Job summary
The successful post holder will be involved in the designing, implementation and delivery of education to maternity care assistants and maternity support workers across the county, incorporating and co-ordinating the implementation of the Health Education England MSW framework. They will facilitate a supportive environment, thereby enabling effective learning and professional development and will have responsibility for identifying, supporting, and evaluating maternity support workers learning and development, ensuring that learning activities adhere to the Health Education England MSW framework.
Main duties of the job
To provide clinical and educational support for MCA/MSWs, developing and facilitating a structured period of transition for maternity support workers so that they are given opportunities and appropriate support to enable them to develop their confidence, and refine their skills, values, and behaviours in all care settings.
To ensure that all Trust standards are maintained and monitored to improve the quality of care for all who encounter maternity services
Provide professional guidance and managerial advice for staff as required, following established Trust processes to ensure fairness at all times.
To participate in team, professional and personal development activities and promote commitment to continuous development and improvement.
To maintain effective communication and working relationships within the team and between the team and other health care professionals across the Local Maternity System.
To actively foster strong links within all areas of the Trust.
About us
Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional colleagues who can help us achieve this.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester
Our workforce is nearly 6,800 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our communities, leading and supporting our teams to move 4ward. Our 4ward behaviours, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.
Our objectives are simple:
- Best services for local people
- Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients
- Best use of resources
- Best people
Better never stops, and our Clinical Services Strategy provides a clear future vision for our Trust, our hospitals, our services and our role in the wider health and care system.
We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Key Duties:
Professional
- To provide clinical and educational support for MCA/MSWs, developing and facilitating a structured period of transition for maternity support workers so that they are given opportunities and appropriate support to enable them to develop their confidence, and refine their skills, values, and behaviours in all care settings.
- To ensure that all Trust standards are maintained and monitored to improve the quality of care for all who encounter maternity services
- Practice in line with the NMC Code of Practice and Trust Policies and Procedures.
- Provide professional guidance and managerial advice for staff as required, following established Trust processes to ensure fairness at all times.
- To participate in team, professional and personal development activities and promote commitment to continuous development and improvement.
- To maintain effective communication and working relationships within the team and between the team and other health care professionals across the Local Maternity System.
- To actively foster strong links within all areas of the Trust.
- To maintain and develop own professional competence and remain responsible for meeting requirements of Revalidation (NMC).
- Have a high level of self-awareness and use their understanding of personal and professional resilience to support others in their development. This will require the analytical skill to be able to make complex judgements about facts and challenging situations.
- To work collaboratively with members of the Governance team, as well as team leaders, in order to facilitate the maternity support workers learning and development. Use their expert knowledge of practice in supporting safe and effective practice.
- Provide support to maternity support workers in sharing of good practice learnt through the maternity services internal risk management processes with the aim of reducing the incidence of harm and obstetric litigation cases
- Be involved in continuous monitoring and maintaining quality standards of clinical practice through a variety of ways, for example audit, and working clinically with maternity support workers who require additional support and development.
- To develop and systematically implement and deliver a varied and interesting mandatory training programme that is responsive to emergent themes within the maternity service and current evidence base.
- Scheduling of onboarding and progress meetings for maternity support workers, along with teaching and clinical working obligations, and prioritising of tasks. Maintaining own diary.
Clinical
- The post holder will be required to work clinical shifts alongside maternity support workers following the Trust established shift pattern, in order to support the acquisition of extended skills. They are also required to be part of the staffing escalation process when required.
- Be innovative and creative when determining strategies to improve quality of care and embed evidence-based practice
- Monitor changes to midwifery practice and maternity support worker roles and advise the senior midwifery team accordingly
- Have the skills to work clinically with maternity support workers who require additional support and development and utilize appropriate strategies to maximize development opportunities.
- Can work under pressure and maintain excellent clinical judgment at all times
- Ensure proactive cascade of learning from incidents and complaints as an essential element of the education pathway
- Attend any meetings appropriate to the post holders area/role, ensuring effective communication within the team and leading on actions to be undertaken and applications of recommendations into the training and education programmes.
- Evaluate and audit training delivery by the team and make necessary changes following evidence based educational models.
- With a focus on the role of the MSW support in situ live drills of maternity emergencies in partnership with the mulriprofessional team; using feedback to improve the role of the MSW when attending obstetric emergencies.
- To work collaboratively with other professional groups working clinically and maximising development opportunities and inter-professional learning opportunities.
- Utilise opportunities to facilitate learning and reflection within the clinical area, to support the development of maternity support workers practice and new roles within the service.
- Work collaboratively across the Local Maternity System and to share good practices and innovations with colleagues locally and nationally.
- Support maternity support workers implementing improvement in practice and thus demonstrate responsiveness to the needs of the healthcare environment, and commitment to quality improvement. The post holder will work closely with colleagues in the Governance Team to devise learning objectives for maternity support workers in the process of managing high performance.
- Have the ability to support maternity support workers to provide unbiased information to birthing people to enable them to make informed choices.
- To ensure that maternity support worker education is in keeping with current research by the development of an evidence-based culture and the implementation of research and evidence based protocols and guidelines.
- To maintain, monitor and evaluate standards of care within the midwifery team and to assist in the implementation of recommendations from national or professional bodies and CQC regulations in relation to maternity care.
- To assist in the development of health and safety standards and the monitoring of these standards, ensuring that Trust Policies are adhered to and equipment is used correctly and in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work act.
- To participate in clinical audit.
- Facilitate the implementation of national and local quality initiatives to improve service delivery e.g., Implementation of the Saving Babies Lives 2 Care bundle, Maternity Safety Improvement Plan, CNST Safety Standards, Maternity Skills and Drills etc
- Play a key role in the development and implementation of initiatives which will facilitate continuous improvement through learning from incidents and complaints, to improve the service for our childbearing people and families.
- To assist and support the continual review, development and improvement of the maternity support workers and wider maternity services.
- Monitoring outcomes for staff and patients following the implementation of this role, e.g whether there is a reduction in complaints, or improved staff satisfaction surveys, or a reduction in sickness absence and improved staff retention amongst maternity support workers.
Managerial/ Leadership
- Manage complex situations sensitively and effectively where there may be conflicts and communicate effectively with the maternity support workers, colleagues, and wider team.
- Provide support, education and development to maternity support workers.
- Use expert knowledge to provide support and education about how to foster effective relationships.
- Act as a role model always and promote a high standard of safe and effective care which is based upon best evidence, and provide visible leadership in the workplace.
- Contribute to the education and development of maternity support workers to ensure that they understand the role of the Professional Practice team in providing robust multi-factorial support for maternity support workers and provide space for them to experience group reflection on midwifery practice.
- Use highly complex communication strategies and influencing skills to achieve desired outcomes and make appropriate referrals for Occupational Health, counselling services or PMA services. Communication issues could be sensitive, contentious or highly emotive, for example one to one communication to support a staff member following a highly traumatic event.
- To maintain accurate records of the progress of the maternity support workers, including all managerial conversations, in line with Trust policies
- Participate in the auditing of the effectiveness of the maternity support worker development, ensuring that learning and improvement remain a priority within the wider teams.
- Take part in local and regional MSW workforce development meetings; providing reports as requested.
- Make a substantial contribution to the local leadership. This will involve leading the implementation of any clinical guidelines or clinical practices as required to improve the quality and safety of the maternity/nursing services
- Contribute to the strategic and operational planning of team projects, identifying interdependencies across projects, potential impacts on the wider organization and resource requirement as necessary
- Scheduling of onboarding and progress meetings for maternity support workers, along with teaching and clinical working obligations, and prioritising of tasks. Maintaining own diary.
- Complete annual appraisals for staff which reflect these priorities and ensure staff have access to appropriate training and development.
- Communicate regularly through meetings with teams and individuals and provide opportunity for two-way feedback.
- Promote an effective team ethos.
- Promote equality, diversity and rights, and treat others with dignity and respect ensuring services are developed, managed and delivered to meet the specific needs of those belonging to protected characteristics.
- Promote equality, diversity and Human Rights in working practices by developing and maintaining positive working relationships, ensuring that colleagues are treated fairly and contributing to developing equality of opportunity and outcomes in working practices.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Key Duties:
Professional
- To provide clinical and educational support for MCA/MSWs, developing and facilitating a structured period of transition for maternity support workers so that they are given opportunities and appropriate support to enable them to develop their confidence, and refine their skills, values, and behaviours in all care settings.
- To ensure that all Trust standards are maintained and monitored to improve the quality of care for all who encounter maternity services
- Practice in line with the NMC Code of Practice and Trust Policies and Procedures.
- Provide professional guidance and managerial advice for staff as required, following established Trust processes to ensure fairness at all times.
- To participate in team, professional and personal development activities and promote commitment to continuous development and improvement.
- To maintain effective communication and working relationships within the team and between the team and other health care professionals across the Local Maternity System.
- To actively foster strong links within all areas of the Trust.
- To maintain and develop own professional competence and remain responsible for meeting requirements of Revalidation (NMC).
- Have a high level of self-awareness and use their understanding of personal and professional resilience to support others in their development. This will require the analytical skill to be able to make complex judgements about facts and challenging situations.
- To work collaboratively with members of the Governance team, as well as team leaders, in order to facilitate the maternity support workers learning and development. Use their expert knowledge of practice in supporting safe and effective practice.
- Provide support to maternity support workers in sharing of good practice learnt through the maternity services internal risk management processes with the aim of reducing the incidence of harm and obstetric litigation cases
- Be involved in continuous monitoring and maintaining quality standards of clinical practice through a variety of ways, for example audit, and working clinically with maternity support workers who require additional support and development.
- To develop and systematically implement and deliver a varied and interesting mandatory training programme that is responsive to emergent themes within the maternity service and current evidence base.
- Scheduling of onboarding and progress meetings for maternity support workers, along with teaching and clinical working obligations, and prioritising of tasks. Maintaining own diary.
Clinical
- The post holder will be required to work clinical shifts alongside maternity support workers following the Trust established shift pattern, in order to support the acquisition of extended skills. They are also required to be part of the staffing escalation process when required.
- Be innovative and creative when determining strategies to improve quality of care and embed evidence-based practice
- Monitor changes to midwifery practice and maternity support worker roles and advise the senior midwifery team accordingly
- Have the skills to work clinically with maternity support workers who require additional support and development and utilize appropriate strategies to maximize development opportunities.
- Can work under pressure and maintain excellent clinical judgment at all times
- Ensure proactive cascade of learning from incidents and complaints as an essential element of the education pathway
- Attend any meetings appropriate to the post holders area/role, ensuring effective communication within the team and leading on actions to be undertaken and applications of recommendations into the training and education programmes.
- Evaluate and audit training delivery by the team and make necessary changes following evidence based educational models.
- With a focus on the role of the MSW support in situ live drills of maternity emergencies in partnership with the mulriprofessional team; using feedback to improve the role of the MSW when attending obstetric emergencies.
- To work collaboratively with other professional groups working clinically and maximising development opportunities and inter-professional learning opportunities.
- Utilise opportunities to facilitate learning and reflection within the clinical area, to support the development of maternity support workers practice and new roles within the service.
- Work collaboratively across the Local Maternity System and to share good practices and innovations with colleagues locally and nationally.
- Support maternity support workers implementing improvement in practice and thus demonstrate responsiveness to the needs of the healthcare environment, and commitment to quality improvement. The post holder will work closely with colleagues in the Governance Team to devise learning objectives for maternity support workers in the process of managing high performance.
- Have the ability to support maternity support workers to provide unbiased information to birthing people to enable them to make informed choices.
- To ensure that maternity support worker education is in keeping with current research by the development of an evidence-based culture and the implementation of research and evidence based protocols and guidelines.
- To maintain, monitor and evaluate standards of care within the midwifery team and to assist in the implementation of recommendations from national or professional bodies and CQC regulations in relation to maternity care.
- To assist in the development of health and safety standards and the monitoring of these standards, ensuring that Trust Policies are adhered to and equipment is used correctly and in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work act.
- To participate in clinical audit.
- Facilitate the implementation of national and local quality initiatives to improve service delivery e.g., Implementation of the Saving Babies Lives 2 Care bundle, Maternity Safety Improvement Plan, CNST Safety Standards, Maternity Skills and Drills etc
- Play a key role in the development and implementation of initiatives which will facilitate continuous improvement through learning from incidents and complaints, to improve the service for our childbearing people and families.
- To assist and support the continual review, development and improvement of the maternity support workers and wider maternity services.
- Monitoring outcomes for staff and patients following the implementation of this role, e.g whether there is a reduction in complaints, or improved staff satisfaction surveys, or a reduction in sickness absence and improved staff retention amongst maternity support workers.
Managerial/ Leadership
- Manage complex situations sensitively and effectively where there may be conflicts and communicate effectively with the maternity support workers, colleagues, and wider team.
- Provide support, education and development to maternity support workers.
- Use expert knowledge to provide support and education about how to foster effective relationships.
- Act as a role model always and promote a high standard of safe and effective care which is based upon best evidence, and provide visible leadership in the workplace.
- Contribute to the education and development of maternity support workers to ensure that they understand the role of the Professional Practice team in providing robust multi-factorial support for maternity support workers and provide space for them to experience group reflection on midwifery practice.
- Use highly complex communication strategies and influencing skills to achieve desired outcomes and make appropriate referrals for Occupational Health, counselling services or PMA services. Communication issues could be sensitive, contentious or highly emotive, for example one to one communication to support a staff member following a highly traumatic event.
- To maintain accurate records of the progress of the maternity support workers, including all managerial conversations, in line with Trust policies
- Participate in the auditing of the effectiveness of the maternity support worker development, ensuring that learning and improvement remain a priority within the wider teams.
- Take part in local and regional MSW workforce development meetings; providing reports as requested.
- Make a substantial contribution to the local leadership. This will involve leading the implementation of any clinical guidelines or clinical practices as required to improve the quality and safety of the maternity/nursing services
- Contribute to the strategic and operational planning of team projects, identifying interdependencies across projects, potential impacts on the wider organization and resource requirement as necessary
- Scheduling of onboarding and progress meetings for maternity support workers, along with teaching and clinical working obligations, and prioritising of tasks. Maintaining own diary.
- Complete annual appraisals for staff which reflect these priorities and ensure staff have access to appropriate training and development.
- Communicate regularly through meetings with teams and individuals and provide opportunity for two-way feedback.
- Promote an effective team ethos.
- Promote equality, diversity and rights, and treat others with dignity and respect ensuring services are developed, managed and delivered to meet the specific needs of those belonging to protected characteristics.
- Promote equality, diversity and Human Rights in working practices by developing and maintaining positive working relationships, ensuring that colleagues are treated fairly and contributing to developing equality of opportunity and outcomes in working practices.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Midwifery
- Current Professional Registration in Midwifery
- Evidence of Continuous Professional Development
- Sign off mentor
- Completion of a leadership programme/equivalent experience
Desirable
- Teaching and assessing qualification
Experience
Essential
- Able to demonstrate expert knowledge and experience
- Experience of teaching clinical skills and completing competency assessments
- Able to demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement
Desirable
- Experience of working to develop the skills of MSWs as outlined in the HEE Framework
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Midwifery
- Current Professional Registration in Midwifery
- Evidence of Continuous Professional Development
- Sign off mentor
- Completion of a leadership programme/equivalent experience
Desirable
- Teaching and assessing qualification
Experience
Essential
- Able to demonstrate expert knowledge and experience
- Experience of teaching clinical skills and completing competency assessments
- Able to demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement
Desirable
- Experience of working to develop the skills of MSWs as outlined in the HEE Framework
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
