Birth Centre and Ambulatory Matron

Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Birth Centre and Ambulatory Matron. Are you an experienced leader with excellent people skills looking for a new challenge? Are you passionate about working in collaboration with the obstetric team, family centred midwifery care and the provision of personalised and seamless services across the maternity pathway?

This senior midwife will join a dynamic, skilled and ambitious leadership team at an exciting time; in which services for women and birthing people alongside support for staff have never been more important.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide operational management and clinical leadership across the Birth Centre and Ambulatory maternity areas, set within a strong framework of Clinical Governance. They will be responsible and accountable for the provision of safe, high quality maternity care, acknowledging the diverse needs of women, birthing people and their babies.

They will ensure women, birthing people and their families are at the centre of care, implementing necessary improvements to ensure maternity care provision is responsive and of the highest standard.

They will maintain their own clinical practice and act as a role model for the midwifery and nursing workforce, whilst creating an environment of continuous quality improvement and professional staff development.

The post holder will lead on quality improvement and new initiatives to ensure that the maternity service is fit for the future.

About us
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is proud to be one of the top performing and safest trusts in England. We have two main acute hospital sites--Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital, plus our award-winning clinics across North West London and beyond.

Job responsibilities

• Provide professional leadership by being highly visible, ensuring provision of high quality, responsive maternity services, with the needs of the woman, birthing person and their family placed at the centre of care.
• To have overall operational responsibility for the Birth Centre and Ambulatory Service.
• To act as an effective role model and demonstrate effective organisational and leadership direction.
• Ensure budgetary and performance objectives are achieved.
• Provide direct and indirect staff line management for the Intrapartum area.
• Act as a catalyst for change, leading the development of policy, practice and staff in the delivery of women and birthing person centred care.
• Ensure that process for the recruitment, selection appointment and retention of staff are efficient, effective and in line with Equalities Act.
• Create a culture that involves and empowers staff, supports their professional development and encourages them to participate in shaping service developments.
• Proactively engage in the Trust Governance agenda. Lead on audit, identifying risk, prepare and implement action plans to improve quality of services.
• Participate in Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF).
• Develop systems in order to learn from and implement changes to practice arising from complaints, clinical risks and litigation.
• Ensure that optimal use is made of available manpower resources to provide appropriate and effective cover over any 24 hour period.
• Participate in CQC assessments and other internal and external reviews.
• Develop and maintain effective communication and working relationships with other professional groups, and staff within the Division and the
• Develop plans of action within defined areas to respond to maternity experience surveys and ensure responses are acted upon.
• Work in partnership with the local maternity services network.
• Support and promote equality, diversity and the rights of women, birthing people, the public and colleagues within the health care environment. Engender a culture of respectful relationships.
• Working collaboratively with the Trust complaints and patient advisory service, ensure that any complaints received are dealt with promptly.
• To ensure that working conditions are safe in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act and Trust local policies. Lead on departmental risk assessment, COSHH and other health and safety issues and ensure safe practice with regard to manual handling, safer sharps, infection prevention and control.
• To carry out any other duties that may be required and are consistent with the responsibility and grade of this post and needs of the service.

Please see attached job description and person specification to this advert for further details.

Person Specification
Education and qualifications
Essential

• Registered Midwife
• Evidence of post-registration education
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• Mentorship module or equivalent

Experience
Essential

• Substantial recent experience of working as a Senior Midwife
• Experience of working in a busy Intrapartum setting
• Evidence of managing a clinical area and team of staff
• Research/audit/quality improvement experience
• Experience of managing and motivating a team and reviewing performance of those individuals.
• Guideline and policy development and implementation
• Ability to investigate incidents and patient experience complaints to a high standard
• Organisational and management skills including budgetary management

Desirable

• Evidence of delivering high quality teaching to staff groups

Skills and Knowledge
Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Ability to work autonomously & independently
• Evidence of ability to influence and motivate others
• Management and leadership skills, including an ability to prioritise own work effectively and being able to direct activities of others.
• Analytical and problem solving skills, including an ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands
• Ability to recognize the contribution of members of the MDT
• Computer literate: able to use word, email, excel and manage databases
• Ability to generate high quality reports
• Aware of current national issues affecting Midwifery and Maternity care

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).