Job summary
- Main area
- Emergency Medicine
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (To cover maternity leave)
- Hours
- 37.5 hours per week (Full time)
- Job ref
- 427-7881193
- Employer
- Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal United Hospital Bath
- Town
- Bath
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 13/04/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Matron - Emergency Department
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Job overview
Matron – Emergency Department
We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for a passionate and experienced senior nurse to take on a pivotal leadership role within our vibrant Emergency Department. As Matron, you will play a central part in shaping the care we deliver, supporting our teams, and ensuring our patients receive the safe, compassionate and high‑quality treatment they deserve.
In this influential role, you will bring strong clinical leadership and a clear vision for excellence. You will be a highly visible, approachable, and authoritative presence—someone that patients, families, and staff trust for expert guidance, reassurance, and support.
As Matron, you will:
Lead and inspire nursing teams to achieve outstanding standards of care
Drive continuous improvement within a fast‑paced, high‑pressure environment
Champion patient experience, safety, and high‑quality clinical practice
Support staff wellbeing, development and engagement
Contribute to departmental and organisational priorities, shaping the future of emergency care
This 12‑month fixed‑term post offers a rare opportunity to make a meaningful, lasting impact—both in the Emergency Department and across the wider organisation. You’ll be at the forefront of service development, innovation, and quality improvement, influencing how we deliver urgent and emergency care now and in the future.
Main duties of the job
As Matron for the Emergency Department, you will provide strong, visible clinical leadership, ensuring the delivery of safe, high‑quality care in a fast‑paced environment. You will oversee nursing practice across the department, championing evidence‑based care and acting as an expert resource for staff at all levels.
In this key leadership role, you will:
- Lead, motivate and develop nursing teams, fostering a positive, supportive, and high‑performing culture
- Drive quality improvement and patient‑experience initiatives, ensuring consistently high standards
- Strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration, working closely with medical, operational and allied health colleagues
- Support effective patient flow, including timely assessment, treatment, and discharge
- Manage day‑to‑day operational activity, ensuring safe staffing and smooth service delivery
- Oversee performance, conduct, and workforce planning, modelling professional behaviours and upholding Trust values
You will also contribute to the duty matron rota, ensuring senior nursing leadership presence across the organisation.
This is a highly influential role at the heart of our Emergency Department—ideal for an experienced leader who is passionate about clinical excellence, team development, and making a meaningful impact on patient care.
Working for our organisation
At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.
We are proud to be in the top 20 best hospitals to work for in the country.
We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks – celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.
A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.
We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We’ve even got a pool!
We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
If you are a motivated senior nurse with a passion for leadership, a talent for inspiring others, and a commitment to delivering exceptional patient care, we would love for you to join us.
What You’ll Do
You will provide strong, compassionate leadership to our nursing teams—supporting them through change, encouraging professional growth, and building effective relationships across the department and wider organisation. Working closely with the Clinical Lead and Specialty Manager, you will contribute to business planning, pathway improvement, and service transformation across emergency and urgent care.
Operationally, you will help manage bed pressures, ensure smooth patient flow, support escalation processes, and maintain positive links with support services.
Leadership & Management
Your responsibilities will include recruitment and retention, workforce planning, rota management, performance oversight and HR processes, all aligned with Trust policies. You will support good financial stewardship, drive quality and governance improvements, and lead learning from incidents, complaints and audits. You will also promote a strong culture of education—ensuring staff receive effective induction, supervision, training and ongoing development.
Professional Standards
In every aspect of your role, you will champion Trust values, promote a safe working environment, uphold safeguarding responsibilities, and ensure compliance with key policies including confidentiality, infection prevention, equality, diversity and staff wellbeing.
Person specification
Leadership
Essential criteria
- Management role experience
Desirable criteria
- Matron experience
- Leadership course
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree in nursing
Desirable criteria
- Management qualification
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Effective clinical skills
Desirable criteria
- Change management experience
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Tracey Thorn
- Job title
- Senior Matron for ED and UTC
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01225 825694
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