Dermatology Lead Nurse / ACP in Poole

As University Hospitals Dorset, we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m. We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £500m transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches, you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.

We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work. We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce. At UHD, our active staff network groups are the Women’s Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group. As a Trust, we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.

Job overview: Are you an experienced and enthusiastic Nurse with significant knowledge and skills in Dermatology, and looking for a new challenge to lead our Dermatology Department at UHD? We are seeking applications for a Band 8a Dermatology Lead Nurse who is either a qualified ACP or a trainee ACP that has already started their training. (Please note that if a trainee ACP, the role will be a Band 7 until full ACP is achieved.)

This role requires an active Professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Base Location: Cross site working between Poole Hospital and Christchurch Hospital. Interview Date: 5th March 2026.

Main duties of the job:

• Lead of the dermatology service.
• Deliver operational management to a multi-disciplinary team, service development, and clinical leadership.
• Work clinically within the department as an ACP (trainee ACP).
• Drive service improvement, innovation and staff skill and knowledge acquisition for the benefit of patients within the pathway.
• Seek opportunities to continuously develop the service to always ensure the delivery of safe, patient-centred care.

Working for our organisation: UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview. If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities: For a more detailed job description and person specification, please refer to the documents attached to this advert.

Person specification:

• Professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
• Recognised teaching or mentoring qualification.
• Masters level Advanced Clinical Practice/Equivalent Masters.
• Non-medical prescriber.
• Budget Management.
• Recognition as Advanced Practitioner by the National Centre for Advancing Practice.

• Demonstrable experience of working independently at a Band 7 Clinical role within relevant specialty minimum of 3 years experience.
• Experience of leading a team and working in partnership with all levels of staff.
• Service and practice development and managing change.
• Experience in education, mentoring, audit.
• Experience of leading & developing people.
• Publication/conference experience.

• Demonstrable theoretical and practical knowledge of dermatology specialty common presentations.
• Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative and as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Clinical reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making skills at an advanced level.
• Demonstrable ability to work in a busy environment and resilience when the service is under pressure.

Please note: Staff recruited are expected to be available to work flexibly across all our Trust locations to meet service demands. This advert may be closed early if sufficient applications are received. COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst this vaccination is not a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated.