Nurse Consultant, Integrated Community Diabetes Service

Job overview

This post offers an exciting and rare opportunity for a candidate looking to advance their career as a Diabetes Nurse Consultant, leading an established Specialist Community Diabetes Service in Bedfordshire. The vacancy has arisen due to the current post‑holder retiring. We are seeking a highly motivated and dynamic individual to join Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The successful candidate will provide clinical, strategic, and professional leadership for the Bedfordshire Integrated Community Diabetes Service (BICDS), ensuring the service supports primary care in delivering excellent, safe, and effective care. The post‑holder will act as a source of expert knowledge and work with a high level of autonomy while collaborating closely with senior medical colleagues.

You will lead a well‑established, supportive, and collaborative multidisciplinary team dedicated to delivering high‑quality care for people living with diabetes. As the professional lead for the BICDS nursing workforce, you will demonstrate a person‑centred, motivational approach and a strong ‘can‑do’ attitude.

You will also champion and develop strong partnership working to ensure truly integrated care across the local area, leading a responsive service that is fit for the future.

Main duties of the job

The Nurse Consultant provides overall leadership for the Integrated Community Diabetes Service, acting as the senior clinical expert for individuals with complex type 2 diabetes. They undertake assessment, diagnosis, prescribing, and management of high‑risk patients, while offering specialist guidance to GPs, practice nurses, community teams, and care homes. They also oversee senior diabetes nurses and ensure the delivery of safe, high‑quality clinical practice across the service.

They lead the development and delivery of all diabetes‑related education for both patients and healthcare professionals, including structured education programmes, insulin management training, and primary care workforce development. The role includes producing patient information resources, evaluating the quality of training, and supporting staff to develop advanced diabetes expertise.

At a strategic level, the post influences diabetes pathways across the ICB, drives service improvement, leads audits and research activity, and ensures compliance with national standards and commissioning requirements. Responsibilities also include managing the service budget, monitoring performance, contributing to business planning, and representing the service locally and nationally to promote excellence in diabetes care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide clinical leadership for the Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Integrated Community Diabetes Service (ICDS).
• Lead and manage the Community Diabetes Nursing Service across both sites.
• Lead the diabetes structured education team.
• Work with the ICB to oversee the implementation and delivery of the ICDS service specification and the agreed diabetes care pathway across Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire.
• Collaborate closely with the ICB to drive ongoing clinical improvements in diabetes care, aligned with national best practice and the GIRFT Further Faster initiative.
• Support primary care practitioners in reducing hospital attendances for people with diabetes by delivering expert diabetes care within primary care settings and providing specialist advice across NHS Bedfordshire.
• Develop and deliver education programmes and skills‑development opportunities for healthcare professionals at all levels through teaching and mentorship.
• Promote and embed an “expert patient” approach to strengthen self‑management among people living with diabetes.
• Manage the financial budget for the service