Head of Midwifery

Lead on quality, safety and patient experience across the service including full compliance with internal and external governance services. The post holder will have an in-depth knowledge of the services, locally and nationally, and the political environment the post holder is working. This role provides direct support to the Director of Midwifery. Reporting to the Director of Midwifery, the post holder will develop, maintain, and provide assurance on clinical and operational governance systems and processes, specifically clinical; risk management, CQC standards, clinical policy and procedure, clinical quality, health and safety, patient experience, complaint systems and resolution, incident reporting and resolution, contractual quality measures and safeguarding.

Positively lead the service to ensure a culture of continuous improvement and professional excellence is achieved. To work and support others to work within the guidelines and policies of MYTT. To take responsibility for the individual delegated cross site roles ensuring equity of service across the service as a whole. Lead all non-medical clinical staff to ensure acceptable clinical standards are achieved in all wards/departments.

Develop systems for gaining patient feedback, responding to adverse outcomes. Ensure that patient feedback is acted on effectively and ensure that learning from complaints and incidents are used to improve services. To ensure that all Trust Human Resources, Clinical Risk, Infection Control and Health & Safety policies are implemented and adhered to. To ensure all resources are deployed to achieve best outcome with reference to the Trust and Service Business Plans.

To lead on transformation of nursing /midwifery/clinical services to ensure high quality and safe care is delivered in a cost efficient and effective way. The post-holder will be expected to receive, analyse, interpret, and respond appropriately to highly complex information on all aspects of the professional midwifery agenda. Identify and escalate any anomalies to divisional / corporate leads for action. Ensure that learning from patient complaints and comments is shared to support development of the quality agenda and service improvement plans and strategies.

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. Develop and adhere to the maternity units philosophy and models of care to ensure that all policies and procedures are implemented and to lead on the development of evidenced based woman centred midwifery practice, both in the hospital and community. Lead on and oversee practices and organisation of midwifery-led care across the spectrum of pregnancy and birth, including developing services for women on a collaborative care pathway.

To support the implementation of Trust and LMS recommendations regarding the provision of antenatal and postnatal inpatient services and ensure the initiatives are supported by appropriate midwifery guidelines. To contribute to the assessment of the training and development of staff and provide appropriate experience or advise accordingly. To maintain, monitor and evaluate standards of care within the team and assist in the implementation of recommendations from government or professional bodies in relation to maternity care. Has a key role in leading development of evidenced based clinical guidelines and policies, both at a local and LMS level.

Co-ordinates new health care initiatives with service providers and commissioners to facilitate improvement. Ensure practice meets the requirements of a practising midwife in accordance with the Nursing & Midwifery Councils Standards for competence for registered midwives & nurses and The Code of Professional Standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. Ensure practice and conduct is guided by Trust policies and guidelines. Responsible for proposing, writing and implementing Midwifery policies and leading the development of Midwifery policies and standard operating procedures that impact on the Midwifery services.

Establish and maintain system and processes that ensures compliance with statutory and mandatory duties for areas of responsibility i.e. health and safety policy. Regular requirement to create and develop statistical reports, option reports and produce statistics relating to the Midwifery service.