Safe Staffing Lead Midwife

This role sits within the Corporate Care Group and provides strategic and operational leadership for the Trust's safer staffing agenda. The postholder will lead the development, implementation and continuous improvement of systems and processes that ensure safe, effective and financially sustainable staffing across all areas of midwifery. Working closely with the Associate Director-Workforce Development and Education for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals and Deputy Chief, they will provide expert advice on safe staffing establishments, workforce planning, Birth Rate Plus and the configuration of HealthRoster templates in response to service pressures.

Main duties of the job

The Safety Staffing Lead Midwife provides strategic and operational leadership for safe midwifery staffing across the Trust, ensuring compliance with workforce, skill mix, acuity and dependency standards. The role leads the monitoring and optimisation of staffing systems, including Healthroster and Birth Rate Plus, to support safe and effective workforce deployment, workforce planning and establishment reviews. Working closely with senior nursing, midwifery, workforce, HR and finance leaders, the post holder reviews staffing performance, develops and implements safe staffing policies and escalation processes, supports compliance with CQC staffing requirements, and drives continuous quality improvement. The role also provides expert advice on safer staffing, promotes best practice and innovation, ensures staff are appropriately trained in workforce planning tools, represents midwifery staffing issues at Trust level, and maintains a visible presence within clinical areas to address workforce challenges and support the delivery of safe, high-quality maternity care.

Working for our organisation

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in 'Documents to download'.

Qualifications and training

• Evidence of Bachelor's Degree (BSc) in Midwifery
• Professional midwifery knowledge gained through a degree, enhanced by specialist training, experience and CPD to master's level or equivalent.
• Evidence of professional registration and NMC pin as applicable to role
• Safe Staffing Fellow

Clinical skills & Experience

• Knowledge of national policy in relation to midwifery staffing. Ability to plan workforce and lead on both service delivery and development in response to evolving service needs
• Proven ability to analyse complex problems and to develop and successfully implement practical and workable solutions to address them.
• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.
• Ability to lead on and manage investigations / complaints

There are lots of great opportunities at East Kent Hospitals, where staff are caring and put patients first, innovation flourishes and you can develop your career. We're on an exciting journey of transformation. With a local Medical School at the centre of our community, a focus on research, clinical leadership and making our trust a rewarding and friendly place to work,
there's never been a better time to join us. To find out more about east Kent visit our website . The Trust fully supports the SAS Doctors Charter and is committed to their development through its CPD Framework.

We have a relocation policy for eligible candidates, parking available at Trust sites but we encourage other options, like car sharing or public transport.

The Trust is committed to supporting flexible working to fulfil our pledge as part of The Trust's People Strategy to help staff to achieve a healthy work/life balance.

The ability to converse easily and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for all customer facing roles.

Most positions require a Disclosure and Barring check and will be exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Posts working regularly or unsupervised with children or vulnerable adults require an enhanced check.

Applicants for eligible roles requiring Skilled Worker sponsorship must meet UK Visas and Immigration eligibility criteria.

We operate a no-smoking policy on all our sites and grounds.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.