Clinical Midwifery Manager - Birth Centre

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Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics.

We are committed to recruiting to our values. Leading One Culture of Care underpins our values by creating an environment, tone and behaviours across all parts of the Trust that are fundamentally rooted in compassionate care.

We are open to considering a wide range of flexible working arrangements. There are opportunities to flex the days of the week, hours and times of work and place of work including: part-time, job-share, flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home when appropriate. Please talk to us during the interview process to discuss any flexibility that you may require.

We received our Silver Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme which is helping actively promote SaBRE - Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employers. This means that we provided its statement of intent to support all Defence personnel and we welcome application to work for us. Find out more - Why Choose CHFT?

Our Future Plans

The Department of Health and Social Care has awarded capital funding to invest in local health services at both Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. This is a significant investment and an opportunity to enhance services for our populations in Calderdale and Huddersfield and West Yorkshire for generations to come. To find out more, please visit https://future.cht.nhs.uk/

Job overview

Are you passionate about personalised care and the promotion of normal birth? Do you have a natural ability to lead, inspire, and empower a dedicated clinical team? If so, we want to hear from you!

An exciting opportunity has arisen at CHFT for a birth centre clinical manager. Our Birth Centre is committed to providing exceptional, woman-centered maternity care that celebrates the natural process of birth. We pride ourselves on fostering a supportive, nurturing environment where every family's individual needs and choices are respected. If you want to be part of a progressive birth centre focused on natural birth and personalised care with the opportunity to shape and lead a passionate, skilled team in a supportive environment that values continuous learning and professional growth then this is the role for you.

As a Clinical Manager, you will be a pivotal leader in our Birth Centre, driving excellence in care and championing the philosophy of normal birth. You will empower and support the team, ensuring that all staff have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to deliver outstanding personalised care.

Main duties of the job

• Lead, motivate, and develop the birth centre team to achieve the highest standards of care
• Promote and support the principles of normal birth and personalised, woman-centered care
• Ensure continuous professional development and up-to-date clinical skills for all staff
• Foster a culture of confidence, collaboration, and learning within the team
• Oversee clinical governance and quality assurance to maintain safety and excellence
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to enhance service delivery and patient experience
• The role will be split between clinical & managerial time emphasising agile leadership.

What We're Looking For

• Registered Midwife with substantial clinical and leadership experience
• A deep commitment to normal birth and personalised maternity care
• Proven ability to lead and inspire a team in a fast-paced, clinical environment
• Strong skills in staff development, mentoring, and clinical education
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to manage change and promote innovation within a supportive framework

Working for our organisation

CHFT is an integrated Trust of 6,500+ colleagues providing hospital and community services to patients and communities across Calderdale and Kirklees. We are rated as 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission, are a top performing Trust for Elective Recovery, Emergency and Cancer Care and widely acknowledged as a national digital lead when it comes to caring for people across our local and regional systems.

Our people are at the core of everything we do, hence our commitment to One Culture of Care. Our focus is to care for and support each other in order to provide outstanding compassionate care to our patients. That is why we are looking for an inclusive collaborative, creative, innovative and compassionate leader to join us in this role.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• Managerial and professional accountability for the effective delivery of midwifery birth centre care.
• Ensure robust preceptorship and clinical support for midwives on rotation.
• Provide managerial and clinical guidance in the absence of the Matron.
• Provide a visible, accessible and authoritative presence, acting as a professional role model by providing leadership and support within the midwifery and multidisciplinary teams.
• Support, assist and advise women and their families', where midwifery led care is practised.
• Work closely with the multi-disciplinary team to ensure an integrated service for woman's personalised care.
• Ensure midwives contribute to the achievement of the Division's, Directorate's and Trust's objectives, supporting strategic planning.
• Promote the highest standards of audited research based clinical care, maintaining standards in accordance with UK law, NMC, Trust and EU guidelines.
• Maintain a high profile in the clinical areas by working clinically alongside the team, being accessible to women and their families'.
• Support in the development of assessment, implementation and evaluation of the needs and choice of women and babies, promoting the delivery of evidence based care pathways for women and babies.
• Ensure the delivery of safe care within a challenging and changing clinical environment, using persuasion and negotiation skills.
• Provide clinical advice within midwifery services, working closely with the matron and senior team to further develop midwifery led care across the area.
• Manage and lead midwifery practice, working closely with the matron and senior team to ensure protocols, guidelines, policies and procedures are adhered to.
• Implement change initiatives to improve and maintain a high-quality service in line with the national agenda.
• Bring to the immediate attention any issues, which are impeding the provision of an efficient or high-quality service adhering to the escalation policy and the Trust's Incident reporting as relevant.
• Participate in Audit and Research leading to the development of research-based practices and development of Trust midwifery policies and ensure its effective implementation maintaining standards in accordance with the UK Law, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Trust and EU guidelines.
• Receive information which may cause emotional distress to all parties and disseminate contentious, complex and sensitive information appropriately.
• Provide representation advice and guidance to the multidisciplinary team, link regionally and nationally with birth centre/midwifery led care networks
• Promote flexible and integrated working, liaising closely with Clinical Managers in all areas of the service to promote collaborative working relationships which will improve women's experiences.
• Link and liaise with the Safeguarding Team on safeguarding issues to recognise and respond appropriately and effectively to concerns relating to women, children and the unborn baby.
• Ensure the provision of excellent infection control practices as defined by national recommendations and local policies and maintenance of high standards of cleanliness throughout. Provide a clean environment for care, ensuring best practice in infection control and improving clinical care standards.
• Complete Infection Control Audits, Root Cause Analysis and take appropriate action.
• Link with the Trust Band 7s to address corporate issues within the Division as necessary.

Person specification

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

Essential criteria

• Registered Midwife
• Degree in relevant subject or be willing to work towards this
• Significant experience in midwifery practice with at least two years in a more senior role
• Teaching accreditation: ENB 997/PGCE or equivalent
• Evidence of ongoing CPD

Desirable criteria

• Master's degree in relevant subject.
• Management/leadership qualification
• NIPE Practitioner
• NLS® Course
• Prompt Trainer

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE

Essential criteria

• Ability to demonstrate experience in midwifery led care
• Leading elements of service provision and of supporting staff in the birth centre environment
• Particular knowledge, skill, competence and confidence in autonomous practice as well as supporting and promoting midwifery led care
• Demonstrable achievement in: i. Changing clinical practice ii. Developing self and others iii. Mentorship and ensuring others maintain current registration
• Excellent report writing and presentations skills
• IT expertise
• Knowledge of midwifery issues and their impact on service delivery
• Ability to prioritise and meet deadlines
• Ability to compile, analyse and disseminate complex information
• Expertise and the ability to lead in an emergency where there are no doctors.

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of innovative practice that involves research or audit
• Evidence of research experience
• Experience of multiagency working
• Demonstrable achievement in: Leadership
• Ability to network across directorates and divisions
• Able to demonstrate a broad knowledge of health policy in relation to midwifery

COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS (INCLUDING MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES)

Essential criteria

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to influence and motivate others.
• Negotiating skills and ability to resolve conflict
• Ability to make decisions and be accountable for them

Our vision is to provide One Culture of Care for one another in order that we can provide compassionate care for the people who use our services. We are passionate about creating a workplace where we work together to get results, encouraging colleagues to have their say, in order to co create the change we want to see. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce that's why we encourage applications from all. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants.

Please ensure your application is submitted with referees who can verify your employment/education history over the last three years and include valid email addresses for them. We will request electronic Factual Employment References from your previous employers. These references will be requested before you are issued with an unconditional offer of employment letter.

Candidates who require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the United Kingdom can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this position by assessing their circumstances against the criteria specified on the Check if you need a UK visa - GOV.UK website. We encourage all applicants to review these criteria carefully to understand their eligibility for sponsorship.

If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system. The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

You may be required to undertake a DBS. The Trust will administer the DBS check on your behalf and will recover the cost (Enhanced £54.40, Standard £26.40 or Basic £26.40) from your salary when you commence in post (including Internal staff). You will also be required to participate in the DBS Update Service and pay the £16 cost per year. This is a condition of your employment.

CHFT is part of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), a collaborative of the NHS hospital trusts from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate working together to provide the best possible care for our patients.

If you have any questions please contact ask.recruitment@cht.nhs.uk for assistance.

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.

Documents to download

• JDPS (PDF, 272.4KB)
• Job Description Appendix A (PDF, 259.2KB)