Would you like to further your nursing or midwifery career and work in the community to support children, young people and families inthe development and delivery of services to address health inequalities?Would you like to be part of a progressive and forward-thinking Public Health Nursing team where prevention and early intervention are key?
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT or the Trust), Children’s Universal Services, are pleased to offer training for the role of Student Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor). The full-time course will start on6thJanuary 2025at the University of Hertfordshire.
This vacancy is only available for applicants who already hold a nursing or midwifery qualification withcurrent NMC registration.
The 2025 SCPHN Programme is only available to study atlevel 7and as per the new NMC standards; you must be a qualified nurse/midwife with an NMC PIN. You need to be educated to degree level or above or have evidence of recent academic study.
A full valid driving license and access to a car to use for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010). This role will require you to drive within Hertfordshire on a daily basis.
Dependent on your base location, there may be a high-cost area supplement of 5% of basic salary per annum.
If you would like further insight into the role of a public health nurse, we encourage you to contact us and arrange to spend some time in practice with one of our practiceassessors. This will provide you with an opportunity to develop your understanding as well as ask questions in an informal setting. Please contactkathryn.oxley@nhs.netand advise her of your name and the area within Hertfordshire that you would like to visit.
HCT has an excellent reputation for training public health nurses and has been recognised by Health Education England for their outstanding contribution to recruitment and training. HCT secured the NHS Public Health Nursing contract in Hertfordshire and works in partnership with Family Centre’s to deliver the integrated Family Centre Service. The Trust also provides a supportive preceptorship programme for one year post qualification.
HCT is the principal provider of community-based healthcare services to the 1.2 million population of Hertfordshire. The Trust is rated as 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission.
A big thank you for considering joining us at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
You’ll find it a great place to work with many benefits offered to you as a member of our staff
We put our patients, their families and carers at the centre of our vision - Outstanding Services and Healthier Communities
Our staff are proud to be Innovative, Caring and Agile in their work to help achieve the Trust vision
We welcome diversity in our workforce and are interested in applicants from all backgrounds and ages
We don’t want you to miss out so we’d like you to know that if we have a high level of interest in this role, the vacancy may close prior to the advertised closing date, so please make your application as soon as possible - Apply now
You’ve made a great decision to apply to join to HCT - we’re looking forward to taking the next steps of the journey with you.
Word versions of documents are available if needed to allow for any adaptations to be made i.e. font, colour, background, convert to Read Aloud.
Application Process (please read carefully):
Personal Statement- You are required to write a personal statement in the Supporting Information area of the application form. You should use this to demonstrate excellent written and communication skills. Please also refer to theperson specificationto ensure that you fully address all of the essential criteria. We want to know whyyou are the best person for this role.When discussing your aptitudes, you should state how they are relevant to current public health nursing practice. You must be clear about the career pathway you are applying for and you must demonstrate good knowledge of the role.
Please keep within the word limit of 750 words. If you exceed the word count the shortlisting panel will not read or consider any text beyond 750 words.
This is a full-time position for the year of training and annual leave is only permitted within specific time periods.
Closing Date- The closing date for applications is midnight on 17th September 2024
Shortlisting- After the closing date all applications are processed and shortlisted for interview. We are aiming to provide a response via email by 18th September 2024. Shortlisted candidates will be informed first.
Interviews- will be held in two stages. If shortlisted for interview you must be available to attend both parts of the interview during week commencing 30th September 2024 as follows:
Part 1:Half day, face to face session on Monday 30th September at Robertson House, Six Hills Way, SG1 2FQ
Part 2:1-hour interview to be held face to face at Robertson House or Howard Court on either 30th September, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd October 2024.
We will contact you via email to advise the date/time of your interview.
HCT will conduct joint interviews with the University of Hertfordshire. The process will include a face to face group activity plus a presentation and formal interview which will last 40 minutes (including a 15 minute presentation). The interview panel will consist of University Lead, Professional and Education Leads for Public Health Nursing (HCT). Sponsorship by HCT will only be offered on acceptance from the University of Hertfordshire of your educational suitability.
Under the NHS terms and conditions of employment, trainees are paid at the pay band assessed under the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme for the role undertaken whilst training. The Specialist Community Public Health Nurse training role has been evaluated at mid-point band 5 (currently £32,324) in accordance with HCT’s terms and conditions of appointment guidelines.
Internal staff wishing to train in a different specialty (e.g. a current HCT adult community nurse wishing to train as a public health nurse) will not be seconded and must resign from their current position.
The Trust will pay your course fees which includes but is not limited to, mandatory fees (including the index fee), community practice assessor costs, travel expenses when in clinical placement only, recruitment and/or management support costs and other ancillary costs incurred to support you through the course as the Trust may decide (the “Course Fees").
There is no guarantee of a band 6 post on completion of training. However, within the contract you will be expected to apply for available public health nursing posts in Hertfordshire on qualifying and remain in post for 2 years.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances (as decided by the Trust) or you are not offered a position within HCT upon qualification, you will be liable to pay back, within 2 years of completing the course, all or a proportion of the Course Fees (currently estimated to be £4,000) to the Trust in the following circumstances:
a) if you cease employment before you attend the course but the Trust has already incurred liability for some or all of the Course Fees; or
b) if you cease employment prior to completing the course or fail to successfully complete the course; or
c) if you do not take up permanent employment within the Trust as a qualified public health nurse on successful completion of the course when positions were available: or
d) if you take up permanent employment within the trust but do not remain in employment for at least 24 months after the date on which you begin permanent employment.
Placements will be offered county wide and will be decided once all interviews have taken place. Please see the attached Locality map. Whilst we take into consideration where you live, placements may require you to travel anywhere in Hertfordshire. Prospective student applications will be shared with the University of Hertfordshire and all data will be shared with East of England SHA.
Any offer of permanent employment made by Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust will be subject to a contractual 26-week probationary period.
NB: If you have a Hotmail email account please check your "Junk Folder" as emails from NHS accounts are sometimes placed there and not in your inbox.
For further details and/or to arrange an informal visit with a practice assessor please contact:
Kathryn Oxley -PA to Senior Education Lead for Public Health Nursing -kathryn.oxley@nhs.net
This advert closes on Tuesday 17 Sep 2024
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to
Disability Confident.
