Clinical Lead

• Reports to Registered Manager or Head of Clinical Services
• Accountable to Responsible Individual or Clinical Director
• Hours Full time with participation in the management on call rota as required
• Salary Competitive and dependent on experience

Role purpose The Clinical Lead RNLD provides visible clinical leadership and professional oversight across learning disability services.

The postholder will ensure that people receive safe, person-centred and evidence-based care that promotes independence, choice, dignity and quality of life.

They will lead clinical governance, improve practice, develop staff competence and work with operational leaders to deliver consistent standards across the service.

The postholder will retain professional accountability as a Registered Nurse Learning Disabilities and practise in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code, relevant legislation, regulatory requirements and organisational policy.

Key relationships People supported and their families; Registered Managers; operational leaders; support workers; nurses and allied health professionals; GPs; community learning disability teams; commissioners; safeguarding teams; advocates; pharmacists; and regulatory bodies.

Responsibilities

• Clinical leadership and quality of care Provide accessible, values-led clinical leadership and act as the senior source of learning-disability nursing advice.
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate complex care, ensuring care plans reflect current needs, risks, preferences, communication requirements and agreed outcomes.
• Lead or contribute to multidisciplinary reviews, complex-case meetings, hospital discharge planning and clinical escalation.
• Ensure reasonable adjustments, accessible information and communication passports are used consistently.
• Champion physical health, mental health and health-promotion interventions, including annual health checks, screening, vaccinations and reduction of health inequalities.
• Support safe escalation and timely access to specialist or emergency care when a person's condition deteriorates.
• Positive behaviour support and restrictive practice Promote trauma-informed, least-restrictive and person-centred practice for people whose behaviour may challenge.
• Oversee functional assessment, positive behaviour support plans and their implementation, review and evaluation.
• Monitor restrictive practices, incidents and use of PRN medication; identify themes and lead reduction plans.
• Ensure decisions involving restraint, restrictions or deprivation of liberty are lawful, necessary, proportionate, documented and regularly reviewed.
• Clinical governance and risk Lead the clinical-governance cycle, including audits, action plans, quality reviews and evidence of sustained improvement.
• Maintain oversight of clinical risks, incidents, near misses, safeguarding concerns, complaints and lessons learned.
• Review the quality of risk assessments, care plans, daily records and clinical documentation, escalating gaps promptly.
• Support investigations, root-cause analysis and duty of candour processes, ensuring actions are completed and embedded.
• Provide assurance reports and performance information to senior management and governance meetings.
• Medicines management Provide clinical oversight of medicines management, including prescribing interfaces, receipt, storage, administration, recording, disposal and review.
• Audit medication records and practice; respond to errors and near misses; and track corrective actions to completion.
• Ensure staff undertaking medication duties are trained, assessed as competent and reassessed at appropriate intervals.
• Promote structured medication reviews and support reduction of inappropriate psychotropic medication in partnership with prescribers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Safeguarding and legal frameworks Act promptly on safeguarding concerns and ensure referrals, records, risk controls and learning actions meet local and organisational procedures.
• Apply the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in practice, including decision-specific capacity assessments, best-interest decisions and appropriate consultation.
• Support lawful application and review of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards or the applicable legal framework.
• Promote advocacy, consent, human rights, equality and the person's involvement in all decisions affecting their care.
• People leadership and workforce development Provide clinical supervision, reflective practice, coaching and professional support to nurses and wider care teams.
• Set and assess clinical competencies in areas such as medication, epilepsy, dysphagia, enteral feeding, diabetes and other service-specific needs.
• Identify learning needs and deliver or commission relevant training, ensuring learning transfers into practice.
• Contribute to recruitment, induction, probation, appraisal, capability and professional-development processes.
• Promote an open culture in which staff speak up, report concerns and learn from incidents without delay.
• Operational partnership Work jointly with Registered Managers while maintaining clear professional accountability and constructive clinical challenge.
• Support safe admissions and transitions by assessing clinical compatibility, resource requirements, equipment, training and risk controls before placement.
• Participate in on-call arrangements and provide proportionate clinical advice and escalation where required.
• Contribute to service mobilisation, policy development, commissioner reviews and regulatory inspection readiness.
• Use resources responsibly and identify clinical improvements that also increase efficiency and reduce avoidable agency use, incidents and hospital admissions.
• Performance measures Clinical audits completed to schedule and actions closed within agreed timescales.
• Care plans, risk assessments and health action plans remain current, person-centred and outcome focused.
• Medication errors, safeguarding themes and restrictive practices show effective learning and reduction activity.
• Staff clinical competencies, supervision and mandatory training remain within organisational targets.
• People supported and families report involvement, confidence and improved outcomes.
• Regulatory, commissioner and internal reviews evidence safe, effective and well-led clinical practice.

Qualifications

• Registration Registered Nurse Learning Disabilities with current, unrestricted NMC registration. Essential
• Required Skills
• Experience Substantial post-registration experience supporting people with learning disabilities and complex needs. Essential
• Leadership Experience providing clinical leadership, supervision, coaching and practice improvement. Essential
• Governance Experience of audits, incidents, safeguarding, medicines management and quality-action plans. Essential
• Clinical practice Strong knowledge of person-centred assessment, health action planning, risk management and multidisciplinary working. Essential
• Legal knowledge Working knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act, safeguarding, human-rights principles and relevant health and social-care regulation. Essential
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