About this role
Job summary
Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and passionate Registered Midwife to join our Integrated Safeguarding and Complex Care Team as the Named Midwife for Safeguarding and Trust Lead for Domestic Abuse.
This is a key statutory role within the Trust, providing professional leadership, expert advice and assurance across safeguarding the unborn and domestic abuse. Working closely with colleagues across maternity, safeguarding, children's services, adult services and partner agencies, you will help ensure that some of the most vulnerable women, babies and families receive the right support at the right time.
As a senior member of the safeguarding team, you will lead on the development of policies, pathways and practice improvement initiatives, support staff managing complex safeguarding concerns, and provide assurance that the Trust continues to meet its statutory safeguarding responsibilities. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced safeguarding practitioner with strong leadership skills to influence practice across the organisation and make a real difference to patient outcomes
Main duties of the job
The Named Midwife for Safeguarding and Trust Lead for Domestic Abuse will provide expert safeguarding leadership, advice and support across the Trust, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, national guidance and best practice. The post holder will lead on safeguarding the unborn and domestic abuse agendas, supporting staff to identify, assess and respond to risk effectively.
Key responsibilities include:
Providing specialist advice and guidance on safeguarding the unborn and domestic abuse. Leading the development and implementation of safeguarding policies, pathways and practice improvements. Supporting and influencing clinical teams to deliver safe, effective and person-centred care. Working collaboratively with partner agencies to safeguard vulnerable women, babies and families. Leading on safeguarding assurance, audit, reporting and performance monitoring. Delivering education, supervision and support to staff across the organisation. Representing the Trust at local, regional and national safeguarding forums. Leading on Domestic Homicide Reviews, safeguarding reviews and learning dissemination where required. Supporting the Trust to meet its statutory safeguarding responsibilities and commissioning requirements. Contributing to the strategic direction of safeguarding and complex care services across the organisation
About us
The Trust's services are provided from three locations:
o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.
The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery
Job description Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service.Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person Specification
Qualification Essential
Current NMC registration as a Registered Midwife Post Graduate Study / Masters (relevant to field of practice) or equivalent experience.
Knowledge and experience Essential
Safeguarding experience at Band 7. Understanding of working with complex family situations.
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).
Employer details Employer name Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address Countess of Chester Hospital
Liverpool Road
Chester
CH2 1UL
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)