Matron

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Practice High Quality of Care

• Demonstrates clinical credibility and acts as a role model in the delivery of patient care.
• Advocates for staff and encourages them to take their concerns and new ideas forward.
• Monitors and assesses clinical areas against CQC standards and key lines of enquiry, ensuring appropriate timely action if improvement is required.
• Supports the ward teams in the collating of audit data, communicating the results effectively and leading appropriate actions to maintain standards and ensure improvements are actioned where necessary.
• Acts as a lead for Safeguarding issues, providing advice, support and education for ward nurses in this aspect of care.
• Assists and supports the nursing and clinical teams in working towards achieving optimal patient care and bed utilisation.
• Provides a visible, accessible and authoritative presence in clinical settings to whom
• patients and their families can turn for assistance, advice and support.
• Works with consultant colleagues in reviewing patient safety and clinical effectiveness data (including mortality data) highlighting lessons to be learned where improvement is required.
• Takes responsibility for the governance of complaints and risk incidents to ensure lessons are learned, capturing any identified themes or issues and ensuring they feed into ward level actions for improvement.
• Works pro-actively with ward teams to provide early intervention and possible resolution of issues raised by patients or their relatives so that problems can be addressed before they become formal complaints
• Takes an active role in clinical bench marking and supports the learning of their nursing staff.
• Is able to design and lead projects which may be commissioned to support innovations in practice.
• Participates in policy review and development to ensure safe systems of practice are in place.
• By participating in Trust wide nursing quality work-streams, identifies opportunities for working in new ways that will improve the patient experience and works with relevant colleagues to ensure quality requirements are met.
• Works closely with the Head of Nursing and the Lead Nurse for Quality and Patient Experience to ensure all formal and informal feedback about patient experience is used to continuously improve services.
• Motivates and empowers staff to ensure high standards of care are based on evidence-based research where this is available to include the following aspects:
• Overtly valuing patient centred care.
• Acting as the patients advocate when necessary.
• Creating a ward culture which recognises and works in partnership with patients and carers involving them in all decisions.
• Striving for continuous improvements in the delivery of high quality patient focused care.
• Proactively leading in the admission, discharge or transfer of care arrangements taking responsibility for initiating improvement.
• Working and co-ordinating in a collaborative manner with other health care professionals and other relevant agencies.
• Leading patient and public involvement activities in the ward area, leading to service improvement.
• Respecting and promoting dignity, choice and autonomy of patients/families and carers.
• Undertaking skilled therapeutic nursing intervention/care provision.
• Exercising clinical judgement, often with complex facts and circulating why clinical decisions were made.
• Ensuring adequate and accurate patient documentation and records are maintained.
• Complying with Information Governance.
• Maximising the effectiveness of the team e.g. appropriate skill mix, duty rotas, training, mentorship (Ward Rota Policy).
• Organising and overseeing clinical workload so that the competencies of staff are matched to the needs of the patients.
• Overseeing complex clinical cases and using specialised skills and knowledge. Provide staff with guidance when necessary, taking responsibility for intervening in difficult situations.
• Using complaints positively and proactively to review and improve the quality of services.
• Developing efficient and effective reporting systems and encouraging staff to report any untoward incidents in a positive manner promoting confidentiality as appropriate.
• Ensuring relevant incidents are thoroughly investigated, appropriately actioned, feedback given and learning from these incidents transferred into practice.
• Proactively generating and reviewing clinical risk assessments and action plans appropriately.
• Identifying gaps in knowledge and prioritising areas for action for themselves and the ward team.
• Maintaining a ward register of competencies
• Establishing and maintaining a culture that continually updates practice by implementing valid research findings and facilitating appropriate research activity
• Critiquing evidence based literature and helping others to develop this skill.
• Devising, updating and implementing protocols, guidelines and policies appropriate to the specialty which are evidence based.
• Developing systems which monitor the delivery of nursing care.
• Interpreting and evaluating information from diverse sources to enable informed decisions, to set standards for quality and appropriate care.
• Continually evaluating and auditing of practice by selecting and applying a broad range of appropriately valid and reliable methods.
• Participating and ensuring that the Trusts Nursing Charter standards are met.
• Participating in the Trusts accreditation process.

Management of People

The Matron will create, maintain and enhance a culture conducive to learning, and the personal and professional safety, growth and development of all staff.

This will be achieved by:

• Ensuring statutory training programmes are implemented, and all training is monitored, recorded and evaluated as been effective in meeting the needs of the service.
• Working in partnership with educational providers to promote an environment conducive to learning and development for all staff including students.
• Monitoring and effectively managing sickness and absence.
• Identifying future staffing requirement to meet service changes and trends in the delivery of care.
• Creating a healthy working environment with particular regard to health and safety policies, flexible working, promotion of the need to balance work and home life.
• Creating, maintaining and enhancing effective working relationships.
• Recognising areas of interpersonal conflict and developing a proactive stance in resolving issues.
• Creating a culture conducive to learning, staff development and change.
• Leading and participating in the recruitment and selection of staff, having due regard for employment law and policies.
• Developing a systematic approach to performance management, ensuring annual appraisals of all staff, establishment of personal and professional objectives and goals, with regular monitoring and feedback.
• Working closely with the Head of Nursing, instigating capability, disciplinary and grievance procedures as appropriate.
• Supporting and coaching staff in their professional development, recognising and utilising individual skills and knowledge, and providing opportunities for further development, to nurture future leaders.
• Ensuring the correct storage of information relating to personal details of staff, maintaining all aspects of confidentiality with regard to the appropriate use of information.
• Promoting, providing and participating in clinical supervision and other systems such as preceptorship, mentorship which allow staff to reflect and improve on their own practice.

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse
• ENB 659 or equivalent teaching qualification
• Evidence of current CPD
• Evidence of further study/knowledge at Masters level or equivalent

Desirable

• Post registration qualification in an area of clinical specialty
• Degree or equivalent qualification specific to a clinical specialty
• Management qualification

Experience

Essential

• Significant relevant leadership/management role in a large complex healthcare organisation
• Significant post registration experience
• Experience in leading and managing staff
• Experience of clinical audit/R&D processes and practice
• Experience in strategy and policy development
• Experience in workforce planning and role redesign
• Experience in developing a quality improvement programme within a multi-professional environment
• Proven experience in managing and implementing change

Desirable

• Previous experience in the clinical specialty

Knowledge and Awareness

Essential

• Comprehensive knowledge of professional and NHS issues and policy and the ability to interpret policy at a local level.
• Understanding of Information Governance and Confidentiality
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of application of relevant National Guidance eg. National Service Frameworks, NICE etc
• Comprehensive knowledge of the NHS national targets and priorities
• Understanding of the Trusts objectives and priorities and the ability to work across operational boundaries
• Evidence of current CPD
• Recruitment and Selection, Appraisal and other HR/People Management related training

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to demonstrate high emotional intelligence and leadership skills
• Able to resolve conflict and overcome resistance
• Innovative with clinical credibility
• Report writing/presentation skills
• Computer literate ability to use Word/Excel/Powerpoint etc
• Organised approach to work with ability to prioritise and delegate
• Mentoring and counselling skills
• Change management skills
• Excellent time management and organisation skills
• Ability to manage, motivate and empower others
• Ability to analyse information/data and provide written reports
• Ability to analyse information/data and provide written reports
• Ability to work as part of a team

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).