Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Lead Midwife for Fetal Surveillance

Information:

This job is now closed

Job summary

This post is a full time Lead Midwife for Fetal Surveillance role. It is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, passionate and knowledgeable and experienced midwife to join our team.

The successful candidate willlead and facilitate a programme of training with a particular focus on physiological interpretation of fetal wellbeing - aimed at equipping midwives and doctors to increase and improve their knowledge and competence in assessing fetal wellbeing (using cardiotocograph (CTG) and intelligent intermittent auscultation (IIA).

They will also support in enabling the delivery of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and compliance with the MIS.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will:

Communicate with key personnel to maximise the potential for the successful implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle in relation to fetal surveillance and ensure compliance with training, competency and safety requirements of the Maternity Incentive Scheme (MIS).

Provide timely, accurate progress reports to all stakeholders.

In collaboration with other senior midwives and midwifery managers, contribute to providing and collecting evidence for achievement of Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and MIS at all levels, specifically in relation to standards concerning implementation and evidence.

Work closely with the Governance Lead, Governance Manager, Director and Deputy Directors of Midwifery, Matrons, the LMNS, and other relevant clinical staff in prioritising workloads which may include undertaking training, audit and guideline development to aid implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and attend relevant study days as required.

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.

Details

Date posted

14 February 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£43,742 to £50,056 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9365-24-0177

Job locations

Charles Hastings Way

Worcester

Worcestershire

WR5 1DD


Job description

Job responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • The post holder will lead and facilitate a programme of training with a particular focus on physiological interpretation of fetal wellbeing - aimed at equipping midwives and doctors to increase and improve their knowledge and competence in assessing fetal wellbeing (using cardiotocograph (CTG) and intelligent intermittent auscultation (IIA), identifying potential fetal compromise and actual fetal compromise in all clinical settings and improve clinical decision making within the team.
  • Lead and facilitate a programme around fetal surveillance to enable the delivery of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and compliance with the MIS.
  • Participate in the development and implementation of maternity services clinical guidance as relevant to fetal wellbeing.

Ensure that midwifery and maternity guidelines and protocols are implemented and updated in accordance with Trust policies, NMC standards and national guidelines and frameworks.

  • Work in collaboration with the Saving Babies Lives Leads to ensure improvements in the standard of intrapartum risk assessment and fetal monitoring, in accordance with element 4 of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and to include Fresh Eyes processes and compliance.
  • Support and work with the Maternity Training team in developing a programme of competency testing to ensure all staff are at the required standard, to assist in achieving better outcomes.

Lead regular CTG workshops, maintaining attendance registers to ensure compliance to the mandatory requirement for midwives and medical staff reporting to the Governance Lead for advice and support with compliance.

Disseminate learning which comes from the workshops, and /or governance activities.

Take responsibility for leading the teaching session on the mandatory fetal surveillance training day with regard to fetal surveillance utilising clinical experience.

Provide teaching and support for those staff not successfully completing competency testing to bring them to the required standard.

Be visible in the clinical areas to initiate and / or lead discussion regarding fetal surveillance, promoting the fresh eyes/ears approach to fetal surveillance.

Ensure continuous audit across maternity services to monitor fetal surveillance performance and use the findings to improve surveillance and learn lessons regarding practice.

  • Support staff in enhancing their skills in reducing risk within clinical practice.
  • Take a lead role in supporting the development of a safety culture within the context of resource constraints and multiple conflicting priorities.
  • The post holder will be responsible for promoting and facilitating effective Governance, Risk and Assurance within the Directorates, advising and contributing to solutions in relation to clinical effectiveness. They will ensure that recommendations to changes in practice in the light of research and development are implemented and embedded in practice.

This will be achieved through the post holder being:

Professionally acknowledgeable

  • A skilled and credible practitioner

Able to lead and advise others effectively.

Able to justify actions taken.

Able to work collaboratively and co-operatively in a multidisciplinary forum.

Well organized and able to manage your own time.

Professionally objective

A confident and skilled communicator in verbal and written format

Able to demonstrate the ability to objectively identify and influence positive changes as a result of a review of clinical adverse outcomes and sound leadership skills.

Professional/Clinical Leadership

1. Ensure that all midwives and obstetricians providing antenatal care in any setting are competent to assess fetal well-being.

2. Use every opportunity to facilitate teaching, learning and reflection within the clinical area.

3. To communicate highly sensitive and complex information to women and their families clearly explaining the benefits and risks of different care approaches and the alternatives available recognising barriers to acceptance. To uphold these standards and support midwives in achieving them.

4. Represent the Trust on external professional groups and network with colleagues from other organisations as appropriate.

5. Lead on audit of competency to provide an assurance of implementation of each element of the care bundle, identifying areas of good practice and improvements required to achieve full compliance.

6. Ensure that the womans voice is clear within any service developments, seeking opinion and views on any changes.

Clinical Leadership

1. Act as a clinical role model for effective clinical leadership enabling and facilitating others to take forward initiatives to achieve the implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle.

2. Work collaboratively with other professional groups to maximise development opportunities and inter-professional learning opportunities.

3. Maximise opportunities to share good practices and innovations with colleagues locally and nationally.

4. Contribute to the development of a learning organisation, alerting the appropriate parties to resource issues which may affect this.

5. Identify own training and professional development needs to maintain clinical credibility.

6. Influence and nurture positive attitudes and behaviours within the teams and wider multidisciplinary team.

Education and Development

1. Liaise with the wider team to identify the development and training needs around fetal monitoring within designated clinical areas according to individual needs and service requirements.

2. Provide midwifery expertise, ensuring all staff are supported in their practice including midwives and obstetricians in training, in line with the Trusts Training Needs Analysis.

3. Support the Professional Midwifery Advocate by promoting and facilitating the implementation of clinical supervision as a vehicle for practice and staff development throughout the Trust.

4. Participate in curriculum development and joint professional development activities with other agencies e.g. Learning and Development Department, Universities, CCGs and the Local Maternity System to maximise learning opportunities.

5. Participate in regular performance and personal development reviews and work to achieve agreed objectives.

Research and Practice Development

1. Promote research/evidence-based practice and audit outcomes to inform clinical practice and set clinical standards.

2. Instigate or contribute to research initiatives and clinical audit programmes as appropriate.

Management of Resources

1. Promote a culture where staff are valued supported and deliver high quality care

2. Understand, manage and be accountable for the use of resources in a cost-effective way

3. Actively support the Improving Working Lives initiatives within the Department and across the Trust.

Quality Management

1. Facilitate the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and audit of nursing/midwifery policies, protocols, guidelines and standards ensuring that they meet current practice and professional regulations, particularly those that relate to Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle.

2. Act as a resource for staff to access and raise awareness of national and local policies that will impact upon them and affect the delivery of patient care.

3. Ensure that quality standards are set and monitored, and that clinical risk management and clinical audit are an integral part of practice developments.

4. Facilitate the implementation of national and local quality initiatives to improve service delivery e.g.

  • Implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle
  • Maternity Safety Improvement Plan
  • Maternity Incentive Scheme
  • Maternity Emergency Skills training (eg. PROMPT)

5. Establish effective communication and good working relationships with multi-professional colleagues within the Trust to support effective service delivery.

MANAGEMENTSTRATEGIC/DEVELOPMENT

  • Develop and improve services.
  • Take a lead role or participate in the development of Directorate objectives/projects ensuring that resources available are targeted towards their achievement. Thus, ensuring a progressive and pro-active culture of delivery and change
  • Advising and contributing to Directorate service development plans, in order to promote new initiatives and plans.
  • To actively participate in Directorate and Divisional Management meetings
  • To strive towards constant quality improvements within the areas
  • To participate in Trust projects/initiatives as appropriate
  • Develop, sustain and evaluate partnership working with individuals, groups, communities and agencies.

OWN PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Ensure training and development needs detailed in your personal development plan are followed up and the effectiveness of the acquired training and development evaluated in term of self, patient and service.
  • Take responsibility for setting professional objectives and obtaining appropriate feedback.
  • Participate in relevant local and national meetings to further develop expertise of self and others.
  • Maintain current active NMC registration, and act always in accordance with Trust Policies and procedures, NMC Code and other guiding documentation.

Job description

Job responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • The post holder will lead and facilitate a programme of training with a particular focus on physiological interpretation of fetal wellbeing - aimed at equipping midwives and doctors to increase and improve their knowledge and competence in assessing fetal wellbeing (using cardiotocograph (CTG) and intelligent intermittent auscultation (IIA), identifying potential fetal compromise and actual fetal compromise in all clinical settings and improve clinical decision making within the team.
  • Lead and facilitate a programme around fetal surveillance to enable the delivery of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and compliance with the MIS.
  • Participate in the development and implementation of maternity services clinical guidance as relevant to fetal wellbeing.

Ensure that midwifery and maternity guidelines and protocols are implemented and updated in accordance with Trust policies, NMC standards and national guidelines and frameworks.

  • Work in collaboration with the Saving Babies Lives Leads to ensure improvements in the standard of intrapartum risk assessment and fetal monitoring, in accordance with element 4 of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and to include Fresh Eyes processes and compliance.
  • Support and work with the Maternity Training team in developing a programme of competency testing to ensure all staff are at the required standard, to assist in achieving better outcomes.

Lead regular CTG workshops, maintaining attendance registers to ensure compliance to the mandatory requirement for midwives and medical staff reporting to the Governance Lead for advice and support with compliance.

Disseminate learning which comes from the workshops, and /or governance activities.

Take responsibility for leading the teaching session on the mandatory fetal surveillance training day with regard to fetal surveillance utilising clinical experience.

Provide teaching and support for those staff not successfully completing competency testing to bring them to the required standard.

Be visible in the clinical areas to initiate and / or lead discussion regarding fetal surveillance, promoting the fresh eyes/ears approach to fetal surveillance.

Ensure continuous audit across maternity services to monitor fetal surveillance performance and use the findings to improve surveillance and learn lessons regarding practice.

  • Support staff in enhancing their skills in reducing risk within clinical practice.
  • Take a lead role in supporting the development of a safety culture within the context of resource constraints and multiple conflicting priorities.
  • The post holder will be responsible for promoting and facilitating effective Governance, Risk and Assurance within the Directorates, advising and contributing to solutions in relation to clinical effectiveness. They will ensure that recommendations to changes in practice in the light of research and development are implemented and embedded in practice.

This will be achieved through the post holder being:

Professionally acknowledgeable

  • A skilled and credible practitioner

Able to lead and advise others effectively.

Able to justify actions taken.

Able to work collaboratively and co-operatively in a multidisciplinary forum.

Well organized and able to manage your own time.

Professionally objective

A confident and skilled communicator in verbal and written format

Able to demonstrate the ability to objectively identify and influence positive changes as a result of a review of clinical adverse outcomes and sound leadership skills.

Professional/Clinical Leadership

1. Ensure that all midwives and obstetricians providing antenatal care in any setting are competent to assess fetal well-being.

2. Use every opportunity to facilitate teaching, learning and reflection within the clinical area.

3. To communicate highly sensitive and complex information to women and their families clearly explaining the benefits and risks of different care approaches and the alternatives available recognising barriers to acceptance. To uphold these standards and support midwives in achieving them.

4. Represent the Trust on external professional groups and network with colleagues from other organisations as appropriate.

5. Lead on audit of competency to provide an assurance of implementation of each element of the care bundle, identifying areas of good practice and improvements required to achieve full compliance.

6. Ensure that the womans voice is clear within any service developments, seeking opinion and views on any changes.

Clinical Leadership

1. Act as a clinical role model for effective clinical leadership enabling and facilitating others to take forward initiatives to achieve the implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle.

2. Work collaboratively with other professional groups to maximise development opportunities and inter-professional learning opportunities.

3. Maximise opportunities to share good practices and innovations with colleagues locally and nationally.

4. Contribute to the development of a learning organisation, alerting the appropriate parties to resource issues which may affect this.

5. Identify own training and professional development needs to maintain clinical credibility.

6. Influence and nurture positive attitudes and behaviours within the teams and wider multidisciplinary team.

Education and Development

1. Liaise with the wider team to identify the development and training needs around fetal monitoring within designated clinical areas according to individual needs and service requirements.

2. Provide midwifery expertise, ensuring all staff are supported in their practice including midwives and obstetricians in training, in line with the Trusts Training Needs Analysis.

3. Support the Professional Midwifery Advocate by promoting and facilitating the implementation of clinical supervision as a vehicle for practice and staff development throughout the Trust.

4. Participate in curriculum development and joint professional development activities with other agencies e.g. Learning and Development Department, Universities, CCGs and the Local Maternity System to maximise learning opportunities.

5. Participate in regular performance and personal development reviews and work to achieve agreed objectives.

Research and Practice Development

1. Promote research/evidence-based practice and audit outcomes to inform clinical practice and set clinical standards.

2. Instigate or contribute to research initiatives and clinical audit programmes as appropriate.

Management of Resources

1. Promote a culture where staff are valued supported and deliver high quality care

2. Understand, manage and be accountable for the use of resources in a cost-effective way

3. Actively support the Improving Working Lives initiatives within the Department and across the Trust.

Quality Management

1. Facilitate the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and audit of nursing/midwifery policies, protocols, guidelines and standards ensuring that they meet current practice and professional regulations, particularly those that relate to Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle.

2. Act as a resource for staff to access and raise awareness of national and local policies that will impact upon them and affect the delivery of patient care.

3. Ensure that quality standards are set and monitored, and that clinical risk management and clinical audit are an integral part of practice developments.

4. Facilitate the implementation of national and local quality initiatives to improve service delivery e.g.

  • Implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle
  • Maternity Safety Improvement Plan
  • Maternity Incentive Scheme
  • Maternity Emergency Skills training (eg. PROMPT)

5. Establish effective communication and good working relationships with multi-professional colleagues within the Trust to support effective service delivery.

MANAGEMENTSTRATEGIC/DEVELOPMENT

  • Develop and improve services.
  • Take a lead role or participate in the development of Directorate objectives/projects ensuring that resources available are targeted towards their achievement. Thus, ensuring a progressive and pro-active culture of delivery and change
  • Advising and contributing to Directorate service development plans, in order to promote new initiatives and plans.
  • To actively participate in Directorate and Divisional Management meetings
  • To strive towards constant quality improvements within the areas
  • To participate in Trust projects/initiatives as appropriate
  • Develop, sustain and evaluate partnership working with individuals, groups, communities and agencies.

OWN PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Ensure training and development needs detailed in your personal development plan are followed up and the effectiveness of the acquired training and development evaluated in term of self, patient and service.
  • Take responsibility for setting professional objectives and obtaining appropriate feedback.
  • Participate in relevant local and national meetings to further develop expertise of self and others.
  • Maintain current active NMC registration, and act always in accordance with Trust Policies and procedures, NMC Code and other guiding documentation.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Audit and risk management experience.
  • Report writing.
  • Previous experience in managing/leading change in practice
  • Relevant experience as Band 6/Band 7

Desirable

  • Experience of leadership/ ward management at Band 6/7
  • Currently holds a similar role or previous experience in practice development/education/project planning

Knowledge/understanding

Essential

  • Proficient and broad understanding of CTG interpretation

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Midwife
  • Mentorship qualification
  • Evidence of continuing professional development.
  • Fetal monitoring masterclass attendance

Desirable

  • Experience of physiological CTG interpretation/training
  • Masters level qualification
  • NIPE trained
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Audit and risk management experience.
  • Report writing.
  • Previous experience in managing/leading change in practice
  • Relevant experience as Band 6/Band 7

Desirable

  • Experience of leadership/ ward management at Band 6/7
  • Currently holds a similar role or previous experience in practice development/education/project planning

Knowledge/understanding

Essential

  • Proficient and broad understanding of CTG interpretation

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Midwife
  • Mentorship qualification
  • Evidence of continuing professional development.
  • Fetal monitoring masterclass attendance

Desirable

  • Experience of physiological CTG interpretation/training
  • Masters level qualification
  • NIPE trained

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Charles Hastings Way

Worcester

Worcestershire

WR5 1DD


Employer's website

https://www.worcsacute.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Charles Hastings Way

Worcester

Worcestershire

WR5 1DD


Employer's website

https://www.worcsacute.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Governance Lead for Maternity and Neonates

Susie Smith

susie.smith6@nhs.net

Details

Date posted

14 February 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£43,742 to £50,056 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9365-24-0177

Job locations

Charles Hastings Way

Worcester

Worcestershire

WR5 1DD


Supporting documents

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