Deputy Chief Nurse

• Leadership or management qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience
• Postgraduate qualification in quality, safety, safeguarding, IPC, patient experience, digital transformation, education or research
• Executive leadership development programme
• YOU MAKE US MORE
• Join Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

At Moorfields, people’s sight matters—and so do the people who make it possible.

For over 200 years, Moorfields has been at the forefront of ophthalmic care, research, and education.

With more than 2,300 dedicated team members and over 700,000 patients seen annually across our City Road site and 22 networked sites, we are proud to be a global centre of excellence.

We’re also a vibrant community where kindness, equity and excellence shape every aspect of our work.

Whether it’s pioneering research through our partnership with UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre or training the next generation of global eye care leaders, we’re united by one mission—delivering world‑class eye health, sustainably and at scale.

And we’re just getting started.

From 2027, we’ll move to our brand‑new Oriel site in St Pancras, Camden—a state‑of‑the‑art centre that will unite eye care, research, and education under one roof.

This groundbreaking facility, developed in partnership with UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Charity, will enable transformative innovation and collaboration like never before.

Could you be part of this future? Make us more.

Job Overview

Are you an experienced, compassionate and ambitious senior nurse ready to help shape the future of nursing, quality and patient experience at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust?

We are seeking an exceptional Deputy Chief Nurse to join our Corporate Nursing leadership team.

This is a pivotal Band 9 role supporting the Chief Nurse and Director of Allied Health Professionals to deliver outstanding care, professional excellence and continuous improvement across our services.

You will provide senior leadership for key portfolio areas including safeguarding, infection prevention and control, patient experience and engagement.

You will work closely with clinical divisions, corporate teams, system partners and communities to ensure that our services are safe, inclusive, responsive and shaped by the voices of patients, families, carers and staff.

We are looking for a credible and values‑led senior nurse with significant leadership experience, a strong understanding of quality governance and a passion for compassionate, inclusive and improvement‑focused care.

You will be comfortable operating at executive level while remaining visible and connected to frontline teams and the people we serve.

If you are ready to bring your expertise, courage and compassion to one of the world’s leading eye hospitals, we would welcome your application.

Main duties of the job

This is a pivotal Band 9 leadership role, providing strategic and operational oversight for key corporate nursing portfolio areas including safeguarding, infection prevention and control, patient experience and engagement.

The post holder will deputise for the Chief Nurse as required and represent Moorfields internally, across North Central London and at regional and national forums.

The post will be based on‑site.

The successful candidate will be an experienced and credible senior nurse with a strong track record of professional leadership, quality governance, workforce development, partnership working and improvement.

They will be values‑led, visible and compassionate, with the ability to influence at Board level while remaining connected to the experience of patients, families, carers and staff.

Working for our organisation

What’s in it for You?

At Moorfields, we invest in you—your growth, your wellbeing, your future.

• You’ll Join a Flexible, Supportive Organisation Offering
• Competitive salary (including high-cost area supplement)
• Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme
• 24/7 independent counselling support
• Career‑long learning and development opportunities
• Excellent transport connections
• Access to NHS and Blue Light discount schemes
• Free Pilates classes
• Full support and training to develop your skills

And so much more! To see the full range of benefits we offer please view our Moorfields benefits leaflet.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Main duties of the role

• Deputise for the Chief Nurse and Executive Director of Allied Professionals across the full breadth of the portfolio, including representation at Trust Board, executive, system, regional and national meetings.
• Working with a high degree of autonomy, lead the nursing and allied professionals change programme to deliver the trust and nursing strategic objectives
• Provide visible, compassionate and professional leadership across Moorfields, role modelling integrity, kindness, equity, excellence and psychological safety.
• Lead agreed corporate nursing portfolio areas, including safeguarding, infection prevention and control, patient experience and engagement.
• Provide strategic and operational leadership to strengthen clinical standards, professional practice, quality governance, risk management, assurance and continuous improvement.
• Work with divisional, corporate and system partners to ensure safe staffing, effective workforce planning, role development, education, digital transformation and professional development across nursing and allied professional groups.
• Ensure that patient, family, carer, community and staff voices inform service design, quality improvement, strategic priorities and Board‑level assurance.
• Support the Trust’s regulatory, quality and safety agendas, including preparation for and response to internal and external reviews, inspections and assurance processes.
• Write clear, high‑quality Board‑level assurance reports, drawing together data, risks, themes, controls, gaps in assurance and improvement actions to support effective executive and Board decision‑making.
• Lead quality assurance meetings for agreed portfolio areas, ensuring that risks, performance, patient experience, safeguarding, IPC and improvement themes are reviewed, escalated and translated into clear actions.
• Participate in the senior management on‑call rota and provide senior leadership in response to operational, professional or patient safety issues.
• Strategic and professional leadership
• Provide senior professional nursing leadership across the Trust, supporting the delivery of Moorfields’ organisational strategy, nursing strategy and quality priorities.
• Act as a strong voice for nursing, raising the profile and impact of nursing within the organisation and across the wider system.
• Lead the development and delivery of agreed areas of the corporate nursing and AP portfolio, ensuring clear objectives, robust governance and measurable outcomes.
• Support the Chief Nurse in developing and implementing nursing and allied professional strategies, professional standards, education priorities and workforce transformation plans.
• Promote a culture of compassionate leadership, equity, kindness, professionalism, openness, learning and continuous improvement.

Portfolio leadership: safeguarding, infection prevention and control, patient experience and engagement

• Provide executive‑level professional leadership for safeguarding adults, children and young people, ensuring statutory responsibilities, governance, escalation, training, supervision, assurance and learning arrangements are effective and embedded.
• Line management of the Leads for Safeguarding, IPC, Patient Experience and Engagement, Lead for Major projects and Medication Safety.
• Work with named and designated safeguarding professionals, divisional teams, local safeguarding partnerships and system colleagues to strengthen safeguarding practice and ensure safeguarding is understood as everyone’s responsibility.
• Provide senior nursing leadership for infection prevention and control, working with the Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC), IPC team, estates, facilities and clinical divisions to maintain safe environments and high standards of IPC practice.
• On Behalf of the Chief Nurse, convene and chair performance review meetings following incidents related to infection prevention and control and safeguarding, ensuring clear discussion of contributing factors, learning, accountability, improvement actions and assurance requirements.
• Ensure effective IPC governance, audit, surveillance, outbreak management, decontamination standards, education and assurance reporting are in place and aligned with national guidance and local policy.
• Lead patient experience and engagement programmes so that the voices of patients, families, carers and communities inform service design, quality improvement, strategy and Board‑level assurance.
• Champion inclusive engagement and co‑production, ensuring feedback is actively sought from diverse and underserved communities and translated into meaningful improvement.
• Ensure learning from complaints, concerns, compliments, incidents, safeguarding reviews, IPC incidents and patient feedback is triangulated and used to improve care and reduce risk.
• Quality, safety and governance
• Provide assurance to the Chief Nurse that effective controls are in place for the post holder’s portfolio areas and that gaps in assurance are identified, escalated and addressed.
• Work with the Director of Quality and Safety, Chief Medical Officer, Associate Chief Nurses and divisional teams to strengthen quality governance, patient safety, clinical effectiveness and regulatory compliance.
• Ensure that portfolio risks are identified, assessed and reflected on appropriate risk registers, with clear mitigations, owners and review mechanisms.
• Support implementation of recommendations from serious incidents, patient safety reviews, complaints, safeguarding reviews, audits and external inspections.
• Use data, audit, patient feedback, workforce intelligence and quality indicators to inform improvement, assurance and decision‑making.
• Workforce, education, research and digital transformation
• Work closely with the Director for Workforce to support nursing and allied professional workforce transformation, including role redesign, career pathways, succession planning, leadership development, recruitment and retention.
• Work with education, research and divisional colleagues to support access to pre‑registration and post‑registration learning, professional development and research opportunities.
• Support the development of nursing research, innovation, quality improvement and evidence‑based practice across the Trust.
• Contribute to the digital transformation agenda, including EPR implementation and adoption, ensuring clinical workflows, professional practice and patient safety are central to digital change.
• Provide professional leadership and support to clinical informatics roles and maintain effective links with digital clinical safety and digital medicine colleagues.
• System leadership and partnership working
• Represent Moorfields and the non‑medical professions across North Central London, regional and national networks as agreed with the Chief Nurse.
• Build effective partnerships with integrated care system colleagues, higher education institutions, professional bodies, safeguarding partnerships, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations.
• Support work to reduce health inequalities, widen access, improve population health and enhance engagement with communities served by Moorfields.
• Influence system‑wide workforce, quality, safeguarding, IPC, patient experience and digital transformation agendas.
• Management, finance and accountability
• Line manage corporate nursing teams and specialist leads as agreed with the Chief Nurse, ensuring clear objectives, effective appraisal, professional development and compassionate performance management.
• Be accountable for delegated budgets and support the Chief Nurse in managing resources effectively within agreed financial constraints.
• Lead and support complex professional, clinical management, conduct, capability and investigation processes where senior nursing input is required.
• Participate in the senior management on‑call rota and provide leadership during periods of operational pressure, escalation or incident response.
• Professional Leadership
• Lead the delivery of excellence in professional practice supporting the Pathway to Excellence accreditation and the shared decision‑making council’s programme
• On behalf of the CN, develop the revised nursing strategy/framework.
• Promote the national nursing agenda with colleagues influencing change and advising on professional nursing matters.
• Be a visible professional leader within the organisation as a whole, modelling the leadership qualities of integrity, compassion (kindness), equity, clear leadership direction and excellence.
• Lead on complex disciplinary and other types of investigations and clinical management issues which require nursing input and support the Chief Nurse in the management of professional performance including disciplinary panel.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Registered Nurse with current NMC registration
• Master’s degree or equivalent senior leadership experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to executive nursing leadership
• Leadership or management qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience

Desirable criteria

• Postgraduate qualification in quality, safety, safeguarding, IPC, patient experience, digital transformation, education or research
• Executive leadership development programme

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant senior nursing leadership experience at Band 8d or equivalent level or above.
• Proven experience of leading complex change, quality governance, risk management and improvement across services.
• Experience of deputising for an executive nurse or equivalent senior leader.
• Experience of working with Boards, executive teams and external partners
• Experience of managing complex professional, clinical, workforce and governance issues.

Desirable criteria

• Experience in a specialist, acute, tertiary or ophthalmology setting
• Experience of system leadership across an integrated care system
• Experience of leading regulatory preparation or improvement following inspection
• Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Strong understanding of safeguarding adults, children and young people, including statutory responsibilities, assurance, escalation and partnership working
• Strong understanding of infection prevention and control governance, assurance and improvement
• Strong understanding of patient experience, complaints, engagement, co‑production and inclusive involvement.
• Knowledge of NHS quality, safety, governance, workforce and regulatory frameworks

Desirable criteria

• Experience of direct leadership of safeguarding, IPC, patient experience or engagement teams.
• Knowledge of digital clinical safety, EPR implementation or clinical informatics

Due to the nature of this position, employment is subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK, completion of a satisfactory DBS disclosure and two references.

We do not offer visa sponsorship for roles unless clearly stated in our adverts, so please consider this before applying.

Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our organisational culture.

As part of our pledge to take positive action in recruitment we encourage applications from under‑represented candidates including BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) and Disabled candidates as we work towards a representative workforce that is able to provide the quality, the dignity and respect and to deliver above and beyond.

Moorfields is a flexible working friendly organisation, and we are committed to helping our employees achieve a work‑life balance that is beneficial for health and wellbeing, motivation levels and job satisfaction.

Every employee of the Trust has the right to request to work flexibly.

Please speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.

If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying or would like an accessible version of any recruitment documents, please contact the recruitment team at moorfields. recruitment@nhs. net.

Moorfields Eye Hospital does not charge applicants any recruitment or sponsorship fees.

Our website and published contact details are the only authorised channels for applications and verification of job offers.

• https://www. moorfields. nhs. uk/work-for-us
• Employer certification / accreditation badges
• Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

• Documents to download
• Deputy Chief Nurse JD (PDF, 400.4KB)
• MEH Staff Benefits (PDF, 919.1KB)
• MEH Privacy Notice (PDF, 138.0KB)
• Further details / informal visits contact
• Name Lynne Boyce Job title PA to Chief Nurse Email address lynne. boyce1@nhs. net
• #J-18808-Ljbffr