The Office of the Chief Nursing Officer for England provides national professional leadership for nursing and midwifery across health and care.
The Nursing Directorate works across NHS England, integrated care systems, providers, local government, adult social care, professional bodies, regulators, education partners and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.
The team supports delivery of national nursing and midwifery priorities, including quality, safety, professional leadership, workforce, education, research, improvement, digital transformation and reducing inequalities.
Adult social care nursing is central to the Government’s three shifts, particularly hospital to community, sickness to prevention, neighbourhood health, continuity of care and supporting people to live well with complexity, frailty, disability, dementia and long-term conditions.
The post will strengthen the connection between NHS England’s national nursing leadership and adult social care nursing leaders, networks and partners.
The role will provide specialist professional advice while recognising the statutory, policy and delivery responsibilities of DHSC, Skills for Care, regulators, providers, local authorities and integrated care systems.
Develop a stakeholder map and engagement plan for adult social care nursing relationships across NHS England, DHSC, Skills for Care, professional bodies, regulators, providers, academic partners and Social Care Nursing Advisory Councils.
Develop a short briefing for the Chief Nursing Officer for England on the key opportunities, risks and priorities for adult social care nursing in relation to NHS England’s professional strategy and the 10 Year Health Plan.
Develop a programme of structured engagement with adult social care nursing leaders and networks, including agreed feedback routes into NHS England nursing leadership.
Make practical recommendations to support adult social care nursing contribution to neighbourhood health, prevention, hospital-to-community care and integrated working.
Provide advice on adult social care nursing workforce, education, practice learning and career development opportunities, including links with social care placement strategy implementation.
Produce a final report setting out achievements, learning, remaining gaps and recommendations for sustaining the adult social care nursing voice in national nursing leadership.
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
The post holder will provide national specialist nursing advice on adult social care to support the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s professional leadership of nursing across health and care.
The post holder will ensure adult social care nursing is visible, valued and connected within national professional strategy, neighbourhood health policy, workforce development, education and placement reform, quality improvement, digital transformation and integrated care delivery.
The post holder will work across organisational and sector boundaries, providing strategic insight from adult social care nursing and translating national policy priorities into meaningful engagement with the sector.
The post holder will act as a senior conduit between NHS England and adult social care nursing leaders and networks, surfacing intelligence, opportunities and risks and translating these into practical action where relevant.
The post holder will advise on the contribution of adult social care nursing to neighbourhood health, prevention, hospital-to-community transformation, discharge, admission avoidance, delegation, digital care and care closer to home.
The post holder will produce evidence-informed advice and recommendations to support sustainable engagement of adult social care nursing within national nursing professional leadership arrangements
The post holder will provide credible, effective and visible professional and clinical leadership at National level and will make a corporate contribution in achieving and delivering high quality adult social care services.
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
