Practice Development Midwife in Chester

Main area Midwifery Grade Band 7 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Maternity Leave Cover) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 210-2026-704

Site Countess of Chester Hospital Town Chester Salary £49,387 - £56,515 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 25/10/2026 23:59

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, staff pride themselves on not only leading through clinical excellence, but also by creating an environment where all staff are valued and appreciated. To achieve this, the Trust has embarked on an exciting new strategy focused on continuous improvement.

Our vision is to improve the lives of our community and provide excellence in healthcare, through partnership and innovation

Our High Performance Culture will support everyone to be the best version of themselves by being true to our Trust vision, values and behaviours.
We welcome applications from colleagues from our local and neighbouring communities of all backgrounds and identities, who are currently under-represented within our region such as Black, Asian, Minority ethnic and those with disabilities.

As a region we are reviewing the way we work, and exploring how new working practices that support flexible working can create a positive work-life balance. As part of our recruitment process we will explore how our inclusive employment policies, flexible working, staff engagement forums, Trust facilities and services can be of mutual benefit.

Job overview

Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experiencedPractice Development Midwife to lead the education, training and professional development agenda within our maternity service. This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated midwife with a passion for learning, quality improvement and patient safety to influence and support the development of a highly skilled maternity workforce.

The successful candidate will work closely with the multidisciplinary team to design, deliver and evaluate education programmes, ensuring staff maintain the skills, knowledge and competencies required to provide safe, effective and evidence-based care. You will play a key role in supporting mandatory training, induction, preceptorship, clinical competency assessment, implementation of national guidance and learning from incidents, complaints and audits.

This role offers the opportunity to drive innovation, support workforce development and contribute to service improvements that positively impact women, babies and families.

If you are an experienced midwife with excellent communication, teaching and leadership skills and are passionate about developing others, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

Lead the planning, delivery and evaluation of mandatory and specialist maternity education programmes.

Develop and maintain clinical competencies and skills assessments for maternity staff.

Support staff induction, preceptorship and ongoing professional development.

Monitor and improve compliance with mandatory training and professional requirements.

Facilitate training needs analyses and develop annual education plans aligned to service priorities.

Design and deliver teaching programmes, study days and simulation training.

Support implementation of national maternity safety initiatives, guidelines and best practice.

Lead educational responses to incidents, complaints, audits and quality improvement programmes.

Work collaboratively with ward managers and clinical leaders to improve standards of care.

Support policy, guideline and pathway development across maternity services.

Promote evidence-based practice, research, audit and service improvement activities.

Provide expert advice and professional leadership on workforce development issues.

Evaluate education programmes and produce reports demonstrating outcomes and impact.

Support workforce planning and contribute to maternity service objectives and business planning.

Ensure compliance with NMC standards, CQC requirements and Trust policies

Working for our organisation

The Trust’s services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
• 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

Detailed job description and main 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

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered Midwife
• Degree in Midwifery
• Teaching and assessing qualification (e.g. Mentorship, Practice Assessor/Supervisor or equivalent)
• Evidence of ongoing professional development and continuous learning
• Relevant speciality Master’s module
• Evidence of advanced midwifery studies
• NLS Course
• PROMPT Provider Course

Knowledge

• 5 years post registration training
• Experience of teaching & assessing in clinical practice
• Evidence of participating in service development and implementing change
• Evidence of designing teaching packages & competency programmes
• Demonstrates a working knowledge of CQC Core Standards and maternity Transformation

Skills

• Evidence of multi- disciplinary working and can demonstrate principles of effective team working
• Ability to co-ordinate own workload
• Evidence of developing and delivering training programmes
• Experience of research and audit and implementing change as a result of findings
• Experience of problem solving, analysing complex information and interrupting data

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
If the role is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 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.

Enhanced DBS check applications that are submitted with omitted or incorrect information will be withdrawn. In the event errors are identified on your original application, a new application will need to be submitted and you will be required to pay the DBS application fee again.

The cost of the DBS application will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.

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. 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 - Check if you need a UK visa - GOV.UK

The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet these immigration rules

For further details on skilled worker sponsorship, please consult the UK Home Office guidance: Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK. Additionally, the New guidance for overseas applicants | NHS Employers provides helpful information on the recruitment process for candidates applying for roles in the UK.

Overseas candidates are responsible for their travel expenses.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have 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 dependent's (over 18 years old) will also be subject to this requirement.

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.

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