Job summary
Employer heading
Consultant Midwife
Band 8b
Job overview
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.
Please see below for detailed job description of the role.
Main duties of the job
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated individual who aspires to take on a senior clinical leadership role and join an established and supportive team of consultant midwives at UHS. The successful candidate will work with the senior leadership team, multi-professional team, commissioners, external partners, women and birthing people together with their families, to co-create maternity pathways and services in accordance with the NHS Long Term Plan and maternity transformational work streams.
As an acute tertiary centre, UHS currently acts as host providers for both Maternal Medicine and Fetal Medicine, working together with our level 4 Neonatal unit, serving both our local population and pregnant clients across the region. As such, we are seeking an experiencing candidate who wishes to enhance their practice in complex care, within our forward-thinking service. The role includes facilitating midwives’ autonomy, specifically in high-risk midwifery and complex care planning. The postholder will consider and incorporate evidence-based practice at all stages of women and birthing people’s pathway, including when the pregnancy has multiplex social, psychological and/or physical factors to consider.
Working for our organisation
As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to.
All non-clinical roles may involve a mixture of on site and remote working, Specific details and flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.
Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 20% lower than London and 14 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.
Specific to this role we are open to discussing flexibility in the hours that you work. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need, and we will explore what’s possible for the role and service.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The team comprises two consultant midwives working together to provide expert clinical practice and consultancy across the service. UHS provides a maternity service to approximately 5000 women and birthing people a year including those with complex maternal and neonatal needs and continuity of carer teams supporting vulnerable clients.
What you’ll do:
• Role model highly developed communication skills to facilitate quality improvement across all aspects of the service.
• To utilise advanced clinical reasoning skills and evidence based knowledge in the management of pathways with highly complex presentations and to be clinically competent to utilise expert skills and knowledge in a variety of clinical settings.
• Promote the translation of evidence based/research findings and best practice guidance into practice; developing, establishing and implementing guidelines and midwife led initiatives, particularly where precedents do not exist.
• Have a highly visible clinical profile, providing both advisory and clinical input into care, spending 50% of time in clinical practice including undertaking consultations in clinic to support women’s choice.
• Apply advanced theoretical, evidence based and practical knowledge to the clinical care of women while delivering and shaping services midwife led services.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to optimise clearly defined outcomes that reflect high quality service. Benchmark and align outcome indicators with national top performers
• To be an integral part of the senior leadership team providing operational support to the service as required including an on-call commitment out of hours.
What we’re looking for:
This role requires an aspiring or current consultant midwife with demonstrable experience in:
• Clinical leadership and staff development
• Multi-professional working within maternity and the Trust
• Education and research
• Consultancy
• Quality Improvement
Person specification
Trust Values
Essential criteria
- Patient First
- Always Improving
- Working Together
Qualifications / training required
Essential criteria
- Registered midwife on relevant part of the NMC Register
- Educated to Masters degree level
- Formal leadership development
- Evidence of continuous professional development
Desirable criteria
- Professional Midwifery Advocate
Previous or relevant experience necessary
Essential criteria
- Extensive experience of working at a specialist or advanced level of practice within midwifery
- Must possess a proven track record and have demonstrable skills for the translation of research into practice expertise, knowledge and skills
- Must be able to disseminate information in both written format and in public speaking forum
- Ability to deliver unpopular and/or controversial policies and changes in practice
- Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of a wide range of approaches to the management of patients, demonstrated by advanced clinical reasoning
- Advanced expert level of knowledge of midwifery
- Previous experience of formal presentations to multi-professional group
- Demonstrate involvement with innovative practice developments and demonstrate evidence of significant achievements gained
- Experience of facilitating change by collaborating with stakeholders within maternity, across other professions and both intra and inter organisationally to produce innovative practice and service development showing improved patient outcomes
- Previous experience of student supervision and clinical education at undergraduate level
- Evidence of continued professional development, reviewing current practice and research developments within specialist area and application to clinical practice
- Demonstrated understanding of the role of midwifery within the current health environment and the impact of current government/regional policy developments
- Clear understanding of other disciplines’ roles and expectations
- Robust understanding of all aspects of clinical governance including previous experience of quality issues, audit and risk management
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of publications, conference presentations
- Previous experience of student supervision and clinical education at post graduate and Masters level
- Experience of joint working with academic institutions ensuring the development of research programmes within the workplace
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Emma Northover
- Job title
- Director of Midwifery
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 023 8120 6026
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