Job responsibilities
Practice Nurse Lead
Contract: Permanent, full-time or part-time
Daily support from Operations Manager Clinical
Reports to: Practice Manager and GP Partners
Clinical Accountability: Lead GP
Liaison: Homeless Healthcare Nurse Lead
Job Summary
The Practice Nurse Lead is an expert autonomous practitioner responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the GMS nursing team while delivering high-quality clinical care. This role serves as the practice-wide Lead for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Immunisations, and Child Safeguarding
You will strategically manage nursing resources, develop clinical protocols, and work in close collaboration with the Homeless Healthcare service to reduce health inequalities and improve outcomes across our diverse community.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
1. Clinical Leadership & Team Development
- Workforce & Performance: Identify staffing requirements and negotiate for nursing resources; recruit, supervise, and assess staff performance through coaching and formal appraisals.
- Clinical Supervision: Act as a clinical "expert," providing supervision and 1-to-1 training sessions for practice nurses, HCAs, and phlebotomists.
- Educational Placements: Lead nursing educational placements and support medical placements, specifically integrating these within the specialised homeless service.
- Culture & Governance: Develop a safe working environment and enable the team to apply robust clinical governance and risk management systems.
2. Specialist Lead Roles (IPC, Immunisation & Safeguarding)
- Infection Prevention & Control (IPC): Take overarching ownership of IPC requirements, including hand hygiene, PPE management, sharps procedures, and site-wide cleanliness audits.
- Immunisations Lead: Lead the team in achieving national targets for childhood, seasonal, and other vaccinations, providing specialist evidence-based support and cold-chain oversight.
- Childrens Safeguarding Lead Nurse: Act as the designated Nursing Lead for Adult Safeguarding across the whole practice, supporting the GP Safeguarding Lead in managing complex cases and reporting.
3. PGD & PSD Governance
Act as the nursing lead for Patient Group Directions (PGDs) and Patient Specific Directions (PSDs) across the practice
Lead the development, implementation, review, and audit of PGDs/PSDs in line with legislation, NMC standards, and local policy
Ensure all nursing staff are trained, competent, authorised, and revalidated to work under PGDs/PSDs
Provide clinical oversight and risk management for PGD/PSD use, including incident review and learning
Lead PGD/PSD use for immunisations, sexual health, emergency medicines, and nursing-led treatments, in collaboration with Lead GP and PCN medicines teams
4. Medicines Management & Prescribing Governance
Contribute to safe medicines management within nursing-led services
Work with the Lead GP and PCN Pharmacy Team on formulary adherence, safety alerts (e.g. MHRA), and medicines optimisation
Support prescribing and medicines audits relevant to nursing practice
Prepare the service for future expansion of non-medical prescribing
5. Digital & Clinical Systems Leadership
Provide leadership for clinical systems used by the nursing team (e.g. templates, recalls, searches, registers)
Oversee data quality for nursing-led activity (QOF, screening, immunisations, LTC monitoring)
Support digital inclusion
Use data proactively to identify gaps, inequalities, and service improvement opportunities
6. QOF, GMS & Enhanced Services Delivery
Contribute to the delivery of QOF indicators relevant to nursing-led care
Support achievement of GMS and Enhanced Services linked to immunisations, screening, LTCs, and public health
Monitor uptake and outcomes to protect both quality and practice income
7. Incident Management & Duty of Candour
Lead or support investigation of clinical incidents, near-misses, and significant events involving nursing services
Contribute to Duty of Candour processes and ensure learning is shared across the team
Provide support to staff following incidents, promoting a just and learning culture
8. Autonomy, Scope & Decision-Making
Act as an autonomous practitioner within NMC scope of practice
Make independent clinical and operational decisions to maintain patient safety and service continuity
Escalate appropriately for complex, high-risk, or novel situations
9. Manage Protected Leadership & Management Time
Include protected non-clinical leadership time, distinct from clinical sessions, to deliver governance, supervision, and service development responsibilities
10. Trauma-Informed, Inclusive & Inequalities-Focused Care
Embed trauma-informed care principles across nursing services
Apply understanding of ACEs, substance use, mental health, and social exclusion, particularly within homeless healthcare
Lead initiatives aimed at reducing health inequalities and improving access for underserved groups
11. PCN & System-Level Nursing Leadership
Represent the practice nursing team at PCN forums and system meetings
Contribute to PCN workforce planning, service redesign, and collaborative delivery
Interface with ICB, public health, and community nursing initiatives as required
12. Advanced Clinical Delivery & Chronic Disease
- Complex Case Management: Identify, diagnose, and manage patients with complex health needs, developing individual management plans and technical nursing treatments.
- Chronic Disease & Monitoring: Lead the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of chronic conditions, recognizing abnormalities and recommending pharmacological or lifestyle changes.
- Sexual Health & Contraception: Provide comprehensive sexual health services, including STIs, cytology, and contraception (UKMEC) reviews; lead innovative digital solutions for patient flow.
- Screening & Health Checks: Oversee health screening trends and public health initiatives to combat health inequalities within the practice population.
13. Operational & Resource Management
- Policy Development: Lead the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based policies, standards, and clinical guidelines across the nursing team.
- Financial Stewardship: Monitor and advise on the effective use of physical and financial resources within the nursing department.
- Data & Reporting: Analyze and report on health trends, service use, and well-being data to inform practice-wide service development.
14. Strategic Collaborative Framework
While sitting strategically above the specialized nursing tiers, this role operates through the CIRCLE values:
- Collaborative: Work as one team with the Homeless Healthcare Nurse Lead to ensure nursing protocols are unified and resource-sharing is seamless.
- Inclusive: Respect the privacy, dignity, and beliefs of all patients, adapting communication methods to meet diverse needs.
- Learning-Focused: Maintain personal CPD for NMC revalidation and foster a learning culture that encourages staff to develop new skills.