide meetings and senior forums where the focus of the meeting is on the provision of in-patient services or issues related to this provision including safer staffing forums, infection control meetings etc.

The post holder will provide a key link between the services and case managers and ensuring that the services operate within any guidelines set out by the commissioners of the service.

The post holder will be responsible for:

• Human resources management of staff including recruitment, appraisal, Continuous professional development and staff performance.
• Policy and service development in collaboration with the strategic and operational manager.
• Clinical accountability for service provision including the performance of the services in achieving all their key performance indicators as well as quality, flow, incidents, complaints and CQC and commission action plans.
• Service budgets and physical resources.

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

• The post holder will provide and receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information daily, working with highly skilled and effective communication skills to overcome barriers to understanding. This can be in a 1:1 situation, in small or with larger groups of staff/other agencies/organisations. A requirement for communication skills that are open, transparent and respectful to create psychologically safe spaces.
• Demonstrate excellent negotiating skills in what may be difficult and sometimes confrontational situations, for example, when dealing with highly contentious or complex clinical care situations which require multidisciplinary collaboration and resolution. Ensuring all participants experience feeling heard, valued and meaningfully involved.
• Proactively encourage and role model the Trust Values and Behaviours, in which staff feel valued, empowered and supported.
• Actively promote a culture of openness, transparency and candour ensuring that any concern raised is treated seriously and dealt with promptly in accordance with Trust Policy. Lead on conflict resolution and sensitive conversations (e.g., performance issues, patient complaints), supporting other managers with coaching through complex and contentious situations with clarity, competence and confidence.
• To actively involve staff in service development and quality improvement and ensure effective reciprocal communication with all Directorate employees and engaged partners and stakeholders.
• Build strong collaborative relationships with multidisciplinary teams, service users, carers, and external agencies.
• Establish and monitor effective systems and processes of communication within inpatient services whilst maintaining an openness to contributions from the wider leadership group.
• Development and maintenance of relationships with case managers and commissioners in respect of service performance, achievement of KPIS or actions to address any identified shortfalls or concerns with service provision.
• Collaborate with service users, carers and Together to act upon feedback received and evidence that the service has responded to this feedback and actioned where appropriate change for the benefit of the service and service users. To involve wherever possible in the coproduction of polices, strategic developments.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Interpret highly complex information, incidents, audit data, and regulatory requirements to support decision making.
• Identify risks and lead appropriate mitigation and improvement actions.
• To evaluate and review the impact and experience of staff on Specialist inpatient wards with a focus on safety and quality, through evaluation and analysis identify clear planning to address areas from improvement.
• Review incidents of restrictive practice (restraint, seclusion and segregations) and responsibility for reduction plans, reporting and assurance.
• Review of incident reports and mangers reviews to identify themes and learning and action to mitigate and address, including violence/aggression reduction and self-harm / suicide prevention.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

• Ensure delivery of high quality, evidence based, trauma informed and recovery focused care. Clinically accountable to trust for delivery of a clinical service for Specialist inpatient services.
• Maintain clinical visibility and credibility across the specialist inpatient wards.
• Emphasis on ensuring systems and processes in place to capture feedback from families and carers and evidence clear learning and action resulting from this.
• learning from the results of incident reporting, complaints and after-action reviews and ensure learning embedded in service provision.
• Maintain an overview of services risk registers and ensure mitigations and actions are in place, implemented and risks reviewed on a regular basis
• Oversight of medicine safety incidents and engagement with pharmacy / medical colleagues.
• With the Strategic and Operational Lead, ensure that high-quality clinical services are delivered in-line with the trusts delivery strategy and financial plan.
• Be responsible for ensuring that Patient Safety Incident Response Framework incidents learning is presented to clinical teams with clear learning identified. Similarly, where there is learning from complaints, the themes are shared with all staff for their reflections and learning.
• Ensure that national quality and environmental standards are achieved, high standards of cleanliness and infection control including Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) and Infection Prevention and Control auditing.
• Ensure that all inpatient services are constantly focused on the needs of inpatients, coproduce collaborative care planning, risk assessments and consistently maintain the voice of the patient in all they do.
• Include patient and staff survey results, capacity planning, service transformation, diversity and equality, health and safety, security management, workforce strategy as an integral part of business planning and ensure full implementation within the services.
• Maintain an overview and ensure health and safety policies are adhered to.
• Ensure infection control processes are in place and adhered to in each of the units.

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

• Participate in senior management on-call rotas as required.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).