Job Description

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Clinical Midwifery Matron to join our senior maternity leadership team. This pivotal Band 8a role offers an exciting opportunity to lead and shape high-quality, evidence-based care across our inpatient maternity services .

Key Responsibilities:

Provide visible, compassionate leadership to midwifery and obstetric teams within the maternity and neonatal services.



Drive continuous quality improvement and ensure services meet national standards and local performance metrics.



Collaborate with across multidisciplinary teams to coordinate seamless care.



Foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive working culture that promotes staff wellbeing and development.

What We're Looking For:

NMC registered Midwife with significant post-registration clinical experience in midwifery care.



Demonstrable leadership experience in a senior midwifery or managerial role.



Sound knowledge of national drivers impacting maternity and neonatal services



Proven ability to lead and inspire teams, influence change, and deliver high standards of care.



Excellent interpersonal, communication, and strategic thinking skills.



We are extremely proud of our Maternity service at Gateshead Health but we recognise the ongoing challenges to further develop and maintain our excellent patient feedback and quality and safety metrics. We are seeking a compassionate, dedicated and visible leader to continue our implementation of the national three year delivery plan, retain and improve our "Good" CQC ratings, continued compliance with the Maternity Incentive Scheme and implement our new Gateshead Health Strategic priorities.



The Maternity service is part of the Division of Surgery, Women's Health and Children, within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The Matron will work closely with the Community Matron, Associate Director of Midwifery/SCBU, Service Line Manager, Lead midwife for Quality Risk and Safety, and Matron Colleagues within the wider Trust. The successful applicant will implement the maternity agenda at an operational level, ensuring that the team and our women and their families are engaged, listened to and supported at every step.



The post holder will be supported by the senior maternity and wider matron teams in their own personal development into the matron role. This is an operational leadership role which includes the day to day oversight of the acute maternity service including ensuring safe staffing, line management of the ward managers, report writing, matron walkabouts, attendance at Trust and regional meetings and deputising for the Associate Director of Midwifery/SCBU.



Based in the North East of England we provide a range of hospital and community health services from our leading facilities, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blaydon urgent care centre and Bensham Hospital, all within Gateshead.



Established in 2005, we were one of the first foundation trusts in the country and since then have consistently achieved the highest levels of care for patients.



We now employ around 4,800 staff and currently provide 444 hospital beds across the Gateshead region.



Our values should be the 'golden thread' which runs through everything we do - they are the core of who we are. Our five values can easily be remembered by the simple acronym ICORE; Innovation, Care, Openness, Respect, Engagement.



We have a number of staff networks including the Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) network, D-Ability network, LGBTQ+ Network and the Women's Network, to challenge us and help us to constantly improve. Our Armed Forces network is one of our emerging networks.



The health and wellbeing of our staff is one of our highest priorities, and we offer a range of support and initiatives as part of our 'Balance' programme balancegateshead.com to cater for our diverse workforce, so that your individual needs can be supported, allowing you a happy and healthy working experience with us.

Minimum requirements:

Registered Midwife 1st level and current NMC Registration



Evidence of Post Graduate study and continued professional development



Demonstrate a high level of interpersonal and communication skills



Significant senior midwifery experience



Previous operational management experience



Ability to cope with and diffuse difficult and stressful situations



Excellent organisational skills



Risk management knowledge



IT skills



Flexible approach to work



Budget management skills



Conflict management skills



Clinical Governance knowledge

Desirable:

Policy writing skills



Leadership qualification



Project/Service development experience