Go back

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Mental Health Clinical Lead Nurse

The closing date is 25 January 2026

Apply for this job

Job summary

The post holder holds overall responsibility for the full assessment of care needs and the development,implementationand evaluation of care plans for each individual patient on thePrison Community Team caseload.

To role-model team-working andenable all colleagues to envisage a full multi-disciplinary approach to patient care, ensuring flexible working within the boundaries of the prison regime.

To manage the multi-disciplinary staff team, ensuring that all members are engaged in managerial & clinical supervision and that each member has a personal development plan.

To supervise junior staff and be able to teach qualified and unqualified staff, including students.

To foster andmaintainthehigh standardsof care.

To lead on aspects of clinical governance / care quality within the team.

To deputise in the absence of line manager.

To play an active part in the Healthcare Management Team

Recognise that there is need for flexibility, working outside of normal working hours ifrequired, including weekends.

Tomaintainown skills and knowledge to a highstandard andensure that this is reflected within the team.

Tomaintainservice development requirements and successfully implement changestomeet these.

Main duties of the job

To ensure a high standard of individualised care for eachclient byfacilitatinga needs-led service and the decisions made by themulti-disciplinaryteam.

To act as clinical and managerial role model,demonstratinghigh standardsof clinical practice.

Todemonstratea working knowledge of the key elements of relevant Mental Health legislation.

To ensure that the team is meeting requirements in relation to anyparticular mentalhealth legislation, e.g. CPA, and that adequate monitoringsystemsare in place.

To take responsibility for a small caseload of clients,maintainingclinicalskills.

Todemonstratea positive attitude to mental health, attending to patients with respect anddignityandhave the ability tochallenge staff where the standard falls below expectations.

To ensure that professional boundaries are always adhered to.

To keep up to date with issues and developments in nursing, the prisonserviceand the wider NHS.

To keep abreast of new Policies, Guidance and Best Practice guidelines.

To activelyparticipatein theHealthcare Care Quality Meetings and otherappropriate meetingsas agreed.

About us

We're passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, community clinic, Health & Justice or in the patient's own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.

Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people.

We're always looking to recruit outstanding peoplewho will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we're hoping to find our future leaders and we'll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.With adiverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more - whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

Date posted

11 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum (pro rata if part time)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

333-D-HJ-1955

Job locations

HMP Woodhill

Milton Keynes

MK4 4DA

Job description

Job responsibilities

Tomaintainup to dateaccurateclinical records both written and electronic.

Assist theMental HealthServiceLeadto improve data quality ensuring records meeting National Mental Health Minimum Data Set requirements.

Tomaintainaccurateand prompt recording of accident and incident forms.

To ensurethose patientsrecords reflectappropriate careneeds, aremulti-disciplinaryand all documentation is completed according to CNWL and NMC standards.

Tomaintainappropriate servicestatistics.

Maintainaccurate,timelypaper and electronic records.Ensure they are kept safelyin accordance withCNWL policies, including the Data Protection Act (1998) and the CNWL Confidentiality Policy.

To ensure effective use ofSystmOneandcNOMISin record keeping andmonitorthe quality of data provided by junior staff.

To ensure that key local and national policies are implemented at a local level giving support to team members where necessary.

To lead and support the implementation of any new software application within the team.To ensure staff are adequately prepared and supported throughout the process and thatgood linksareestablishedthroughout the process.

To support staff throughout any change process and to allow minimal disruption to patient care delivery. To ensure all staff receive information related to change.

To lead on specific care quality initiatives, within the team and service wide.

To become involved in forums other than health to promote closer working practicesin order tomeet patient and carer needs.

Toparticipatein the planning and implementation of clinical audits in the area and ensure that standards of good practice are met by all staff.

To provide a forum to allow effective communication to take place - both for clinical and non-clinical issues.

To take initiative in developing the service, working alongside theMental HealthService Leadand partner organisations to improve services.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Tomaintainup to dateaccurateclinical records both written and electronic.

Assist theMental HealthServiceLeadto improve data quality ensuring records meeting National Mental Health Minimum Data Set requirements.

Tomaintainaccurateand prompt recording of accident and incident forms.

To ensurethose patientsrecords reflectappropriate careneeds, aremulti-disciplinaryand all documentation is completed according to CNWL and NMC standards.

Tomaintainappropriate servicestatistics.

Maintainaccurate,timelypaper and electronic records.Ensure they are kept safelyin accordance withCNWL policies, including the Data Protection Act (1998) and the CNWL Confidentiality Policy.

To ensure effective use ofSystmOneandcNOMISin record keeping andmonitorthe quality of data provided by junior staff.

To ensure that key local and national policies are implemented at a local level giving support to team members where necessary.

To lead and support the implementation of any new software application within the team.To ensure staff are adequately prepared and supported throughout the process and thatgood linksareestablishedthroughout the process.

To support staff throughout any change process and to allow minimal disruption to patient care delivery. To ensure all staff receive information related to change.

To lead on specific care quality initiatives, within the team and service wide.

To become involved in forums other than health to promote closer working practicesin order tomeet patient and carer needs.

Toparticipatein the planning and implementation of clinical audits in the area and ensure that standards of good practice are met by all staff.

To provide a forum to allow effective communication to take place - both for clinical and non-clinical issues.

To take initiative in developing the service, working alongside theMental HealthService Leadand partner organisations to improve services.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NMC Registered Nurse Mental Health/Learning Disability
Mentorship or supervisor qualification.
Evidence of professional development since registration

Desirable

Post registration qualification that enhances clinical work: CBT, DBT, Dual Diagnosis, etc.
Management Qualification
Teaching and assessing qualification.
NMP Qualification

Previous Experience

Essential

Extensive experience within a management role.
Experience of managing a multi-disciplinary team of staff, providing leadership and promoting excellent care.
Excellent organisational skills and an ability to work with deadlines and to manage time effectively.
Experience of using a performance management framework
Experience of managing change
Minimum of five years' experience working with acute and vulnerable mental health service users.
Experience of building a learning environment for staff.

Desirable

Experience of working in a Prison or secure/forensic environment
Experience of working with mentally disordered offenders;
Training and experience in investigating complaints.

Skills and knowledge

Essential

Proven ability to work patients to increase their level of self-determination and resilience.
Evidence of the ability to develop a service and of the need for setting up evidence-based interventions.
Compassionate & non-judgmental approach

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

NMC Registered Nurse Mental Health/Learning Disability
Mentorship or supervisor qualification.
Evidence of professional development since registration

Desirable

Post registration qualification that enhances clinical work: CBT, DBT, Dual Diagnosis, etc.
Management Qualification
Teaching and assessing qualification.
NMP Qualification

Previous Experience

Essential

Extensive experience within a management role.
Experience of managing a multi-disciplinary team of staff, providing leadership and promoting excellent care.
Excellent organisational skills and an ability to work with deadlines and to manage time effectively.
Experience of using a performance management framework
Experience of managing change
Minimum of five years' experience working with acute and vulnerable mental health service users.
Experience of building a learning environment for staff.

Desirable

Experience of working in a Prison or secure/forensic environment
Experience of working with mentally disordered offenders;
Training and experience in investigating complaints.

Skills and knowledge

Essential

Proven ability to work patients to increase their level of self-determination and resilience.
Evidence of the ability to develop a service and of the need for setting up evidence-based interventions.
Compassionate & non-judgmental approach

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).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

Certificate of Sponsorship

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

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

HMP Woodhill

Milton Keynes

MK4 4DA

Employer's website

https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

HMP Woodhill

Milton Keynes

MK4 4DA

Employer's website

https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work (Opens in a new tab)