259648 Senior Charge Nurse - Public Health Nursing

Job reference:

259648

Salary:

Band 7 (£52,845 - £61,466)

Job closing date:

30/09/2026

Job Type:

Nursing and Midwifery

Location:

The Willows

Employment type:

Permanent

Hours Per Week:

36

Job posted date:

16/09/2026

Employer (NHS Board):

NHS Dumfries & Galloway

Department:

• Public Health Nursing
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• Job Advert
• Senior Charge Nurse - Public Health Nursing
• NHS Dumfries & Galloway; Family & Support Service Directorate
• Location: Dumfries & Galloway Permanent Position

NHS Dumfries & Galloway is seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Charge Nurse - Public Health Nursing to provide strategic clinical leadership and operational management across our Public Health Nursing services.

This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate nursing leader to shape the delivery of Health Visiting and School Nursing services, support vulnerable children, young people and families, and drive high-quality, person-centred care across Dumfries and Galloway.

About the Role

As Senior Charge Nurse, you will have continuing responsibility for the leadership and management of Public Health Nursing teams, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care. You will lead service development, workforce planning and quality improvement initiatives while supporting the implementation of national public health priorities, including:

• Health Visitor and School Nursing Pathways
• Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)
• Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
• Child Protection and Public Protection frameworks

Working closely with multidisciplinary and multi-agency partners, you will champion excellence in practice, foster innovation and help deliver the strategic objectives of NHS Dumfries & Galloway.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide visible clinical leadership across Public Health Nursing services.
• Promote safe, effective and evidence-based practice.
• Drive continuous quality improvement through audit, feedback and evaluation.
• Manage staff performance, recruitment, workforce planning and professional development.
• Contribute to budget management and effective resource utilisation.
• Develop collaborative partnerships with health, social care and third-sector agencies.
• Support service redesign and implementation of national and local healthcare priorities.
• Ensure compliance with professional, organisational and legislative standards.

Essential Requirements

• Registered Nurse or Midwife.
• Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification at degree level.
• Registration on Part 3 of the NMC Register.
• Evidence of continuing professional development at Master's level or equivalent.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary and multi-agency environments.

You will be:

• A compassionate and inspirational leader.
• Passionate about improving outcomes for children, young people and families.
• Resilient and confident in managing competing priorities.
• Committed to continuous improvement and professional development.
• Skilled in communication, partnership working and decision-making in complex situations.

For informal enquiries, please contact Fiona Paton, Lead Nurse/Child Health Commissioner Fiona.Paton6@nhs.scot or Lyn Durrant, General Manager Lyn.Durrant@nhs.scot

Join us and help shape the future of Public Health Nursing in Dumfries & Galloway.

If you require a Work Visa, please check to see if you and the vacancy you are applying for are eligible by visiting the Home Office website: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

INFORMATION FOR ALL CANDIDATES

To find out more about working with NHS Dumfries and Galloway and for an insight into our friendly, beautiful corner of Scotland please visit our Work With Us web pages https://www.nhsdg.co.uk/workwithus/

APPLICATION PROCESS - https://www.careers.nhs.scot/how-to-apply/application-process/

Please note that our correspondence method is by e-mail, therefore please ensure you enter your email address accurately. Please check your e-mail regularly (including junk folders) and also your Jobtrain account for updates.

Please contact Jobtrain Candidate Support Hub - https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home for advice and support with any system issues.

• Accessing Jobtrain - Users may experience issues if accessing Jobtrain via mobile phone, we recommend using a computer, laptop or tablet.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be helpful when planning or preparing your application—but your responses must be written by you.

Be authentic: Your application should genuinely reflect your own skills, experience, and motivations.

Use AI appropriately: It’s fine to use AI for inspiration or to check spelling and grammar, but it shouldn’t write your answers for you.

Why this matters: Applications that appear to rely on AI‑generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm that your answers are based on your personal knowledge and achievements.

Tip: Think of AI as a support tool, not a replacement. We want to understand you, not an AI-generated version of you.

• CVs - DO NOT upload a CV as this will not be used for shortlisting purposes.
• Assessment Form - Within the application you are required to answer three questions giving you the opportunity to fully evidence why you are the ideal person for the job. Please ensure these statements are written by yourself and are unique to you. This section times out after 30 minutes. A tip is to build your reply on a Word document and copy and paste into Jobtrain. If you exceed the maximum amount of characters it will cut your text at this point, please check your information once copied and pasted.
• Once you have submitted your application form you will be unable to make any amendments.
• Posts close at midnight on the indicated date however please be aware that a vacancy may close early due to volume of applications, therefore you should not delay in submitting your application.
• If you are a member of staff please ensure you update your Jobtrain profile to reflect that you are employed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
• Staff and patients across Dumfries and Galloway enjoy free, unlimited parking at all our hospital sites.

DISCLOSURE SCOTLAND – Some of our posts may require you to undergo a criminal records check. Changes as of the 1 April 2025 to the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme membership now sees more roles requiring PVG that may not have needed this check in the past. If you are successful in this role you will be notified which level of check is required by the recruitment team. If you would like to read more information please visit: Disclosure levels - mygov.scot

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

NHS Dumfries and Galloway is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Dumfries and Galloway welcomes applicants from all sections of the community.

PUBLIC PROTECTION

Public protection practice encompasses the recognition and management of risk in order to prevent or reduce harm to children, (including unborn babies), young people and adults. All public protection legislation, and NHS Dumfries and Galloway (NHSDG) policies and guidance are founded on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights, and the principles of these Conventions underpin all NHSDG core business.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES

RIGHT TO WORK IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

NHS Dumfries and Galloway has a legal obligation to ensure that it does not employ any worker who has not been granted the relevant permission to work in the UK. This permission is without exception granted by the UK Border Agency. We are required to check the entitlement to work in the UK of all prospective employees, regardless of nationality or job category.

WORK VISA

If you require a Work Visa, please check to see if you and the vacancy you are applying for are eligible by visiting the Home Office website: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or if you require a work visa that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form. We are unable to provide sponsorship for bank contracts.

UNITED KINGDOM REGISTRATION

NHS Dumfries & Galloway are unable to support OSCE Training for international nurses for vacancies.

Vacancies requiring professional registration require full United Kingdom registration with the appropriate council (eg NMC, HCPC, GMC, GDC etc).