Find nursing shifts across Suffolk
From the Ipswich waterfront to the market square in Bury St Edmunds and the coast at Lowestoft, pick up shifts that fit your life. Hospitals, care homes, mental health, secure settings and the community, all booked through the Novello app with your pay confirmed before you accept.
Quick enquiry
Looking for work in Suffolk?
Leave your details and we’ll come back to you with the nursing, care and support shifts we have near you in Suffolk — and what they pay. It takes about twenty seconds.
Nursing in Suffolk
Why nurses choose Novello in Suffolk
Simple booking, honest pay and real support behind every shift.
Shifts that fit around you
Book work near home or further afield, from the wards at Ipswich Hospital to a care home in Sudbury or a community round out towards Beccles and the coast. You choose the settings and the days, and the app keeps it all in one place.
Pay confirmed before you accept
Every shift shows the rate before you say yes, so there are no surprises when payday comes. You see exactly what you will earn for a night on a ward in Bury St Edmunds or a weekend in a Felixstowe care home, and we pay on time.
Compliance made painless
Our team keeps your training, DBS and revalidation in order so you are ready to walk into an Ipswich Hospital ward, a Wedgwood House unit in Bury St Edmunds or a rural care home near Southwold without a last-minute scramble. We chase the paperwork so you can turn up, do the job you trained for and go home.
The county we cover
The Suffolk healthcare landscape
A rural county with two big acute hospitals, a growing older population and settings that stretch from the coast to the Cambridgeshire border.
Suffolk’s acute care rests on two NHS trusts. East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, known as ESNEFT, runs Ipswich Hospital, a busy district general with a major A&E that also hosts a regional spinal surgery hub and the regional gynaecology-oncology centre for Ipswich, Colchester and Chelmsford. Over in the west, West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust runs West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, one of the RAAC-affected sites now lined up for a full rebuild on the neighbouring Hardwick Manor site. There is no major trauma centre in the county, so the most serious cases are taken on to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge or the Norfolk and Norwich, which shapes how critical care and patient transfers work here.
Mental health across the county sits with Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. Its Woodlands Unit in Ipswich holds acute wards including Lark, a 12-bed psychiatric intensive care unit, alongside Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds for the west of the county. Suffolk also has a sizeable prison estate: HMP Highpoint at Stradishall near Haverhill, a large Category C site being expanded towards becoming one of the biggest in the country, plus HMP Warren Hill and the open prison at HMP Hollesley Bay near Woodbridge, all of which need healthcare cover. In the independent sector, Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital on Foxhall Road handles a steady flow of planned surgery, while ESNEFT’s community hospitals at Aldeburgh and Felixstowe and its community nursing teams carry a lot of care out into the rural towns and villages.
Where we work
Where we cover in Suffolk
From Ipswich Hospital and West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds to coastal care homes, rural community rounds and the county’s prisons near Haverhill and Woodbridge, right across Suffolk.
Hospitals and theatres
We cover ward, department and theatre shifts around the county’s acute sites, from Ipswich Hospital in the east to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, along with the smaller community hospitals at Aldeburgh and Felixstowe.
Care homes and community
Suffolk’s older population keeps nursing and residential homes busy, from Felixstowe and Southwold on the coast to Newmarket and Sudbury inland, and we cover community nursing that reaches the villages in between.
Mental health and secure care
We cover mental health work at units like the Woodlands in Ipswich and Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds, and healthcare shifts in the county’s prisons near Haverhill and Woodbridge.
Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Haverhill, Newmarket, Sudbury, Stowmarket, Woodbridge and Beccles.
Working across the border? We also cover the East of England, Norfolk and Essex.
On the map
Covering nursing shifts across Suffolk
From the Lowestoft coast to Newmarket on the Cambridgeshire border, here is the patch we work across Suffolk.
Specialisms in Suffolk
Specialisms we cover in Suffolk
Wherever your skills fit, there is work for you across the county.
- Nursing & care homes
- Mental health
- Prison nursing
- Critical care
- Theatres
Nursing & care homes
Suffolk has an older population than most of England. Nearly one in four residents are over 65 (around 24% at the 2021 census, well above the England average), and county figures suggest that will rise towards one in three by around 2040, which keeps nursing and dementia care in steady demand. Coastal and market towns like Felixstowe, Southwold, Aldeburgh and Woodbridge draw retirees, and homes across the county, a good number of them rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, rely on agency nurses to hold their rotas together.
Mental health
Mental health in Suffolk is run by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. Its main inpatient base in the east is the Woodlands Unit in Ipswich, with acute wards and Lark, a 12-bed psychiatric intensive care unit, while Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds covers the west, including older people’s assessment. If you work in acute mental health, PICU or dementia care, there is regular work close to home.
Prison nursing
Suffolk has a real prison estate to cover. HMP Highpoint at Stradishall near Haverhill is a large Category C men’s prison being expanded towards becoming one of the biggest in the country, and near Woodbridge sit HMP Warren Hill and HMP Hollesley Bay, the latter an open prison. Prison healthcare is a different pace from a ward, and if it suits you we can help you pick up shifts across these sites.
Critical care
Suffolk has no major trauma centre of its own, so the most serious injuries are taken on to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge or the Norfolk and Norwich. What the county does have is critical care and high-dependency work at Ipswich Hospital and West Suffolk Hospital, along with the ITU and resuscitation cover any busy district general needs. Experienced critical care nurses are always in demand here.
Theatres
Theatre work in Suffolk spans NHS and independent lists. Ipswich Hospital runs a broad surgical programme including its regional spinal service, and West Suffolk Hospital covers the west of the county. On the private side, Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital on Foxhall Road handles planned surgery, and The Oaks Hospital in Colchester, run by Ramsay Health Care just over the Essex border, takes patients from across the region. Scrub, anaesthetic and recovery nurses will find plenty on offer.
Care & support work in Suffolk
Care and support work in Suffolk
Most care in Suffolk is delivered by care assistants and support workers rather than registered nurses. Around 12,000 people receive long-term adult social care through Suffolk County Council, and the work spans elderly care homes, community-based supported living and specialist neuro-rehabilitation. Suffolk also has one of the fastest-ageing populations in England, so demand keeps growing. Whatever your background, there is regular work near you.
- Care assistant
- Support worker
- Dementia care
- Brain injury
Care assistant
Suffolk has an older population than most of England — nearly one in four residents are aged 65 or over — and the number of people aged 85 and over is projected to rise by around 86% by 2046, to roughly 52,000. Coastal and market towns such as Felixstowe, Southwold and Aldeburgh draw retirees, which keeps the county’s elderly care homes busy. Care assistants are the backbone of these homes, supporting residents with everyday living, personal care and companionship.
Support worker
Alongside its care homes, Suffolk has more community-based care services than care homes — roughly 225 non-residential services against about 194 residential ones — reflecting Suffolk County Council’s focus on supporting people in their own homes rather than in residential settings. That means steady demand for support workers who help the people they support, many of them with a learning disability or autism, live as independently as possible in supported living and out in the community.
Dementia care
Around 10,800 people were estimated to be living with dementia in Suffolk at the end of 2024, and that figure is projected to more than double to about 23,000 by 2040 as the county’s older population grows — one of the sharpest rises anywhere in England. Diagnosis and dementia support across the county are coordinated through the Suffolk & North East Essex ICB. Dementia care is some of the most valued work in the sector, supporting residents to live well day to day.
Brain injury
Suffolk has a genuine local brain-injury specialist in Headway Suffolk, a charity with day and neuro-rehabilitation hubs in towns across the county, including Bury St Edmunds, Sudbury, Leiston and Aldeburgh. Rehabilitation support workers here help the people they support rebuild skills and independence after a brain injury, work closely related to the complex-care roles that involve tracheostomy and other clinical support.
Not sure which fits? See all care & support roles →
The Novello app
Your work life, in one app
Find Suffolk shifts, see your confirmed pay and keep your compliance in one place. No more chasing paperwork. Everything you need, on iOS and Android.
For Suffolk employers
Hiring nurses in Suffolk?
From acute wards in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds to coastal care homes at Felixstowe and Lowestoft, we help Suffolk settings fill shifts with checked, reliable nurses.
Whether you run a care home in Sudbury, a nursing home on the coast at Lowestoft or Felixstowe, a ward in Ipswich or Bury St Edmunds, or a community service reaching the villages, we can help you cover gaps quickly with nurses who are compliant and ready to work. Tell us what you need and we will match the right people to your rota.
Reviews
Don't just take our word for it.
Novello are highly professional, making the onboarding process easier. What I like most is the fact I can book shifts on the app at my own convenience!
Sarah Theatre
Very competent staff and a welcoming, supportive team. What I like most is the variety of shifts in the Novello app!
Khadra RGN
Everything is really simple. The whole process of joining, and then finding and booking shifts. It's so simple!
Dan SFA
Frameworks & accreditations
Good to know
Suffolk nursing shifts: common questions
Which areas of Suffolk does Novello cover?
We cover the whole county, from Ipswich and the eastern coast at Lowestoft and Felixstowe across to Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and Newmarket in the west, plus the rural towns and villages in between.
What kinds of shifts can I pick up in Suffolk?
Ward, theatre and department work at hospitals like Ipswich and West Suffolk, nursing and dementia care in the county's care homes, community nursing, mental health at units such as the Woodlands in Ipswich, and healthcare in the local prisons.
Do I need a car to work shifts in Suffolk?
It helps. Suffolk is a large rural county and many care homes and community rounds sit outside the main towns, so being able to drive opens up far more work than relying on buses or trains alone.
When and how do I get paid?
You see the confirmed rate before you accept any shift, and we pay reliably to your schedule. No guessing and no surprises when payday comes around.
I am a care home or hospital in Suffolk. Can Novello help with staffing?
Yes. We supply checked, compliant nurses to settings across Suffolk, from coastal care homes to acute wards in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds. Get in touch and we will match nurses to your rota.
Ready to find your next shift in Suffolk?
Join Novello, set your patch from Ipswich to the coast, and start booking shifts with your pay confirmed up front. Download the app and pick the work that fits your life.
Call 0333 307 8897 · hello@novellohealthcare.com
