Senior Theatre Practitioner/ODP

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Theatre Practitioner to join our dynamic theatre team. This role is pivotal in delivering safe, high-quality, patient-centred perioperative care within a busy and evolving environment. As a senior member of the team, you will provide clinical leadership, support service delivery across a 24/7 emergency pathway, and play a key role in driving quality improvement and excellence in patient care.

You will act as a role model, supporting the development of staff through mentorship and education, while ensuring compliance with professional, clinical, and organisational standards. The post holder will contribute to a culture of safety, continuous improvement, and inclusivity, ensuring the highest standards of care for all patients.

As a Senior Theatre Practitioner, you will deliver high-quality, person-centred perioperative care, ensuring patient safety, dignity, and compassion at all times. You will act as a patient advocate, maintaining confidentiality and supporting patients and families with clear, empathetic communication. The role includes participation in a 24/7 emergency service, including on-call, weekend, and bank holiday working, while promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion for all.

You will maintain clinical excellence through continuous professional development, reflective practice, and adherence to professional standards. As a senior team member, you will support staff development through mentorship, teaching, and supervision, contributing to inductions, training programmes, and the promotion of evidence-based practice.

You will demonstrate professionalism and leadership in line with NMC/HCPC and Trust standards, acting as a role model and escalating concerns appropriately to support a culture of openness and continuous improvement.

You will ensure safety and quality within the theatre environment by adhering to infection prevention protocols, completing safety checks, and contributing to incident reporting, audits, and quality improvement initiatives. You will support clinical governance, safe equipment use, and may assist with theatre coordination, including staffing and rostering.

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five

hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: James Lawless Job title: Theatre Matron Email address: james.lawless@nhs.net Telephone number: 01227 206705