Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will focus and lead on the following key areas, within the organisation’s governance framework:

1.    Governance – ensure safe and effective practice

·Professional, ethical and legal

·Adhere to NMC guidelines for practice for practice requirements and standards for example: safe handling, administration, storage and custody or medicinal products.

·Ensure care given to women in in keeping with Trust guidelines, policies and procedures and with due regard to the NMC midwives rules, codes of practice and scope of professional conduct.

·Evidence based practice

·Be an expert in physiological midwifery and act as a resource by providing support and development for staff and students.

·Promote a culture of evidence-based practice with the multidisciplinary team to enhance individualised care.

·Participate in the collection of information and statistics for audits to monitor changes and help develop the service.

·Environment 

·Maintain a safe and clean environment for staff, patients/clients and visitors by ensuring compliance with legislation, policies and protocols including health and safety and risk management.

·Ensure safe and effective use of equipment as per Health and Safety policy.

·Ensure near misses, incidents, accidents, and faulty devices are recorded, reported, investigated and learning disseminated as per trust policy.

2.    Enhance the patient/client experience.

·Personalised centred care

·Develop and maintain a culture of individualised care within the maternity unit

·Promote a caring environment where equality and diversity issues are respected, and women, birthing people and their families are enabled to be partners in their care. 

·Develop strategies for communication between staff, women, relatives, and their families. 

·Facilitate communication between all members of the multi-disciplinary/multi-agency team, and across care setting. 

·Coordination of the patient journey

·Foster a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and communication

·Ensure effective admission/early discharge planning with relevant multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams as required.

·Women and their Families involvement

o   Ensure effective systems are in place to gain women and their family’s feedback on their experience of care.

o   Ensure compliments and complaints are managed in line with trust policy including the dissemination of shared learning and proactive in preventing further complaints.

3.    Provide effective leadership and management

·Role model

·Act as a visible leader within the maternity unit.

·To provide effective clinical leadership and support to all midwives and students that enables professional decision making and effective team working.

·Empower and enable staff to contribute to the delivery of high-quality individualised   care that is cost effective and efficient.

·Deputise for the Midwifery lead in his/her absence and as required to maintain the midwifery service.

·Develop team performance.

·Lead by example, demonstrating a proven record of sound leadership, management skills, courtesy and diplomacy when dealing with colleagues and the public.

·Promote a positive culture to facilitate good staff relationships. 

·Promote team building and maintain cohesion within clinical areas to establish a positive working environment. 

·Undertake annual appraisal and development reviews of team members, ensuring effective implementation of the Knowledge and Skills Framework and personal development plan (DH, 2004).

·Contribute to the education of midwifery and nursing staff, and work in partnership with educational staff.

·Support the development and preceptorship of midwives and students in a supportive environment for learning and development.

·Manage the ward/department/team.

·Ensure appropriate delegation to midwives and nurses and health care support workers and monitoring of outcomes for effective care/service delivery.

·Challenge appropriately and confidently where standards of care fall below that which the senior team would expect.

·Help to maintain the designated budget working with the lead midwife to ensure resources are managed correctly and efficiently.

·Contribute to budget management within the ward/department, to ensure services are managed in accordance with yearly financial instructions.

· Effective Use of resources

·Ensure optimal use is made of available resources to provide a safe and effective service.

·Show a commitment to effectively manage resources and achieve statutory financial targets.  Ensure resources are available to maintain a safe provision of the service.

·Adhere to Trust systems for effectively managing stock and safeguarding fixed assets.

·Ensure that all equipment is maintained in good working order and staff understand the importance of good maintenance.

4.    Contribute to the delivery of the organisation’s objective.

·Continuous quality and improvement

·Promote a culture of continuous quality improvement through the use of audit, patient/client feedback and reflection and practice by self and other members of the team.

·Service improvement and transformation

·Working in partnership with a range of clinicians and managers in the planning or development of own service promoting the involvement of women, birthing people and their families.

· Staff management

·Ensure midwives and nurses working in the clinical are professionally qualified and registered with the NMC.

·Ensure all policies and guidelines are strictly adhered to by all members of staff and initiate disciplinary procedures when necessary.

·Liaise with Midwifery Matrons, Head and Director of Midwifery on all professional midwifery issues.

·Manage duty rotas/annual leave and study leave to always ensure adequate midwifery/nursing cover and appropriate skill mix within the staffing resources. 

·Ensure processes are in place to manage sickness/absenteeism and take appropriate action in line with trust policies.

Operational overview

·Complete the Birth-rate Plus acuity tool for clinical area and escalate as necessary.

During the working day from Monday to Friday, the maternity bleep 2606, will be held by the deputy matrons on a rostered basis.

• Attend all huddles as required for maternity and the Trust
• When the ward managers or flow coordinator/bleep holder has concerns regarding activity and/or acuity, this must be escalated with the matron/ HoM/ DoM within hours. Out of hours, this should be escalated to Bronze on call (site team) who will liaise with silver on call.  Support the initiation of Maternity Escalation OPEL 3 or above for mutual aid.

§  Support staff by helping with clinical duties as required - this will include helping cover for breaks, administration of intravenous antibiotics for Neonates (if required), assisting with discharges or undertaking drug rounds.

• Ensure sickness and absence request is updated on Optima. 
• Participate in the flow coordinator / bleep holder rota as required.