Job summary
This is a unique and exciting opportunity for an experienced and enthusiastic midwifery leader to shape the future of out-of-hospital birth services. We are looking for an exceptional Midwife to lead our Birth Centre and establish a dedicated Home Birth Team. The successful candidate will be a strong advocate for midwifery-led care, empowering women and birthing people to make informed choices about their place of birth and ensuring access to safe, personalised and high-quality maternity care.

Working closely with the wider maternity leadership team, the post holder will drive service transformation, promote a culture of excellence and innovation, and lead the development of a sustainable Home Birth Service that supports positive outcomes and experiences for women, babies and families. This role offers an exciting opportunity to influence maternity care pathways, improve birth choice and strengthen the profile of community-based birth services across the organisation.

Successful applicants will be required to provide an immunisation and vaccination report, from either their current UK occupational health provider or their UK GP.

Main duties of the job

• Provide operational and professional leadership for the Birth Centre and Home Birth Team, ensuring cover for the delivery of safe, high-quality, woman-centred care 24 hours a day. They will be responsible for the day-to-day management of both services, supporting staff to deliver evidence-based midwifery-led care and promoting positive outcomes and experiences for women, babies and families.
• Be accountable for their own actions in accordance with the Code of Professional Conduct. They will contribute to corporate objectives, and performance targets, acting within local, Trust and statutory guidelines and policies at all times.
• Be responsible for the management of their clinical area/defined workload, effectively leading, motivating, supporting and directing staff to ensure that the patient receives a high standard of care and that time and resources are managed through effective teamwork.
• Work with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that an appropriate managerial and professional infrastructure is in place to support the delivery of services and functional requirements within their clinical area
• Work with the consultant midwife when women request out of area guidance birth planning.
• Have highly developed communication skills enabling maintenance of high-quality service and ensuring timely management and resolution of unexpected events and situations. Undertake bleep-holder and on call responsibilities for the maternity and home birth service on a regular basis.

About us
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, rated as good by the Care Quality Commission, is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the UK.

We are extremely proud of our employees across our hospital sites, with high quality patient care at the heart of everything we do.

Boasting some of the most modern facilities in Western Europe, the Trust is renowned for being at the forefront of research and innovation as part of its blossoming reputation as a worldwide leader in healthcare.

We are proud to be recognised as a Pathway to Excellence designated organisation - please click the link for further details about this prestigious award. Pathway To Excellence - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (uhcw.nhs.uk)

By joining our exciting journey, you will form part of a passionate, talented team and will be able to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. There has never been a better time to join our team.

The Trust is committed to building an organisation that makes full use of the talents, skills, experience, and different perspectives available in our diverse society. We want everyone to feel they are respected, valued, can achieve their potential and receive the most appropriate and relevant care. We will create an environment where the equality and human rights principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy are promoted and are part of the organisation's core values.

Job responsibilities

• Be a knowledgeable leader and resource for staff, advising on national, local and Trust policy and procedures/guidelines, ensuring that clinical governance is embedded in practice. Will support staff and users in service and policy development within a defined area/specialty.
• Be responsible for identifying and assessing complex clinical and non-clinical issues, implementing resolutions and monitoring/auditing outcomes.
• Be responsible for interdepartmental/organisational activities including HR; budget management; complaints.
• Promote and implement new evidence based practice within the clinical environment according to Trusts policies, guidelines and standards.
• Demonstrate highly technical and/or practical skills to ensure optimum patient management including; complex patient monitoring; equipment management and administration of invasive tests/procedures.
• Be responsible for education and development of staff and service in the birth centre and home environments through appraisal and business planning cycles.
• Utilise and ensure others utilise information and IT systems to secure accurate and timely patient, workforce and resource data available.
• Regularly manage expected and unexpected clinical events requiring high but unpredictable levels of physical effort according to patient dependency/clinical need.
• Support patients, carers and others during difficult situations arising in the clinical area, e.g. imparting bad news or following an unexpected event.
• Promote and monitor adherence to Health and Safety and Trust policy designed to protect healthcare staff and service users from known hazards.
• Ensure an effective learning environment for both students and qualified staff.
• Participate in clinical incident reporting, investigation and clinical audit.
• Promote positive interpersonal relationships and be confident in challenging poor clinical practice or poor attitude.
• Be responsible for interdepartmental/ organisational activities including sickness and absence management, completing appraisals and answering complaints in accordance with expected target times.
• Participate in the on-call rota for homebirth services, as lead for the service.

For further details please see the attached job description.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• oDegree in Midwifery. oCurrent Professional Registration. oEvidence of CPD. oTeaching and assessing qualification oNIPE trained oNLS qualification.

Desirable

• oMaster's degree oWorking in or managing MLU/homebirth services oNLS trainer

Experience
Essential

• oExtensive post registration experience in Midwifery. oUnderstanding of budget management oProfessional clinical experience in appropriate specialty oHighly developed communication skills oAbility to successfully manage people and change oExperience of conflict management oA good understanding of HR policy

Desirable

• oExperience in research and audit oPrevious experience in practice Development/education/ project planning

Knowledge
Essential

• oA knowledgeable clinician with the ability to apply evidence to practice oAn understanding of current issues relating to the NHS oA knowledge of professional policies and procedures oKnowledge of clinical governance & a commitment to clinical supervision and staff development oCurrent knowledge of national initiatives directly impacting on Directorate specialities oExperience of being a shift leader within areas of midwifery

Desirable

• oPost-registration experience working at senior/Managerial level

Skills
Essential

• oExcellent understanding of IT and technology oAble to prioritise and meet deadlines effectively oGood management of own and others time oAble to use initiative and make decisions oAnalyses problems and implements effective and appropriate solutions oAbility to lead and work as part of a multidisciplinary team in a clinical Directorate management model oStrong leadership skills

Desirable

• oLeadership course (accredited or nationally recognised) oManagement of change oExperience of Audit

Commitment to Trust Values and Behaviours
Essential

• oMust be able to demonstrate behaviours consistent with the Trust's values. (As detailed in UHCW's Values in Action document below) oApplicants applying for job roles with managerial responsibility will be required to demonstrate evidence of promoting equal opportunities through work experience

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Matron for Intrapartum Services
Carrie Daniels
carrie.daniels@uhcw.nhs.uk
02476964000