West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
District Nurse
The closing date is 24 November 2026
Job summary
The Integrated Neighbourhood Teams are looking for newly qualified or experienced District Nurse to lead a team of Community Nurses. The team works alongside Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Social workers, and support staff. Please make it clear in your application which hours you are interested in working in.

This post requires a specialised District Nursing degree, following your Adult Nursing qualification. NHS work experience is essential and Community Nursing experience desirable.

This rewarding job helps maintain a patient's independence and freedom, whilst still being able to access exemplary medical care.

You will be supported with a comprehensive induction and training, as needed, to help you settle in, with the time and opportunity to get to know the people on your caseload, along with development opportunities.

Whilst the location for this post is advertised in Haverhill there may be the opportunity for part time, full time, fixed term or substantive roles in our other teams including Sudbury, Newmarket, Bury Town, Bury Rural, Mildenhall, Bury Rural. If you have applied to the Bury Town, Bury Rural or Newmarket advertisement, you need not apply to this post too.

Main duties of the job
Please see the full job description attached for more information.

• Manage a caseload of complex patients with healthcare needs within a designated population, using specialist knowledge to carry out assessments.
• Assess, develop and implement individualised and specialist nursing care programmes.
• Evaluate treatment interventions for the caseload and modify healthcare plans. Encourage the patient towards self-care and independence, using a health coaching approach and provide training, education and advice.
• Work in partnership with other services and the patient and their family/carer to prevent inappropriate admission to acute hospital settings.
• Support discharges into the community.
• Effectively manage and oversee the triage of all referrals to the team.
• Ensure all aspects of care offered by the team meet the agreed National, Professional and Local standards.
• Be responsible for the coordination of the day-to-day planning and delivery of District Nursing services within the team, prioritising clinical needs and delegating where needed to provide an effective service.
• Be responsible with other senior colleagues to provide the needs of the patient/client group, planning and delivering services.
• Ensure nursing capacity is reported using escalation process.
• Undertake independent prescribing for own caseload within the limits of the postholder's competence and the requirements of the nurse practitioner role.

About us
#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community.

We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.

The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.

Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.

We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.

With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.

We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyone's voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.

Join us. What will you #BeKnown for?

Details
Date posted: 10 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year Pro rata per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working
Reference number: 179-8374048-I
Job locations: Haverhill Health Centre, Camps Road, Haverhill, CB9 8HF, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities
Main duties of the job To lead and manage the District Nursing Service in this Locality. To provide specialist clinical and supervisory leadership to junior staff and students within the team.

• To manage a caseload of patients with multiple and complex needs, using evidence-based practice to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate interventions, with the patient at the centre.
• To provide the highest standard of clinical care by using advanced skills and expert knowledge to holistically assess needs, instigate and provide clinical treatments using evidence-based practice.
• To lead service development of integrated services in the Locality, in partnership with peers and colleagues.
• To use new knowledge in innovative ways and take responsibility for developing and changing practice in complex and sometimes unpredictable environments.
• To support staff to feel confident and competent to move across organisational and professional boundaries.
• To monitor the quality of care provision and identify and promote areas for service development.

Person Specification
Education and Qualification
Essential:

• Registered Nurse Level 1
• District Nurse Qualification
• Non-medical prescribing qualification
• Preparation for Mentorship qualification
• NMC Registration
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Teaching, learning and assessing qualification

Desirable:

• District Nurse qualification at Masters Level
• Specific Leadership qualification
• Tissue viability or leg ulcer management training
• V300 non-medical prescribing qualification
• Teaching, learning and assessing, Level 7 or PGCE

Experience and Knowledge
Essential:

• Experience of leading a DN team
• Management of complex patients
• Be responsible for management of complex cases sharing knowledge and skills with locality and community nurses to foster and grow knowledge and skills
• Advanced clinical assessment skills: experience of history taking and physical examination; experience of working autonomously; experience of working with people with long term conditions
• Awareness and understanding of local and national priorities in relation to patients with long-term conditions, Nursing and Integration
• Ability to direct and co-ordinate programmes of care working collaboratively and autonomously

Desirable:

• Management of a community team
• Experience of interview and recruitment skills
• Understanding and knowledge of the Health and Social Care Act

Skills and Abilities
Essential:

• Ability to work unsupervised and manage people
• Ability to work across organisational and budgetary boundaries within an identified Locality
• Working in integrated team and style
• Provide and role model high standards of care
• Work in partnership with Alliance partners to deliver seamless care to patients and develop service and improvements
• Implementation of change to promote high quality outcomes for the locality
• Excellent communication skills (detail re complex situations)
• Health Coaching skills or willingness to undertake
• Frequent Travel Essential: you will need to travel, so you must either hold a full, current driving licence and have access to personal transport or meet the mobility requirements of the role through other reasonable and suitable means.

Desirable:

• Cannulation/IV therapy administration
• Coaching skills

Personal Qualities
Essential:

• Role model positive behaviours
• Demonstrate the Trust values

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website. From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here: Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see the NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Haverhill Health Centre, Camps Road, Haverhill, CB9 8HF, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.wsh.nhs.uk

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Health Team Manager, Natalie Readings, natalie.readings@wsh.nhs.uk, 07929013631

Supporting documents
Privacy notice: West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice.