East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Lead Sister/ Charge Nurse

The closing date is 31 March 2026

Job summary

SDEC is a 24 bay unit and works closely alongside the Emergency Department to provide safe and effective flow through the services we provide.

This is a fast paced & exciting environment to work in and will be a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate if you have a passion for high standards of clinical care and an innovative and progressive attitude this could be the role for you.

We are currently recruiting for a experienced Lead Sister to lead the clinical care within a dedicated team in a fast-paced environment. You will need to promote high standards of professional practice and the delivery of quality care within the corporate policies, protocols and guidelines. At all times, act as a role model and provide clinical and managerial leadership to nursing and support staff.

Proposed Interview Date: 21st April 2026

Main duties of the job

Clinical co-ordination and management of the Same Day Emergency Care Unit (SDEC). To deliver high quality, safe, cost effective care to all patients and families.

Be responsible for care standards, appropriate use of staff and space and patient flow within the department ensuring excellent patient experience.

Lead by example as the expert practitioner providing organisation and leadership to the multi-professional team.

To work within the framework for Clinical Governance to provide effective, high quality individualised nursing care to patients and relatives/carers and to contribute to the continuing development of nursing practice.

Proactively monitor and manage Clinical Quality Indicators and the new Emergency Care Standards locally, ensuring escalation in line with Trust policy.

About us

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

Details

Date posted

19 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR1418-25

Job locations

Colchester Hospital

Turner Road

Colchester

CO4 5JL


Job description

Job responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Nurse
  • ILS/ALS
  • Cannulation/venepuncture

Desirable

  • Mentorship
  • Trauma course
  • MTS trained/instructor
  • Post registration qualification relevant to area
  • Degree or currently on pathway

Experience

Essential

  • Proven experience as a deputy Sister/ Charge Nurse in Emergency care
  • Proven post registration experience Evidence of regular study and development must be available.
  • Experience in delivering high quality evidence based emergency care
  • Experience of leading clinical team
  • Evidence of regular study and development must be available.

Desirable

  • oMentorship
  • oTrauma course
  • oMTS trained/instructor
  • oPost registration qualification relevant to area
  • oDegree or currently on pathway

Knowledge

Essential

  • oUnderstanding and knowledge of current practice within emergency nursing.
  • oManaging change
  • oNational targets we are measured upon for quality of patient care
  • oResearch and audit
  • oEmergency department national standards/Quality clinical indicators/Emergency Care Standards
  • oConducting appraisal and PDP
  • oKnowledge of current Trust initiatives
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Nurse
  • ILS/ALS
  • Cannulation/venepuncture

Desirable

  • Mentorship
  • Trauma course
  • MTS trained/instructor
  • Post registration qualification relevant to area
  • Degree or currently on pathway

Experience

Essential

  • Proven experience as a deputy Sister/ Charge Nurse in Emergency care
  • Proven post registration experience Evidence of regular study and development must be available.
  • Experience in delivering high quality evidence based emergency care
  • Experience of leading clinical team
  • Evidence of regular study and development must be available.

Desirable

  • oMentorship
  • oTrauma course
  • oMTS trained/instructor
  • oPost registration qualification relevant to area
  • oDegree or currently on pathway

Knowledge

Essential

  • oUnderstanding and knowledge of current practice within emergency nursing.
  • oManaging change
  • oNational targets we are measured upon for quality of patient care
  • oResearch and audit
  • oEmergency department national standards/Quality clinical indicators/Emergency Care Standards
  • oConducting appraisal and PDP
  • oKnowledge of current Trust initiatives

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.

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

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.

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

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Colchester Hospital

Turner Road

Colchester

CO4 5JL


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Colchester Hospital

Turner Road

Colchester

CO4 5JL


Employer's website

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


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

UEC Matron

Helen Smith

helen.smith@esneft.nhs.uk

07935014813

Details

Date posted

19 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR1418-25

Job locations

Colchester Hospital

Turner Road

Colchester

CO4 5JL


Supporting documents

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