Lead Nurse - Urgent & Emergency Care

Job summary
A rare and exciting 3-month secondment opportunity to join the WHH Urgent and Emergency Care Clinical Business Unit. We are looking for an experienced nurse to be part of the senior triumvirate within the Clinical Business Unit, alongside the Lead Nurse, Business Manager, and Clinical Director. This role would provide an excellent development opportunity for an aspiring Lead Nurse to gain valuable senior leadership experience.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care CBU is responsible for:

• Adult Emergency Department
• Minor Injuries Unit
• Paediatric Emergency Department
• Ambulatory Care
• Same Day Emergency Care
• Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre
• Acute medical ward AMU

We are looking for an exceptional nurse leader who puts patient safety and nursing standards at the forefront of their practice and who has demonstrated a track record in leading significant change through collaboration with clinical teams.

Main duties of the job
The Lead Nurse will demonstrate a full understanding of the current issues within nursing and urgent and emergency care, and will be capable of supporting the CBU in continuing to shape and transform the patient experience and service provision. The successful candidate must demonstrate a knowledge of the quality standards we strive to deliver and support the delivery of these. The role requires significant managerial experience leading teams and the ability to competently handle complex issues. The lead nurse for this role needs to be adaptive, possess an engaging leadership style, and be capable of engendering the trust and confidence of clinical teams. A creative individualwith exceptional commercial skills, you will have the resilience to balance the pace of day-to-day operational management of key patient services with a drive and vision to achieve long-term sustainability through thedelivery of improved acute hospital pathways.

About us
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a caring and compassionate organisation that is both ambitious and innovative. We are committed to delivering the best outcomes for our patients and providing a positive experience of our staff. We aspire to be outstanding for our patients, our communities and our staff and are committed to being a great place to receive healthcare, work and learn.

Straddling the neighbouring boroughs of Warrington and Halton we are part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care system. Our hospitals are ideally situated to meet the growing healthcare needs of the 330,000 population of these boroughs.

Warrington Hospital is home to our emergency, critical care and maternity services, Halton Hospital is focused on elective procedures and the Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre, although many services are offered at both sites and in community hubs.

A CQC-rated 'good' organisation with 'outstanding' features, we are working towards university hospital status, having achieved teaching hospital status in 2019.

We employ nearly 5,000 people from over 80 nationalities, striving to be a diverse, inclusive employer and recognised leader in equality. We support flexible working, welcoming flexible applications. Proud of our many accreditations, we are embedding an anti-racist approach in all we do.

Details
Date posted: 17 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8b
Salary: £66,582 to £77,368 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 370-NAM8bUEC-1983
Job locations: Warrington & Halton Teaching Hospitals, Lovely Lane, Warrington, WA5 1QG, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
We require an experienced, motivated and independently minded leader who can act on their own initiative, achieving outstanding performance as a role model of the trusts values and behaviours. With a can-do leadership style, the Lead Nurse will thrive within a climate of constant change, managing the strategic direction and performance with a strong focus on productivity and improved patient experience for the Urgent and Emergency Care Clinical Business Unit within the Unplanned Care Group of the Trust.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Nursing, the post holder is expected to function at a senior level within the CBU senior leadership team, proactively leading and providing solutions to resolve complex operational issues, in accordance with agreed Trust objectives, targets, quality standards and resource constraints. The Lead Nurse will have managerial experience in leading teams and will possess leadership skills to deal competently with complex issues arising within Urgent and Emergency Care, and ensure that policy is implemented and performance managed within the CBU.

Working closely with the Clinical Director, and CBU Manager, the Lead nurse, will lead the implementation of patient centered clinical operational strategy and plans, ensuring that systems and processes are in place to comply with relevant legislation and governance requirements, linking with external bodies such as commissioners about service developments, contracts and clinical care pathways whilst utilising the expertise and skills of the wider Care Group team.

As a member of the Urgent and Emergency CBU senior leadership team and Care Group structure, the Lead Nurse contributes to strategic direction and policy setting for the Care Groups, forming an essential communications link between the Care Groups, CBU and relevant external organisations, demonstrating a coaching style of leadership in ensuring that clinical, staff and stakeholder engagement is reflected in the decision making process.

Please see the attached Job Description for a full list of roles and responsibilities.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Registered General Nurse
• Degree level or equivalent.
• Management qualification at master's level or equivalent
• Clinical Leadership Qualification

Desirable

• AHP Advanced Practice '4 Pillars'

Experience
Essential

• Extensive knowledge and experience of working within Emergency Care , Same Day Emergency care and Acute Medicine
• Demonstrable Experience of Major Incident Protocols including Decontamination.
• Recent experience as a Senior clinical manager, with responsibility for clinical quality, people management, budget responsibility and successful delivery of performance targets and quality standards within strict financial controls
• Significant experience dealing with safeguarding situations giving clear advice and how to manage safeguarding concerns raised by staff.
• Experience developing and implementing robust pathways to improve patient journey.

Desirable

• Experience of managing paediatric areas

Skills
Essential

• Analyse data and information, including preparing responses to issues, weighing risks and forming judgements often within tight timescales.
• Coaching & values led leadership style, encouraging engagement and empowerment amongst staff and stakeholders, and in developing high performing teams
• A high level of communication skills, to include but not exclusively, mediation, negotiation, consultation, facilitation, presentation, training and coaching skills using well developed interpersonal skills to influence, inform, reconcile differences and resolve conflicts.
• Champion the day to day quality of care provided by the nursing profession to meet challenging performance targets within tight financial controls.
• Cope with competing priorities and a demanding workload.
• Work in an environment with frequent interruptions, and within stressful, unpredictable situations including responding to and solving urgent and emergency situations day to day.

Desirable

• Research information and use audit skills to applying findings to influence practice and develop business cases/ plans.

Specific Role Requirements
Essential

• Car driver

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: North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust (WHH)
Address: Warrington & Halton Teaching Hospitals, Lovely Lane, Warrington, WA5 1QG, United Kingdom
Employer's website: (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Associate Chief Nurse
Heather Toft
View email address on meeveem.com
View phone number on meeveem.com

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