Deputy Chief Nursing Officer – Inpatient Services

Role Overview

Deputy Chief Nursing Officer – Inpatient Services at King's College Hospital London. Reporting to the Chief Nursing Officer, this role provides professional and operational nursing leadership across inpatient services, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality, evidence-based, and patient-centered care.

Role Purpose

The Deputy Chief Nursing Officer – Inpatient Services is responsible for ensuring and improving the delivery of high-quality, safe, evidence-based patient care through professional leadership of nursing and clinical support staff. The post holder works collaboratively with nursing, medical, allied health, and operational teams to achieve the organisation's strategic, clinical, operational, and financial objectives while forging close working relationships with internal and external colleagues and partners.

Key Responsibilities

Professional Leadership

• Lead and promote evidence-based nursing and midwifery practice in accordance with the scope of practice and requirements of the Dubai Health Authority, UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council, and relevant professional standards.
• Support and promote King's College Hospital mission, values, aims, and strategic objectives.
• Work collaboratively with the Chief Nursing Officer, senior leadership, and partner organisations, providing expert professional nursing advice and leadership to achieve organisational objectives.
• Provide visible, compassionate professional leadership, mentorship, and support to nursing and midwifery teams, promoting professional development, evidence-based practice, and excellence in patient care.
• Provide professional advice, support, and appropriate challenge to professional groups, promoting an open and transparent culture where concerns can be raised and addressed.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of nursing policies, professional standards, and strategic initiatives across King's College Hospital.
• Develop effective multidisciplinary relationships and promote collaboration across professional groups to improve patient care, pathways, and outcomes.
• Deputize for the Chief Nursing Officer and provide cross-cover for senior nursing leadership colleagues as required.

Inpatient Clinical Operations & Service Delivery

• Provide operational and professional nursing leadership across all designated inpatient clinical areas, ensuring safe, effective, and efficient delivery of nursing services.
• Maintain visible leadership across inpatient units through regular rounds, engaging with nursing teams, patients, and multidisciplinary colleagues to identify and address clinical and operational concerns.
• Oversee inpatient activity, patient flow, bed utilisation, admissions, transfers, and discharges, working collaboratively with relevant departments to support effective capacity management.
• Ensure appropriate nursing staffing levels, skill mix, and deployment based on patient acuity, dependency, occupancy, and operational requirements.
• Monitor the operational performance of inpatient units and address issues relating to staffing, capacity, patient flow, quality, safety, and patient experience.

Workforce

• Provide oversight of nursing workforce performance, staffing, recruitment, retention, and absence management across inpatient services.
• Develop and implement workforce strategies to reduce vacancies, improve retention and staff experience, and support career development.
• Ensure appropriate staffing levels and skill mix.

Patient Experience & Service Excellence

• Monitor patient experience across inpatient services and ensure concerns, feedback, and recurring themes are addressed through appropriate improvement actions.
• Promote a consistent culture of patient-centered care, dignity, effective communication, and service excellence.

Budget & Financial Management

• Monitor and manage relevant cost centers in collaboration with the Finance Department, ensuring appropriate financial control and accountability.
• Support strategic, annual budget, and resource planning to ensure effective utilisation of nursing workforce, clinical, and operational resources.
• Monitor nursing workforce and operational expenditure, including overtime and additional staffing costs, ensuring efficient use of resources without compromising patient safety or quality of care.

Performance & Service Improvement

• Monitor inpatient service KPIs, nursing performance indicators, and performance dashboards, ensuring appropriate improvement actions are implemented where targets are not achieved.
• Lead and support service improvement, transformation, and innovation initiatives to improve quality, efficiency, patient experience, and clinical outcomes.

Safety, Quality, Governance & Professional Standards

• Support sustainability and Global Health Impact goals by practicing environmentally responsible care, reducing waste, following proper disposal and segregation processes, using resources efficiently, participating in related training, and reporting opportunities for improvement.

Qualifications & Experience

Education & Qualifications

• UAE Medical Health Authority License (DHA).
• Bachelor's degree in Nursing or Degree in Nursing (minimum two years course duration) and Registration as a Registered Nurse from Canada, USA, UK, Ireland, South Africa, or New Zealand.
• Master's level qualification or relevant postgraduate studies are desirable.
• Educational or teaching qualification is desirable, or willingness to undertake an appropriate educational qualification within an agreed timeframe.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of progressive nursing experience, including at least 5 years in a senior nursing leadership or management position with significant responsibility for inpatient clinical services.
• Recent experience within a relevant service environment, including experience within the last two years.