Matron - Infection Prevention and Control

Job summary

Working Full time : 37.5 hours per week

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Infection Prevention and Control Team at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Due to the retirement of the existing post holder we are looking to appoint a Matron (Band 8a) to the Infection Prevention and Control Team, to be based at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, but also involving travel to our other sites at Ellesmere Port Hospital and Tarporley War Memorial Hospital.

The successful candidate will be an experienced First Level Registered Nurse, previous extensive experience of working as an infection prevention and control specialist nurse is essential. An appropriate qualification in infection prevention and control is also desirable , plus a teaching qualification e.g. ENB 998 or equivalent.

Main duties of the job

To lead the IPC Team to ensure that operationally the IPC service is in line with the strategic aims of COCH and national requirements as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 'Hygiene Code'To ensure the development and implementation of robust surveillance systems to provide HCAI statistical data for mandatory reporting systems, provide regular information to the Head of Nursing (IP&C) as required and to the Integrated Care Board (ICB).Management of local and Trust targets relating to the required national IPC metrics.Analyse and report IPC data, advising divisional IPC Subgroup, Quality Governance and the IPC Strategy Group on the implications and action required to encourage best IPC practice.Interpret national guidance/policy and lead the development of local policy/guidance that drives best practice in all aspects of IPC and monitoring compliance with policy implementation.Lead the IPC Team in implementing operational systems and processes to contain and reduce the incidence of infection through risk assessment, surveillance, audit, education and management of outbreaks of communicable disease with UKHSA where appropriate.

About us

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.