Midwifery Team Leader

Job summary

This is a twelve month secondment or fixed term contract opportunity.

Are you an experienced Midwife with a passion for continuity and would love to join the midwifery-led service as a Team Leader? If you are dynamic, motivational, visible and have the drive and determination to support the national picture of maternity service transformation then this is the opportunity for you.

We are looking for a resilient individual who is able to manage complex situations as well as being well organised and innovative. You will be motivated to provide evidenced based care, with the aim of promoting a positive experience of maternity services and increasing births in the midwifery-led settings.

You will be a key member of the multidisciplinary team ensuring that there are good lines of communication between midwifery-led and complex midwifery services.

Working in partnership with the other lead midwives, the matron for midwifery-led services and the consultant midwife, the successful applicant will lead a team of skilled midwives and support staff to successfully deliver the Better Births vision of Continuity of carer for all women.

Main duties of the job

The Team leader has a key leadership and management role at a senior level and will provide specialist skills and knowledge to support the organisation and the delivery of care for women and their families throughout their pregnancy, birth and postnatal journey in accordance with the department philosophy and standards of care, ensuring that Trust values and behaviours are upheld.

The Team Leader has a fundamental role in monitoring and maintaining high standards of professional practice, ensuring an environment that is conducive to well-being and contributing to effective budgetary management.

Working as part of the senior midwifery team, the Team leader will contribute to the future development of the maternity service through participation of development initiatives.

Leading the service into the future will be a key requirement, working closely with the Consultant Midwife and Matron for midwifery-led services.

About us

We have 10000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.

Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.

You'll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you'd never have done. You'll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path.

You'll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.

If this is not enough...... we have a BIG PLAN to:

consistently deliver excellent care create a great place to work deliver value for money ensure we are fit for the future Develop our staff to be the best they can be

We hope you can you see yourself being part of this dynamic team of midwives who really care about your career development, your ideas and your contribution to make our service the best it can be.

You can chat with Laura Thorpe our Matron for Midwifery Led Services: to find out more.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical/professional responsibilities

Performs, promotes and monitors high standards of midwifery care in line with local and national standards and the Nursing and Midwifery Councils (NMC) Professional Code of Conduct/Rules and Standards. Work effectively in all community, birth centre and complex care settings. Ensures an accessible and flexible service. Develops and supports innovative approaches of care to meet the needs of women and their families. Uses high quality evidence based practice. Ensures the team and individuals in the team are accountable and responsible for clinical decision making. Provide midwifery care for preconception advice and support, for early pregnancy, and provision of a triage service. Promote birth as a normal physiological process as part of a womans life Act as an advocate for women at all times. Empower women to make informed choices about all aspects of their pregnancy, birth and postnatal care. Ensure the provision of innovative parent education programmes with a focus on the promotion of normality and increase confidence in early parenting skills, including infant feeding practices. Recognise limit to own role and abilities and seek support where appropriate followed by training and development to address issues. Participate in continuing professional development requirements. Adhere to appropriate frameworks to achieve compliance with safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. Ensure public health principles are embedded in care provided, to contribute to the improvement of each womans and her familys health status. Manage ethical dilemmas in a supportive, collaborative manner Set, monitor and maintain standards of care to improve the patient experience and outcome of care. Ensure the provision of Excellent Care with Compassion Proactively manage risk and maintain safety, conforming to health and safety, infection control and LTH policies, procedures and guidelines. Comply with Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations. Contribute to a positive learning environment underpinned by LTH core values. Manage concerns raised about individual practice or behaviour. Participates and leads in change management Promote research in order to maintain and develop midwifery practice. Undertakes audit and evaluation programmes and ensure that the midwifery contribution within the team contributes to quality indicators such as clinical benchmarking and is meeting NHS government targets. Evidence of being active mentor and role model and sign off mentor. Actively involves and supports Midwifery and medical students and junior staff in educational opportunities Be involved in Induction and Monitoring of new staff- Ensure midwifery related documentation is appropriate, accountable and defensible. Encourage and promote an evidence-based culture in staff through the use of individualised care plans and protocols of care within an inter-disciplinary approach

Communication

Communicate in a professional and timely manner. Work with your team when requesting annual leave and on call rota to ensure a seamless, coordinated midwifery service. Ensures team performance is monitored and readily accessible. Develop and maintain communication with people about difficult matters or difficult situations, in an appropriate, supportive and empathic manner. Comply with absence management in line with LTH guidelines. Communicate sensitively and effectively with women and their families. Actively seek feedback from women and their families through promotion of a range of methods, including the Friends and Family Test, and use this to improve experiences. Ensure documentation is complete, legible and accurate Ensure regular structured team meetings and monitor attendance Communicate effectively with relevant professionals and colleagues, using written and verbal means of communication as appropriate. Ensure that records are legible, accurate and contemporaneous, in accordance with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) guidelines and LTH policies on record keeping and management. Communicate with women and their families in a highly sensitive manner, using various methods of communication including telecommunication equipment provided; and to liaise with the wider maternity team to meet the womans identified needs. Communicate highly complex and sensitive information in an understandable format to women, their families and other professionals. Interpret information obtained from clinical assessment and use the information to plan effective care. Produce clear concise action plans and reports, in a timely manner. Work to Caldicott Guardian recommendations around sharing information and confidentiality. Use interpreters as needed to enable families with English as a second language and those with sensory impairment to access the service.

Operational

Monitor effective diary management to ensure safe working practices to meet European Working Time Directives Ensure regular structured team meetings, encourage and monitor attendance of the team members Investigate all accidents, incidents, near misses, faulty equipment or environmental issues immediately as per Trust Policy Ensure the use of risk assessments and incident reporting to improve the quality of care for women and their babies Participate in governance and risk management activities including attendance at professional groups and meetings, guideline development, investigation of clinical incidents, research, and clinical audit activities. Promote a culture of collaboration with team members and other teams as required. Support team activities, including the provision of parent education or social networking opportunities to ensure that women have access to social groups to reduce social isolation and exclusion. Approach challenges with a solution focused attitude. Network with the wider Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) and local agencies to promote the ethos of care and reputation of LTH. Actively seek opportunities to participate and present service to local General Practitioners, community partners/agencies, national/local study days as required. The management of pay and non-pay resources to meet the Directorates financial duties and targets Maximise the use of staff resources to match patient requirements Identify equipment priorities to support the care provision and safety of the physical environment. Ensure the efficient use of temporary staffing and monitoring quality and spend. Ensure that Child protection and vulnerable adult legislation is adhered to by all team members. Ensure implementation of service user experience data collection and engage the team in quality improvement initiatives.

Team Work

Work effectively as a team member as well as autonomously. Work collaboratively with the wider maternity team. Have awareness of social issues and liaise with wider health and social care professionals as appropriate. Plan own workload to make most effective use of time and ensure sustainability of service provision. Lead team meetings and meet with other agencies as required. Contribute to the team working and planning of service development to effectively meet the needs of women and their families. Build capacity and expertise amongst work colleagues to support women and their families Effectively exchange information and ideas.

Professional development

Maintain and acquire clinical skills and competencies to practice as a midwife and to promote the philosophy and ethos of women centred care across the team Identify Training and Development needs through goal setting, clinical governance and team meetings. Ensure 100% compliance with mandatory /statutory training and development and appraisal for the team Contribute to the content of midwifery training and support/facilitate/deliver sessions as appropriate.

Students

Support midwifery students within the Team to ensure that each student has an optimal learning experience. Participate in mentorship and offer opportunities for enhanced learning for all students who attend shadowing or elective placements. All vacancies are recruited to in a timely manner in line with Trust Recruitment and Selection Policy Staff identified through the Talent management Programme report they are supported and encouraged by their managers. Manager liaises with finance on a regular basis to ensure establishment reflects staff in post All recruitment adheres to Establishment Control and Vacancy Control requirements Workforce planning is undertaken in a timely and appropriate manner Workforce Business partner feedback is positive and reports that managers are engaged with the process Low agency spend & temporary staffing usage; active and rigorous recruitment plans; reduction in hard to fill posts Find solutions to ensure the department has sustainable staffing structures at substantive spend, Person Specification

Qualifications & Education

Essential

Registered Midwife Valid NMC registration Degree NMC recognised Mentorship qualification

Desirable

MSc Ability to perform Newborn Infant Physical Examination (NIPE)

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

Experience of community midwifery Experience of providing women centred care Experience of line management Experience of implementing changes and service developments Able to manage /treat obstetric emergencies in hospital/birth unit and community setting Knowledge of Clinical Governance and the relevance to practice Experience of writing and developing policies and procedures Experience of orientating new starters Teaching and assessing student midwives, midwives and doctors. Maintains own reflective practice. Demonstrates effective listening skills and

Desirable

Experience of midwifery case loading Experience of working in a variety of maternity settings/environments

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