Modern Matron Older Adult Mental Health In-Patient Services

This is an exciting opportunity for a senior nursing leader to join a team of motivated practitioners supporting the quality, safety and best practice on our older adult wards in SHSC. We are keen to welcome interested and dedicated nurses to join us in building on best practice, developing the best care for people using our services and their families.

The matron role will work over 2 Older Adult wards, one dementia ward and one mental health ward, and the ECT suite providing support, leadership and best practice guidance to teams and influencing quality care of people using their services. The post holder will deliver on the Matron’s Key Responsibilities:

• Making sure patients receive high quality care.
• Making sure patients are treated with respect.
• Resolving problems for patients and their relatives by building closer relationships.
• Improving hospital cleanliness and preventing hospital-acquired infection.
• Ensuring patients’ physical health needs are met.
• Leading by example.
• Ensuring staffing is safe and appropriate for patient needs.
• Empowering staff members and teams.
• Improving the safety and environment of wards.

This post is responsible and professionally accountable to Head of Nursing for the service line and General Manager for the Older Adult Directorate. The Matron provides line management, professional and clinical supervision to Senior Nurse Practitioners and Ward Managers.

You will be joining SHSC at an exciting time! We are implementing a new and ambitious nursing strategy, building on developments in good practice and offer opportunities to develop your career through investment in your education and learning. We are on a transformational improvement journey across our older adult services to develop services that are patient centred, evidence based and fit for the future older adult population. We are passionate about providing the very best care to the people we support, and we’re looking for amazing people who share this passion to join us.

We are proud to live our values each and every day. They outline how we will act to ensure we provide the very best care to the people we support. Our values are:

• We work together
• We are inclusive
• We keep improving
• We are respectful and kind

We are working with our staff to ensure our values are reflected in our behaviours throughout Team SHSC.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading by example & securing and assuring the highest standard of clinical care.
• To have knowledge and skills pertaining to the relevant specialist area.
• To co-lead on the regular and systematic evaluation of care standards via formal audit or other ensuring that any necessary changes in implementation are actioned i.e. risk assessment and care planning, post rapid tranquilisation observation & engagement and e-observations.
• To provide strong effective and decisive clinical leadership to Ward Managers to ensure a high standard of patient care is achieved.
• To contribute clinical leadership to relevant nursing, MDT and site forums, which includes contribution to a leadership on-call system.
• To contribute to Trust wide nursing strategy formulation, and to work in conjunction with the Head of Nursing & Quality in the implementation of the strategy locally, monitoring and evaluating progress.
• To provide clinical supervision to senior nurses within the directorate, ensuring that standards of nursing advice are consistent.
• Lead nursing developments in accordance with the Trust Nursing strategy and Trust / Directorate objectives.
• To lead on the development and implementation of effective systems for monitoring and improving the quality of nursing care.
• To act as a clinical advisor role model for ward staff in the absence of the Ward Manager offering assistance, applying problem solving skills and support where possible.
• To lead on the development and implementation of new policies and protocols and review practices in relation to new NICE Guidance which improve clinical practice.
• To take a role in the implementation of the Trust wide physical health care strategy which ensures that physical health care needs are assessed, monitored and reviewed.
• To represent the directorate at Trust wide physical Health care committee.
• To work in partnership with the Trust Infection Control Team to ensure that the standards of hygiene on clinical areas are raised, monitored and maintained.
• Reducing restrictive practices leading on the implementation and development of promoting safe and therapeutic services within the directorate including monitoring of practice post use of rapid tranquilisation.
• To lead on the roll out of new medical equipment including; having oversight of reviewing, maintaining and renewing equipment.
• To work with clinical teams to support identification of clinical risks for patients and for the service and implement improved plans of care where necessary.
• To work with ward/unit managers ensuring that patients are treated with respect by supporting the protection of their privacy and dignity and making sure they are addressed in the way they choose.
• To undertake specific service improvement and development projects, using quality improvement methodology.
• Following up on incidents reported, highlighting and addressing gaps in practice.
• Contribute to complaints and SI investigations as required.
• Ensuring people are safeguarded from harm and that all nurses understand their responsibilities to safeguard all in their care.
• Ensuring staffing is appropriate to patient needs. Support safer staffing via nursing recruitment, regular review of establishments and skill mix. Support the implementation of safe care and e roster in inpatient areas.
• Identification of rota management issues local resolution or escalate as appropriate.
• Offer advice and support re shift management during times of constrained staffing.
• Listen to nursing feedback regarding work-based needs, work collaboratively to develop local solutions escalating risks to Head of nursing.
• Supporting recruitment & retention processes as required i.e. interview panels, induction of new staff.
• Identify gaps in skills of staff and provide support and development as required.
• Ensuring patients’ nutritional needs are met.
• To work with senior nurses in monitoring the nutritional needs of patients.
• To take a lead role in the establishment of effective administrative / support systems for clinical catering services, where required.
• Empowering nurses to take on a wider range of clinical tasks.
• To work with the Head of Nursing and Ward / Unit Managers to ensure that practice reflects current clinical developments and is evidenced based.
• Implement audit and conduct competency assessments of clinical staff.
• To provide support and direct input to newly registered band 5 nurses during Preceptorship.
• Support the rollout and implementation of Nursing Associates, Advanced Clinical Practitioners and the Care Certificate.
• Delivery of teaching Improving hospital cleanliness.
• Support nursing staff to develop systems for maintaining clean environment 24hrs a day.
• To ensure wards are clean through direct liaison with Housekeepers and contracted domestic staff.
• To take a lead role in the establishment of effective administrative / support systems to ensure that minimum standards of ward cleanliness are maintained.
• This includes the completion of regular audits in conjunction with the cleaning provider, and ensuring that measures to remedy identified shortcomings are promptly implemented.
• Ensuring and improving the patient environment.
• Lead on identification of ligatures and develop solutions and management plans regarding existing ligatures.
• To liaise with the Facilities Manager to ensure that the clinical environment is safe, secure, clean and serving the needs of patients and staff.
• To work with the ward / unit manager and staff to identify facilities problems and attempt rapid resolution.
• To work together with other professionals to develop an organisational culture that ensures the clinical environment is fit for purpose.
• To take a lead role in developing systems of reporting / escalating concerns regarding the patient environment to appropriate services.
• To conduct monthly and ad-hoc assessments and inspections of all patients’ environments they are responsible for.
• Contribute to PLACE assessments as required across the Trust.
• To meet regularly with support service/ contract monitoring leads to ensure that performance standards agreed are being met and that problems are resolved quickly.
• To take a lead in developing systems in consultation with key stakeholders on site to support and improve site co-ordination across hospital sites.
• Resolving problems for patients and their relatives by building closer relationships.
• To be visible and accessible to patients, relatives and staff in order to provide immediate assistance, advice and support, this also includes liaison with Patient Advice and Liaison Service.
• To participate in the ward / unit patient community meetings.
• To set up opportunities to enable patients to discuss particular issues of concern for example surgeries.
• Support the development of systems to support relatives and carers.
• To liaise with service users and carers, to ensure that their experience influences the work of nurses in the Directorate.
• As required deal promptly with concerns raised by carers / relatives and from ward community meetings feeding back to relevant managers and personnel.
• Work sensitively with relatives and carers where dissatisfaction is expressed with services and resolve concerns locally as far as possible.
• To be actively involved in the investigation of complaints.
• Be available on wards to identify problems raised by patients updating them as to the progress of their complaint/ concerns.
• To work with complaints, incident and Mental Health Act services in the Trust to ensure local implementation of policies, and adherence to Trust procedures.
• This may include contributing to the training of nursing staff, monitoring of reporting and investigation, and the production of reports for the Directorate Executive team.
• To work with the executive team and operational managers to ensure that the findings of investigations are considered, and action is taken locally to learn from incidents and complaints.
• Preventing hospital-acquired infection. Take the lead on infection control policy implementation.

All employees are expected to comply with statutory requirements and the Trust’s employment policies while carrying out their work. The post is one of continual development and the post holder will be encouraged to develop skills and capabilities, including participation in projects and training events.