Ward Manager | East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Are you a compassionate, dynamic and motivated nurse looking for a rewarding leadership role that combines staff management with patient-centred care?

An exciting secondment opportunity has arisen for a Ward Manager on Garden Ward, Willow Therapy Unit, Norwich Community Hospital. This is amaternity cover opportunity for up to 12 months, offering an excellent development opportunity for an experienced nurse leader.

Willow Therapy Unit is a 48-bed inpatient reablement service comprising Garden Ward and Forest Ward, providing rehabilitation and reablement care for patients across Norfolk. The service supports patients to maximise independence, recovery and wellbeing, enabling timely discharge to home or the most appropriate care setting.

As Ward Manager, you will provide visible leadership to a multidisciplinary team, ensuring the ward operates safely, effectively and efficiently. You will promote high standards of care, support staff wellbeing and development, and oversee day-to-day ward management to deliver positive patient outcomes and experiences.

Working closely with senior leaders and clinical colleagues, you will maintain quality and safety standards and ensure patients receive compassionate care that promotes dignity, recovery and independence.

Please note this advert may close early if a sufficient number of suitable applications are received.

As Ward Manager, you will

· Provide visible and collaborative leadership across the ward, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care for patients requiring community rehabilitation and recovery services.

· Lead and inspire a multidisciplinary team, creating a positive culture that promotes quality improvement, professional development and excellence in patient care.

· Drive high standards of clinical governance, patient safety and patient experience, using audit, quality improvement and evidence-based practice to achieve the best possible outcomes.

· Work collaboratively with colleagues across health, social care and community services to support seamless patient pathways, effective discharge planning and integrated care delivery to achieve the expected length of stay for the unit.

· Put patients at the centre of everything we do

· Create a culture where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered

· Continuously improve and develop services to meet the needs of our communities

Please be aware that East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust will never ask applicants to pay fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. All recruitment communications and job applications should only be made through our official careers website and published contact details.

If you receive a suspicious job offer or recruitment-related communication, do not make any payments, share personal information, or provide identity documents. We encourage you to report the matter to your local police or relevant law enforcement agency. Any concerns relating to potential recruitment fraud should also be reported to our Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) as soon as possible.

· Lead and manage a 24-hour, 7-day inpatient ward service.

· Working in collaboration with peer ward manager and therapy clinical leads and support across the Unit as required

· Provide visible clinical and professional leadership to nursing and support staff.

· Ensure delivery of safe, high-quality, patient-centred care.

· Support reablement, rehabilitation and discharge planning pathways.

· Work collaboratively with therapy teams, GPs, social care, acute hospitals and community partners.

· Lead workforce planning, recruitment, appraisal, supervision and performance management.

· Drive quality improvement, governance, audit and patient safety initiatives.

· Manage service pressures, operational performance and delegated budgets.

· Champion innovation and new ways of working to improve patient outcomes and experience

This advert closes on Tuesday 10 Nov 2026