Closing date: 22 August 2026

Job Summary
Have you got a community based clinical experience and are you looking for a new challenge?

Our Hospice@Home service is recruiting a Deputy Sister/Charge Nurse to work alongside the existing leadership team to deliver excellent care enabling people to remain at home and placing them at the hard of what we do. Hospice@Home provide hands on nursing care where appropriate, working in partnership with GPs, District Nurses and other specialist nurses.

This is a full-time position working 37.5 hours per week which will include nights, weekends and bank holidays and be a part of the clinical on-call rota. The salary band for this role is £40,190 - £48,396 per annum.

Main duties of the job
As a Deputy Sister/Charge Nurse, your duties will include:

• Taking responsibility as Nurse in Charge on shift
• Demonstrating leadership through clinical expertise, delivering high standards of person-centred care as and when needed
• Working with the team to develop a culture of reflective practice
• Managing risk and balancing demands that come up in the service
• Communicating appropriately with all patients, their families and other staff
• Being responsible for driving ongoing service development to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our diverse local population

Our ideal candidate will:

• Have experience of working clinically within the community including excellent nursing skills, record keeping and medicines management
• Have knowledge of palliative and end of life care
• Be highly motivated, dynamic and passionate about hospice care
• Have excellent communication skills and be able to communicate with all levels
• Be able to respond appropriately to emotionally challenging situations

What we can offer you:

• Salary above the NHS pay scales
• Shift enhancements for working unsociable hours
• Golden Hello of £1,000 (after tax) as a special thank you and welcome to our team
• Reimbursement of NMC fees
• Extensive employee discounts on shops, holidays and lifestyle choices and Blue Light Card discounts
• Up to 41 days Annual Leave
• Continuation of NHS pension and annual leave entitlement (T&Cs apply)
• Attractive pension scheme for non-NHS staff
• A supportive and friendly working environment

About Us
Our mission is to provide excellent care and support to those living with life-limiting illness and to the people they care about, to enrich their lives and to contribute to the ongoing development of end-of-life care. We do this by placing our patients at the centre of everything we do, and through involving patients and their families in all decisions regarding their care.

We can only achieve this with the help of our amazing colleagues, by developing and recognising their contribution, and by sharing our knowledge and skills through education, audit and research.

We do not have sponsorship status and therefore all our offers are made conditional upon our candidates submitting evidence of their right to work in the UK in conjunction with our other pre-employment checks.

Details
Date posted: 03 August 2026
Pay scheme: Other
Salary: £40,190 to £48,396 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: HG1642431MaiDSN
Job locations: St Leonard's Hospice, 185 Tadcaster Road, York, North Yorkshire, YO24 1GL, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Work as a senior member of the Hospice@Home team to provide a high standard of skilled compassionate nursing care and symptom management, supporting patients to remain at home and placing them at the centre of all that we do. Provide clinical leadership, management and coordination of St Leonard's Hospice@Home service and have the skills to support and manage change and development effectively.

Main duties and responsibilities
Professional

• 1. Develop and maintain expertise in palliative nursing within the community setting.
• 2. Maintain high standards of nursing care, putting quality evidenced based care at the heart of practice.
• 3. Demonstrate expertise in the clinical management of home-based patients with complex needs. Deliver hands on patient care as needed working as part of the nursing team.
• 4. Assess the holistic needs of the patient and their family considering their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.
• 5. Maintain accurate records with regard to the administration of drugs in the patients home. Implement all statutory and SLH policies relating to medications management.
• 6. Effectively prioritise and plan own workload and to be responsible for planning, delivering and evaluating the effectiveness of care given to patients, applying specialist judgement.
• 7. Maintain accurate written records of care, communicating all necessary information to other team members.
• 8. Participate fully in the setting, implementation and monitoring of formal standards of practice and to be involved, when required, in clinical governance and auditing for the service. Provide coaching and mentoring to the team.
• 9. Be responsible for maintaining a high level of knowledge, skill and competence to care for dying people especially in relation to current drugs/therapies in the treatment of pain and other symptoms and administer medication according to the prescription chart.
• 10. Work with the Hospice@Home team to develop a culture of reflective practice which can assist with learning and development from recent/past events.
• 11. Communicate appropriately with all patients and staff, liaise with other departments and agencies and attend departmental meetings as requested.
• 12. Maintain collaborative working relationships and effective communications between all members of the multi-disciplinary team, to ensure a high standard of co-ordinated patient care.
• 13. Participate in the development of Hospice standards, policies and research as required.
• 14. Ensure that patient care within the home follows the Infection Prevention and control national standards and policy, role modelling good hand hygiene and PPE compliance.
• 15. Participate in full rotation across all shifts including nights.

Managerial

• 1. Demonstrate leadership through clinical expertise, delivering high standards of person-centred care. Ensure that staff have a clear understanding of their duties and responsibilities and of the standards of performance expected. Assess the competency levels of the team as required through individualised objectives.
• 2. Coordinate the day to day service provision in the absence of, or in place of, the Senior Sister/Charge Nurse as required.
• 3. Assist with the rostering of staff to ensure a good skill mix, including the use of bank staff and flexing of shift patterns as required to maintain safe patient care.
• 4. Plan the delivery of patient care on a daily basis through appropriate delegation, responding to frequent changes in needs and/ or the environment.
• 5. Lead, support and supervise the team through the process of change, demonstrating tenacity, drive professional integrity, balance and perspective.
• 6. Report and investigate all accidents, incidents, complaints and untoward occurrences, keeping statutory and unit records as required. Be aware of responsibilities relating to the complaints procedure.
• 7. Manage incident reporting within the Hospice@Home service and work with the Director of Clinical Services and Senior Sister/Charge Nurse when there are identified areas for practice improvement.
• 8. Understand the serious incident policy and the responsibilities of prioritising safe patient care, attending and facilitating safety huddles.
• 9. Exercise care and economy in the use of property and equipment and to ensure equipment is clean, safe and maintained in good working order.
• 10. Be aware of allocated resources and contribute to effective budgetary control authorising supplies, invoices, rotas and absence forms as required.
• 11. Act as a resource to other professionals, both internally and externally, on specialist palliative care issues.

Education

• 1. Achieve and maintain clinical competencies specific to the role and organisation, facilitating the development and achievement of competence in others including the teaching of new staff so that they are able to function fully within the team.
• 2. Use evidence-based practice to develop and maintain a high quality of patient care and to ensure the continuous improvement of the service.
• 3. Participate in the allocation, teaching and guidance of visiting professionals eg Student Nurses on placements, Medical Students, Students Allied to Health and Post Graduate Students.

Person Specification
Other requirements
Essential

• Vehicle owner with full UK driving licence
• Ability to work unsocial hours/ out of office hours
• Be prepared to assist with Hospice fundraising activities
• Enhanced DBS check

Desirable

• Knowledge of local area

Communication
Essential

• Proven interpersonal skills
• Ability to be sensitive and empathetic
• Able to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to communicate at all levels within the Hospice

Desirable

• Advanced communication skills

Experience
Essential

• Clinical experience of working within the community
• Line management experience
• An understanding of palliative care
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Awareness of Department of Health End of Life Strategy
• Organisational skills

Desirable

• Experience of working within palliative care
• Audit and evaluation skills

IT
Essential

• Digitally literate
• Knowledge of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook)

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of CPD and SystmOne

Qualifications
Essential

• Registered Nurse

Desirable

• Palliative Care Qualification
• Degree
• NMP or willingness to undertake training in the next 12 months

Personal
Essential

• Work confidentially and with discretion
• Enthusiasm
• Awareness and ability to cope with pressure
• Ability to work in a challenging environment
• Flexible to the changing needs of the post often at short notice
• Be accurate and methodical
• Honest, trustworthy, reliable and punctual
• Approachable, team player
• Committed to providing a quality and measurable service
• Ability to accept support from other team members
• Respect for others ethnic or/and religious/spiritual beliefs
• Committed to own continuing professional development
• A commitment to Hospice care and to have a philosophy and concept of Hospice care

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.

Employer Details
Employer name: St Leonard's Hospice
Address: St Leonard's Hospice, 185 Tadcaster Road, York, North Yorkshire, YO24 1GL, United Kingdom
For questions about the job, contact: HR Team, St Leonard's Hospice HR Team, hr@stleonardshospice.org.uk, 01904777763