Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Strategic Lead Advanced Practice

The closing date is 14 August 2025

Job summary

Are you an experienced Advanced Practitioner, looking to further develop your leadership pillar, by working in a strategic role? If so, we are excited to share this role with you.

This is not an entirely new role for Bedfordshire Hospitals, but we are now in a position to support this role on a full time, permanent basis.

At Bedfordshire Hospitals, we are committed to developing the Advanced Practice role across NMC and HCPC professions, providing strong leadership and opportunities for further development. As the Strategic Lead, your role will be to work with Service Lines to scope, support and develop the advanced practice workforce, as well as providing assurance to the board and NHS England.

In order to remain credible in clinical practice, you will be able to continue some clinical duties in your area of specialism, ensuring that you remain able to demonstrate all 4 pillars of practice.

If you feel you have the skills and attributes to meet this post, please do get in touch. Visits to either hospital site are also welcome.

Main duties of the job

As the Strategic Lead, you will be responsible for:

Working in partnership with NHSE and HEIs to lead, develop, co-ordinate and support the provision of high quality clinical experiences, ensuring education and training are maximised for trainee advanced practitioners in the Trust.

Participate in workforce development, leading initiatives to facilitate the commissioning of advanced practice training, ensuring it supports planned changes to service needs across the Trust.

Maintain the Trusts advanced practice register

Ensure trainee and qualified advanced practitioners receive adequate and appropriate supervision.

Develop and monitor advanced practice governance processes, providing assurance at a service line level and to the board.

Ensure there are development opportunities across the four pillars of advanced practice for all advanced practitioners.

Support advanced practitioners who are going through the supported e-portfolio route to accreditation.

Engage with the service line triumvirate, to understand their workforce needs, ensuring that advanced practice is the appropriate role for their needs.

Provide expert advice and support on advanced and consultant level practice.

Support and promote research activity.

Lead the advanced practice steering group and advanced practice forums, providing direction and clarity.

Remain clinically credible by maintaining own advanced practice skills in your area of speciality.

About us

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job

Date posted

11 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£64,455 to £74,896 a year pa

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

418-CORP0766-EH

Job locations

Luton and Dunstable Hospital

Lewsey Road

Luton

LU4 0DZ

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

Be an exemplar expert practitioner in an area of practice.

The post holder will continue to work clinically, as an advanced or consultant level practitioner, to maintain clinical expertise.

Acts as a specialist resource within an area practice for service and the wider trust on local, national and Trust policy, procedures and guidelines ensuring patient safety and robust clinical governance.

Challenge practice standards and influence constructive and positive change.

Practices according to legal, ethical and professional guidance, corporate and clinical policies, local/national guidelines and formularies acting within boundary of own scope of practice, being responsible and accountable for any justifiable deviance.

Work within own scope of practice and accountability, recognising the need to escalate to others as appropriate.

Strategic Management and Leadership

Displays a compassionate leadership approach to create a culture of inclusiveness effectiveness, and excellence to develop advanced practice.

Works collaboratively with key stakeholders to taking the lead responsibility for the development, promotion and implementation of a Trust advanced practice strategy that reflects local, regional and national priorities, identifying interdependencies across projects/functions and the potential impacts on the wider organisation.

Identifies challenges that may accompany the implementation of an advanced practice long-term strategy and directs and/or influences the necessary measures to overcome them.

Works collaboratively to ensure the planning and recruitment of advanced practitioners across all services, mapping to local workforce plans and demonstrate close working with regional and ICS Faculties for Advancing Practice, People Board and HEIs.

Facilitates standardisation for advanced practice roles across the Trust determining a training pathway for advanced practice in conjunction with NHSE Centre for Advancing Practice and local HEIs.

Works in partnership with the service line management teams, with workforce transformation providing expert guidance on advanced practice implementation and development.

Provides expert clinical leadership in the development and delivery of new systems and processes which facilitate improved advanced practice recruitment, training, development and retention.

Develops and maintains effective working relationships with local HEIs whilst considering the financial implications and alternative methods of learning.

Represents the Trust for advanced practice at a local, regional and national level as required to influence strategic planning.

Reconciles inter and intra professional difference of opinions.

Education, training and continuing professional development

Displays collective leadership to significantly influence the development of a learning culture to develop staff potential.

Ensures clear governance, policy, guidance and systems of support are in place for advanced practitioners to work at their agreed top of licence; which includes a pathway for ongoing development of competences and capabilities and a defined level of supervision based upon place of work, experience and underpinning portfolio of capability.

Works collaboratively with key stakeholders to ensure advanced practice educational and supervision requirements are commissioned.

Takes overall responsibility to ensure the NHSE's Standards for High Quality Supervision for Advanced Practitioners and trainee Advanced Practitioners are implemented throughout the organisation.

Works collaboratively with key stakeholders to ensure an organisational register of advanced practitioner supervisors is held and maintained and processes are in place to monitor and develop supervisor capacity.

Works collaboratively with key stakeholders to ensure that a formal review process is established for all APs and developing APs/trainees to enable an annual assessment is undertaken to review progress and discuss issues.

Ensures CPD standards are in place and implemented across the organisation for all APs which includes rostered CPD time within job plans and job descriptions and that processes are in place to demonstrate impact.

Oversees and embeds a learning culture which includes leadership, mentorship, coaching and programmes that support advanced practitioners and their career development.

Works collaboratively with lead medical clinicians for APs in planning and implementation of teaching programmes.

Participates in national, regional and local communities of practice and encourages others to do so.

Monitors the organisational standards for appraisal processes for APs and developing APs/trainees.

Practice and service developments, research and evaluation

Contributes, advises and at times leads quality improvement projects, research and innovation initiatives.

Sets an example of an inquiring approach, making knowledge accessible by ensuring the findings of research, appropriate evidence and new knowledge is effectively disseminated across the organisation and wider system.

Maintains up to date knowledge in advanced practice and research to lead change in practice.

Format, process, analyse, evaluate and synthesise data and provide qualitative and quantitative information/option appraisals (oral and written) to a variety of audiences.

Reviews and acts on the delivery and evaluation of education and training programmes relating to the AP.Monitors the organisational standards for appraisal processes for APs and developing APs/trainees.

Develops and delivers evidenced based patient and carer education and training in conjunction with other health care professionals.

Communication

Be at the forefront of inspiring and engaging cross-boundary working with advanced practice initiatives across the system andbeyond.

Takes a key role in ensuring effective communication within the integrated care system (ICS) ensuring BHFT works in positive ways to support our healthcare and system partners.

Exhibits the highest level of inter-professional and communication skills and develop effective communication strategies with members of the multi-disciplinary team.

Uses expert knowledge and experience to provide professional advice and support to nurses, allied health professionals, midwives, health care scientists, pharmacists, medical associate professions, human resource services and other staff and managers at service, corporate or system level.

Ensures awareness of sources of support and guidance (e.g., PALS) and provide information in an acceptable format to service users recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate.

Maintains confidentiality as required by professional, local and national policy. Acknowledges situations where there can be a breach ofconfidentiality.

Recognises and defuses potentially aggressive and violent individuals/situations in line with local policy and legal frameworks.

Leads, develop and supervise APs and developing APs/trainees to develop patient information and health promotion materials.

Policy

Interprets national policy and standards, adapting and implementing policy and guidelines in accordance to these.

Leads on formulating, developing, implementing and monitoring of policies, guidelines, protocol and procedures to minimise risk and enhance patient safety and care.

Using current literature and research, lead, participate and supervise APs and developing APs/ trainees and members of the multidisciplinary team with the development of policies, protocols and guidelines.

Leads and promotes compliance with best practice across the trust, with a particular focus on developing strategies for sharing best practice and enabling the development of clinical networking.

Financial and Performance Management

Works within allocated budgets for advanced practice including internal and external grants and funding streams, oversee these for the trust, raising where there may be issues and ensuring these are kept on track. This will include the ability to delegate where deemed appropriate and within standing financial instructions.

Ensures that effective business justification is presented for allocation of any required budget funding and considering the return on investment, putting remedial plans in place as required.

Shares and communicates performance indicators and level of performance for advanced practice throughout the Trust, taking action where required to address variance from the standard/milestone.

Clinical Governance and Quality

Develops and delivers evidenced based patient and carer education and training in conjunction with other health care professionals.

Works collaboratively with the Deputy Chief Nurse and key stakeholders to take lead responsibility in ensuring effective governancearrangements and performance management systems are in place for advanced practice across the Trust.

Promotes a safe person-centred culture to enable advanced practitioners and trainees comply with Trust policies and clinical guidelines.

Works collaboratively with colleagues to ensure that all risks are identified and included as appropriate on the organisational risk register and are progressed appropriately to reduce the risk profile.

Works collaboratively with colleagues to address concerns, complaints and incidents appropriately lead the learning from such events to ensure that corporate learning is achieved.

Manages and make judgements that require analysis and interpretation of complicated situations where internal and external stakeholders / experts may challenge decisions made.