Labour Ward Coordinator Durham in North East

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dynamic and compassionate Labour Ward Coordinator to join our maternity team. This key leadership role is responsible for the safe and effective coordination of the Delivery Suite and Obstetric Theatre, ensuring the delivery of high‑quality, woman‑centred care within a busy and evolving maternity service.

As Labour Ward Coordinator, you will provide visible clinical and operational leadership, overseeing patient flow, staffing, workload allocation, and capacity management. Working closely with the multidisciplinary team, you will support the delivery of safe, responsive care whilst maintaining oversight of service activity and contributing to escalation and risk management processes.

We are seeking an experienced midwife with excellent clinical, communication, and leadership skills who is passionate about supporting women, families, and colleagues. You will play a pivotal role in promoting professional standards, supporting staff wellbeing and development, and fostering a positive culture that enables exceptional maternity care.

This is an exciting opportunity to influence service delivery, develop leadership skills, and make a significant contribution to improving outcomes and experiences for women and families across our maternity services.

Main duties of the job

As the Labour Ward Coordinator, you will provide visible clinical and operational leadership on the Delivery Suite and Obstetric Theatre, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, and high‑quality maternity care.

Coordinate the day‑to‑day operational management of the Delivery Suite and Obstetric Theatre.

Oversee patient flow, bed capacity, workload allocation, staffing levels, and skill mix to ensure safe service delivery.

Provide leadership and support to the multidisciplinary team, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment.

Respond effectively to changing clinical priorities and periods of increased activity, leading escalation processes as required.

Offer expert clinical advice and support in the management of complex maternity care situations.

Work collaboratively with obstetric, anaesthetic, neonatal, and maternity colleagues to maintain patient safety and ensure the best possible outcomes for women and babies.

Support the education, training, and development of midwives, student midwives, and other healthcare professionals.

Promote evidence‑based practice and ensure compliance with Trust policies, national standards, and professional requirements.

Contribute to service improvement initiatives, quality assurance activities, and the ongoing development of maternity services.

This role offers to influence service delivery, develop others, and make a significant contribution to the provision of outstanding maternity care.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre‑employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites – Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester‑Le‑Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under‑represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI‑generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up‑to‑date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

Job responsibilities

As a Labour Ward Coordinator, you will play a pivotal leadership role in ensuring the safe, effective, and responsive delivery of maternity care across the Delivery Suite and Obstetric Theatre. You will provide visible leadership and operational oversight, coordinating activity to ensure women and families receive high‑quality, compassionate, and personalised care.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading and coordinating the day‑to‑day operational management of the Delivery Suite and Obstetric Theatre.
• Managing patient flow, bed capacity, workload allocation, staffing levels, and skill mix to maintain safe and effective care.
• Providing expert clinical leadership and supporting staff in the management of complex and rapidly changing clinical situations.
• Working collaboratively with obstetric, anaesthetic, neonatal, and maternity colleagues to ensure the safe delivery of care.
• Leading escalation processes during periods of increased activity and supporting Trust‑wide capacity management.
• Promoting a positive, supportive, and inclusive working culture that empowers staff to deliver excellent care.
• Supporting the education, training, and development of midwives, student midwives, medical students, and the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Ensuring compliance with Trust policies, national standards, and evidence‑based practice.
• Contributing to quality improvement initiatives, service development, and the ongoing enhancement of women's experiences and outcomes.
• Champion equality, diversity and inclusion, ensuring equitable access to care and a respectful working environment for staff and service users. Support the delivery of the Trust's sustainability objectives and contribute to environmentally responsible practice in line with CDDFTs Net Zero ambitions.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced midwife with strong leadership skills to influence service delivery, support staff development, and make a meaningful difference to the care provided to women, babies, and families.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Substantial post‑registration midwifery experience, including significant experience within a labour ward setting.
• Demonstrable operational management experience within an acute hospital setting.
• Substantial experience of teaching, supporting and mentoring junior staff and students.

Desirable

• Experience of leading and driving clinical governance.
• Experience of participating in or undertaking audit, research, service evaluation or quality improvement.
• Experience of undertaking the role of Shift Coordinator.

Statutory Registration

Essential

• NMC registered Midwife

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels.
• Demonstrable ability to deliver effective formal verbal and written presentations.
• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively within multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to build effective relationships and meaningfully engage with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent negotiation, influencing and conflict‑resolution skills.
• Ability to communicate sensitively, professionally and appropriately in complex and challenging situations.
• Ability to constructively challenge clinical decisions and practice where necessary, advocating for the safety and best interests of women, babies and families.
• Demonstrable understanding of maternity clinical governance, including risk management, incident reporting, learning from incidents, audit and quality improvement.
• Ability to lead and manage a large and diverse staffing group, including complex staffing, performance and workforce issues.
• Demonstrable organisational, planning and workforce management skills
• Ability to make timely, safe and effective decisions under pressure and in complex clinical situations.
• Demonstrable up‑to‑date knowledge of professional, clinical and workforce issues affecting nursing and midwifery practice
• Excellent time‑management skills, with the ability to manage competing and complex demands.
• Ability to adapt priorities effectively in response to changing clinical acuity, staffing levels and operational pressures
• Ability to effectively manage, support and develop a range of staff groups within a busy clinical environment.
• Ability to act as a visible, credible and compassionate clinical leader within the labour ward.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective professional networks both within the organisation and with external partners and professional groups.
• Demonstrable understanding of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles, with the ability to promote an inclusive, respectful and equitable environment for women, babies, families and colleagues, and to recognise and appropriately challenge discrimination and inequality

Desirable

• Knowledge of Trust wide policies.

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Midwife.
• Educated to degree level or working towards a Master's degree.

Desirable

• Relevant neonatal qualification or demonstrable neonatal experience.
• Leadership or management qualification.
• Practice Education, PMA or equivalent relevant qualification .

Special Requirements

Essential

• Demonstrates behaviours consistent with the Trust values of Safety, Kindness, Teamwork and Improving and acts as a positive role model for colleagues.
• Commitment to drive service improvement
• Ability to work flexibly to meet the clinical and operational demands of the labour ward, including weekends and periods of increased activity and cross site.
• Ability to adapt to changing workload, clinical acuity and staffing requirements to support the safe and effective running of the unit.
• IT literate, with the ability to use electronic patient records, maternity information systems and relevant workforce and administrative systems.

Desirable

• Have a drivers licence and access to transport.

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.

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).

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).