Ward Manager - Plastic Surgery & Burns | Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Preston

Are you an inspirational leader with a passion for delivering outstanding patient care? We are seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and forward-thinking Ward Manager to lead our dedicated team on Ward 4 at Royal Preston Hospital. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced clinical leader to make a real difference to the care and experience of patients within our Plastic Surgery and Burns Service.

As Ward Manager, you will provide visible, compassionate leadership, fostering a positive team culture that promotes excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement. Ward 4 provides specialist inpatient care for adult patients and also oversees a busy Outpatient Dressing Clinic and Procedure Theatre, operating Monday to Friday. This varied and rewarding role offers the opportunity to influence services across both inpatient and outpatient settings.

What We Can Offer

In return, you will join a supportive and progressive leadership team and benefit from a tailored programme of professional and career development. Working closely with the Matron, you will receive coaching, mentorship, and opportunities to further enhance your leadership capabilities while achieving your personal and professional goals.

Working Pattern

This post is predominantly worked during core business hours: Monday to Friday 07:00 – 15:00 37.5 hours per week.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

As Ward Manager, you will provide inspirational leadership and operational oversight for Ward 4, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe, and compassionate patient care across all areas of the service.

• Provide strong, compassionate, and visible leadership, fostering a positive culture that reflects the Trust's values and behaviours.
• Ensure the provision of safe, effective, and patient-centred care across inpatient, outpatient, and procedural services.
• Support workforce planning, recruitment, retention, and succession planning to ensure a sustainable and resilient workforce.
• Take responsibility for people management, including appraisal, performance management, attendance management, wellbeing support, and professional development.
• Ensure effective roster management and deployment of resources to meet service needs while maintaining safe staffing levels.
• Champion quality improvement initiatives, innovation, and service development that enhance patient outcomes and staff experience.
• Maintain robust clinical governance processes, proactively monitoring compliance with quality, safety, and regulatory standards and taking action where required.
• Ensure compliance with mandatory training requirements and encourage continuous professional development within the team.
• Work collaboratively with the wider multidisciplinary team to deliver seamless, coordinated care and achieve shared objectives.

Working for our Organisation

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest and highest-performing NHS trusts in the country, delivering outstanding healthcare to over 370,000 people across Preston and Chorley, alongside specialist services for 1.5 million people throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria. At Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, we believe in continually challenging ourselves to improve. We encourage our leaders to think differently, embrace innovation, and contribute to the development of services that meet the changing needs of our patients and communities.

Your ideas, expertise, and passion will help shape the future of the service and support our ambition to provide the very best care. As a leading Teaching Hospital Trust, we are committed to lifelong learning and professional development. We offer a wide range of educational opportunities, leadership programmes, and specialist training to support your career progression.

Whether developing your clinical expertise, enhancing your leadership skills, or pursuing future career aspirations, you will be supported every step of the way. Join us and become part of a forward-thinking organisation where excellence, compassion, and innovation come together to make a real difference to patients, staff, and the communities we serve.

Key Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for the delivery of excellent care with compassion, ensuring that nursing, support, and administrative teams are effectively resourced, organised, and empowered to consistently deliver safe, high-quality, patient-centred care.
• Drive and sustain exceptional standards of care, setting clear expectations and continuously monitoring quality, safety, and patient outcomes.
• Through visible leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement, ensure the patient experience remains at the heart of all service delivery.
• Provide inspirational and visible leadership across the ward, procedure theatre, dressing clinic, and associated support services.
• Foster a culture of professionalism, accountability, compassion, and excellence, where staff feel valued, supported, and motivated to achieve their best.
• Lead, develop, and inspire multidisciplinary teams, creating an environment that promotes engagement, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Support staff and students through clinical supervision, coaching, mentorship, and professional development opportunities, enabling individuals to reach their full potential and deliver outstanding patient care.
• Champion evidence-based practice, research, and service innovation, encouraging the adoption of new ideas and quality improvement initiatives that enhance patient outcomes, staff experience, and service effectiveness.
• Ensure the efficient and productive operation of the ward, dressing clinic, and procedure theatre, maintaining high standards of safety, cleanliness, organisation, and operational performance.
• Promote effective systems and processes that maximise nursing time at the bedside and increase therapeutic engagement with patients.
• Create and maintain a positive, safe, and supportive environment for patients, visitors, and staff by ensuring compliance with governance, quality, and regulatory standards, whilst proactively identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Act as a strong advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion, safeguarding individuals and promoting personalised care by recognising, respecting, and responding to the unique needs, preferences, and choices of every patient, family member, and colleague.
• Lead with integrity and compassion, ensuring that Trust values are embedded throughout the service and reflected in every aspect of patient care, team development, and leadership practice.

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape and influence a specialist service, leading highly skilled teams to deliver exceptional care while driving innovation, professional development, and continuous improvement across the Plastic Surgery and Burns pathway.