About this role
Job summary
The Maternity Matron post is a senior clinical leader responsible for providing visible, professional and operational leadership across maternity services. Working closely with the Head of Midwifery, obstetric, neonatal and wider multidisciplinary teams, the post holder will lead on the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care, ensuring that women, babies and families receive high-quality services that meet national standards and local priorities.
The Matron will be accountable for maintaining clinical quality, patient safety, governance, workforce management and patient experience across designated maternity areas. They will support staff development, promote a positive culture of continuous improvement, and lead initiatives that enhance service performance, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and recommendations from national maternity reviews. The role requires strong leadership, experience in change management, and a commitment to improving outcomes and reducing inequalities for women and babies.
Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.
Main duties of the job
The Modern Matron provides senior, visible, and compassionate clinical leadership across maternity services, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, high-quality and personalised care for women, birthing people, babies, and families. The post holder will lead and support community and rural midwifery-led unit teams to maintain excellence in clinical standards, operational performance, and patient experience.
Working collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team, the Midwifery Matron ensures that services are responsive to women's needs and aligned with national maternity priorities and local service objectives. The role promotes a culture of learning, continuous improvement, professional accountability, and staff wellbeing, acting as a positive role model and clinical expert who drives innovation and delivers equitable, evidence-based maternity care.
About us
We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality - opening a state of the art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients?
You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn't, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare, this is the Northumbria Way! Please read 'applicant guidance notes' before submitting your application.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Provide visible clinical and operational leadership across maternity services, promoting a culture of safety, compassion, accountability and continuous improvement.
Lead and support maternity teams to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care that improves outcomes and experiences for women, babies and families.
Maintain oversight of clinical quality, patient safety, risk management, infection prevention and patient experience within designated areas.
Ensure effective implementation of national maternity strategies, regulatory standards and local policies.
Lead on workforce management, including recruitment, retention, absence management, rostering and workforce planning.
Support staff wellbeing, professional development, clinical supervision and leadership development.
Monitor service performance, quality indicators and key performance metrics, taking action to address areas of concern.
Investigate incidents, complaints and patient safety events, ensuring lessons learned are identified, shared and embedded into practice.
Work collaboratively with midwifery, obstetric, neonatal and corporate teams to drive service improvement and transformation programmes.
Ensure effective management of resources and budgets, promoting efficient use of staffing and equipment.
Champion equity, inclusion and personalised care, working to reduce health inequalities and improve maternity outcomes for all women and families.
Contribute to strategic planning and service development across the maternity service.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- 1st Level live NMC required
- Registered Midwife
- PP126/127 / D32/33 or equivalent teaching qualification
- Diploma /Degree in Midwifery
- Management Course
- Leadership Course
- Registered Mentor
Desirable
- First Level Degree in midwifery
- NLS Course
- ALSO Course
- Preparation Course /Willingness to undertake
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
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Address
North Tyneside General Hospital
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE29 8NH
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.northumbria.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)