Ward Leader - Critical Care Unit
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation TrustDorchester, South West
Overview
This is a NHS role (permanent) with Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust based in Dorchester. The advertised salary is £49,387 to £56,515. Applications close on 22 October 2026. GovJobs has indexed this vacancy from its official source — use the apply button to view the full advert and apply directly.
Job description
This is a new opportunity for a registered nurse with recent and relevant experience working in the speciality of Critical Care. The post holder will ...
- To lead the nursing team and provide a specialist nursing service in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional conduct, Trust policies/procedures and ensure that the service is delivered within the allocated resources.
- To manage all elements of staff performance, sickness and wellbeing in line with Trust policy.
- To provide high standards of evidenced based care that supports the wellbeing needs of critically ill patients and their families.
- To provide specialist skilled Critical Care nursing and supervision of the nursing team in delivering an effective service.
- To continue personal professional development and be responsible for developing others.
UKVI Sponsorship: This role is eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). We welcome applications from individuals who require sponsorship to work in the UK. Sponsorship will be offered subject to meeting UKVI eligibility criteria.
Our DCHFT Job Description and Person Specification (attached) tells you all about this role, what to expect and what is needed to succeed. When completing your application please make sure to tell us how your experience and skills fit the person specification.
Please contact us at dch.recruitment@nhs.net if you are unable to view or download the attachment.
For all our roles, we are looking for staff who hold our Trust Values of Integrity, Respect Teamwork and Excellence, and who are passionate about providing the best patient care. To read more about our Trust and our Values search Dorset County Hospital online.
At DCHFT, we pride ourselves on the care we provide for our patients, and on the culture, we are creating for our staff. We work hard to create a fair, inclusive environment for our staff.
Our Mission is to work in partnership to provide high quality, compassionate services and to nurture an environment where people can be at their best. Our vision is healthier lives, empowered citizens, thriving communities.
We are a Trust that celebrates diversity, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from people in all under-represented groups.
We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate's individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.
All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.
Essential: - Registered Nurse; - Evidence of Leadership, management qualification or relevant experience; - Relevant specialty qualification and or evidence of education specific to Critical Care at level 3 at Master's level or equivalent.; - Evidence of CPD; - Teaching qualification or relevant experience
Essential: - Minimum of 5 years relevant post registration experience including a minimum 1 years' experience at band; - Substantial post registration experience in Critical Care
Desirable: - Understanding of professional nursing issues; - Experience in service improvement
Essential: - Excellent personal and communication skills; - Evidence of ability to practice as an expert practitioner; - Demonstrates ability to place patient and family at centre of care; - Excellent organisational ability; - Understanding of clinical governance and ability to establish systems in practice; - Demonstrates a desire to explore new and innovative ways of delivering services; - Demonstrates leadership ability; - Evidence of effective team leading and participation; - Evidence of successful management of change; - Ability to critically analyse research and evidence-based practice; - Evidence of Management experience in critical care or equivalent sphere of nursing; - Understanding of budget management
How this role compares
We hold 965 NHS vacancies in South West that publish a salary, and their median advertised starting figure is £34,098. This role pays more than about 72% of them.
There are 13,012 NHS roles open across the UK on GovJobs right now, 1,546 of them in South West.
You have 1 day left to apply. NHS adverts we hold typically run for around 46 days, so this is a shorter window than usual.
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has 12 other vacancies open on GovJobs, with a breakdown of what they pay and the kinds of roles they recruit for.
These figures are calculated from the vacancies GovJobs currently holds, not from official pay statistics. They are a guide to the market, not a valuation of this post.
How to apply
GovJobs does not take applications or send your details to the employer. Use the apply button to open the official Nhs Jobs advert, then check the employer's instructions, attachments, person specification and closing time before applying.
This listing was last checked on 21 Oct 2026, 01:06. If the official advert has changed or closed, report it and we will review the listing.
Why this listing is on GovJobs
GovJobs indexes public-sector vacancies from official sources, normalises the title, employer, location, salary and deadline, and links back to the source so you can verify the advert yourself.
The source for this role is Nhs Jobs. Applications stay on the official employer or source website, not on GovJobs.
