Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Ward Leader - Critical Care Unit
The closing date is 22 November 2026
Job summary
Lead, Inspire and Shape the Future of Critical Care at Dorset County Hospital

Are you an experienced Critical Care Nurse ready to take the next step in your leadership journey?

Dorset County Hospital's Critical Care Service is seeking a dedicated, dynamic, and compassionate Band 7 Ward Leader to join our welcoming Senior Critical Care Leadership Team.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of Critical Care at DCH as we prepare to move into our brand-new, purpose-built Critical Care Unit in 2027, alongside the development of our new Enhanced Care Service.

We are looking for a Registered Nurse with significant Critical Care experience, strong leadership skills, and a passion for delivering outstanding patient-centred care. You'll work alongside a supportive multidisciplinary team, leading with confidence, driving quality and governance standards, and helping to create a positive environment for both patients and staff.

At DCH, we're proud of our strong team culture, our commitment to staff wellbeing and our investment in education and development through our dedicated Clinical Practice Educator Team.

• Lead and inspire a highly skilled team
• Help shape an exciting new Critical Care service
• Deliver exceptional care for our patients and families
• Develop your leadership career within a supportive organisation

Ready to be part of the future of Critical Care at DCH? We'd love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

• 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.

About us
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.

Details
Date posted: 12 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 405-26-NM498WLCCUA
Job locations: Dorset County Hospital, Williams Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2JY, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
UKVI Sponsorship: We will not be offering sponsorship for this role.
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.

Person Specification
Education, Qualifications & Training
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

Knowledge & 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

Skills & Abilities
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

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: Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Dorset County Hospital, Williams Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2JY, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.dchft.nhs.uk/working-for-us/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Matron for Critical Care, Emma Sidey, emma.sidey1@nhs.net, 01305254058