Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Management and professional responsibilities

- To ensure that the grading of incidents is accurate and that the learning response  is commensurate with the harm caused and likelihood of recurrence

- To work within Trust policies, protocol and guidelines providing comment on new policy documents as required.

- To deputise for the Deputy Perinatal Quality and Governance Lead as and when necessary.

 - To attend Directorate and Trust wide meetings relevant to risk, quality, health and safety.

- Ensure personal and professional development is maintained and clinical skills are updated in order to provide high quality care in accordance with NMC guidelines

 - Maintain a safe working environment.

- To work as a team with the other patient safety leads for the women’s division to support the timely response to Datix

- To work with colleagues to complete investigations if required

 Leadership

 - Promote and role model a culture of openness and responsiveness to patient views, an ethos of constructive and positive learning from mistakes within a performance-based culture among staff

- A willingness to find imaginative solutions to problems, and to use information as the basis for reflection and action.

 - Provide staff training and development of governance/risk management for all disciplines in Maternity via induction programme for new staff and Mandatory Update Study Days

Responsibilities for patients

  - Be able to evidence integrity in their ability to communicate with both patients, their families and staff involved in incidents evidencing excellent communication skills understanding how stressful these situations can be for all involved.

- With proven leadership skills and the confidence to engage with senior personnel to investigate care issues and devise appropriate learning plans.

- Identify and escalate any anomalies to Deputy Perinatal Quality and Governance Lead, Perinatal Quality and Governance Lead and Head of Midwifery including cascading and actioning of Safety Alerts

- Ensure patients who suffer harm whilst under our care, are managed in line with Being Open or Duty of Candour as indicated by level of harm

- Facilitate and have continuing responsibility for the effective assessment, implementation, and evaluation of all midwifery care in own sphere of clinical practice over a 24-hour period.

- Undertake the full role of the midwife including advanced decision making, using evidence-based practice and highly developed skills.

- To ensure maximum learning is gained from all quality and patient safety work, and measures are taken to share this learning

Skills and Abilities

- Substantial midwifery experience including care in a high-risk environment

- Knowledge of NHS Risk Management within an acute care/ tertiary setting

- Knowledge of PSIRF learning responses or similar investigation approaches

- Knowledge of Clinical Governance and External Accreditation Processes

- Excellent and proven presentation skills

- Excellent and proven oral and written communication and report writing skills

- Ability to deal with angry or stressed staff or patients at all levels

- Excellent organisational skills (E) - Experience in trend analysis and aggregation

- Experience of carrying out detailed investigations using Root Cause Analysis techniques

- Experience of managing incident reporting systems Datix

- Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team

Information Governance, research and professional responsibility

- To follow systems within the service to ensure that confidential information is obtained, held, recorded, used, and shared in accordance with Caldicott and data protection requirements.

- Systematically review information systems that support the clinical quality/ clinical governance agenda to ensure timely information is collated.

- Ensure (in conjunction with the clinical governance team) effective information systems for the dissemination of NICE guidance, Safety Alerts and action plans to achieve compliance.

- To follow processes around management of the Maternity Divisional governance and risk databases.

- To maintain confidential reports/records.

- To work with the Senior Team to continuously improve the quality of service and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical practice flourishes.

- Always maintain and promote a professional attitude, in the best interest of the patient and profession in accordance with the NMC standards and rules and Trust Patient’s Charter

- Promote high standards of midwifery care, through participation in effective quality assurance measures such as clinical audit programmes.

- Provide midwifery expertise, ensuring all staff are supported in their practice including midwives and obstetricians in training, in line with the Trust’s management of work performance policy.

Take responsibility for the maintenance and improvement of professional knowledge and skills according to NMC for midwifery registration