Maternity Matron | East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 28 November 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £55,690 - £62,682 per annum |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 28 December 2025 |
| Location: | Ashford, TN24 0LZ |
| Company: | East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7619203/344-9203WCY |
Summary
Join us on our improvement journey
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Midwifery Manager who is passionate about delivering high-quality care and an exceptional patient experience. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in the ongoing improvement and transformation of East Kent maternity services.
The successful candidate will have primary responsibility for the operational management of the maternity unit, ensuring safe, effective, and compassionate care. You will be a highly visible and accessible leader for women, their families, and our staff, modelling best practice and promoting a positive culture.
Your focus will include:
• Leading and supporting change as part of our maternity improvement programme
• Ensuring consistently high standards of clinical care
• Championing infection prevention and control
• Upholding cleanliness and the essential standards of care
• Embedding and sustaining quality improvement initiatives
• Ensuring all women and families are treated with dignity and respect
As a key member of the midwifery leadership team, you will also participate in the midwifery management on-call rota.
If you are an inspirational leader with a commitment to excellence and a desire to make a meaningful difference, we would welcome your application.
You will work closely and collaboratively with the wider senior midwifery management team to ensure effective communication systems are in place, promoting shared learning and driving quality improvements that support excellent standards of care and compliance with national and local requirements.
These pillars include:
• Clinical Practice
• Leadership
• Facilitating Learning
• Evidence, Research and Development
You will contribute to quality improvement in nursing and midwifery practice to enhance the standard of care provided to patients.
With approximately 3200 deliveries per year, the Maternity Department at WHH works closely with our sister site at the QEQM in Margate to provide high-quality care to women across the beautiful Garden of England here in East Kent.
The post holder will play a pivotal role in the implementation and embedding of a Maternity High Dependency Unit within the Delivery Suite, as well as supporting and leading service improvements across the department to help make East Kent the maternity unit of choice for women. The unit also has a level 3 tertiary level 3 neonatal unit.
The unit includes a Maternity Triage department and a co-located Midwifery-Led Unit, providing a diverse and rewarding clinical environment.
We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.
Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.
Strategic and Service Leadership
• Ensure the maternity service strategy is clearly communicated to all Labour Ward staff and translated into effective operational practice.
• Work collaboratively with senior midwifery leaders, obstetric, neonatal and theatre teams to support a high-quality, safe and responsive service.
• Manage allocated pay and non-pay budgets effectively and use Trust information systems to monitor resource utilisation and plan for future service needs.
• Oversee the recruitment and induction of staff in line with Trust policies.
Governance, Quality and Risk
• Investigate complaints and serious incidents, monitor themes, and ensure learning and actions are implemented and shared with staff, senior management and the governance team.
• Contribute to continuous quality improvement in nursing and midwifery practice, using national maternity publications and evidence-based recommendations to support change.
• Support and lead the implementation of actions identified in Kirkup (2022).
• Ensure midwives adhere to local clinical guidelines, policies, and procedures.
• Work with the governance team and HOM to ensure effective risk management, incident reporting and Datix oversight in line with Trust policy.
• Monitor infection control and cleaning standards, undertake gap analysis and implement improvements to maintain compliance.
• Ensure all intrapartum-related KPIs and targets are achieved and escalate concerns where required.
Performance Management
• Monitor the quality of service delivery against local, Trust and national standards.
• Oversee the performance of all Band 7 midwives and work with the Professional Development Team to support all staff groups.
• Address poor performance using appropriate HR processes.
• Ensure robust communication systems exist between the post holder and the staff they manage.
Operational Management
• Design and implement effective systems of working that support delivery of the maternity service strategy and overcome operational constraints.
• Ensure safe staffing and effective deployment of all available resources across Labour Ward.
• Provide oversight of the operational function of the Delivery Suite, Maternity Triage and co-located Midwifery-Led Unit.
• Play a pivotal role in implementing and embedding the new Maternity High Dependency Unit within the Delivery Suite.
Professional Responsibilities
• Provide professional leadership to midwives, promoting a woman-centred, culturally sensitive service.
• Promote meaningful involvement of service users in maternity service planning and delivery, working closely with the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP).
• Maintain professional registration, comply with NMC standards, and meet revalidation requirements.
• Act as an ambassador for the Trust in professional and public settings.
• Contribute to clinical governance developments alongside the line manager.
Expert Clinical Practice
• Lead midwives, nurses and support workers through coaching, mentoring and role modelling to achieve high standards of practice.
• Lead and facilitate multidisciplinary skills and drills sessions with the Obstetric Lead.
• Work with the Education Team to facilitate PROMPT training and support in-situ simulation.
• Act as the midwifery clinical lead for the weekly multidisciplinary maternity case review meeting and ensure actions and learning are implemented and shared.
Leadership
• Provide credible and visible leadership to midwives and nurses.
• Support delivery of the Trust’s nursing and midwifery strategy.
• Promote and support excellent communication with women, families and the multidisciplinary team.
• Work collaboratively with clinical teams and patient groups to shape services that meet the needs of the local population.
• Advocate for women, families and carers, providing expert clinical advice as required.
• Use evidence-based practice to contribute to service development and pathway improvement.
Personal and Professional Development
• Maintain professional and clinical competence and take responsibility for ongoing development, including mandatory training.
• Ensure personal annual appraisal is completed and development objectives are met.
• Participate in education and training relevant to the role.
This advert closes on Friday 5 Dec 2025