Maternity Quality & Safety Lead Midwife

Main area Midwifery Grade NHS AfC: Band 8A Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Flexible working
• Compressed hours

37.5 hours per week (Contributing to Maternity Manager On Call rota) Job ref 289-SC-462

Employer Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Town London Salary £66,274 - £73,496 per annum incl. HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 08/10/2026 23:59

Maternity Quality & Safety Lead Midwife

NHS AfC: Band 8A

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced, motivated and passionate midwife to join our established senior leadership team at West Middlesex University Hospital as the Maternity Quality & Safety Lead Midwife.

The successful candidate will take theleadroleindeliveringthequality,governanceandsafetyagendasacrossthematernity service by e nsuringthereisarobust governance frameworkinplacetodeliveronall aspects of safety and clinical quality agendas.

We are seeking an experienced midwife with a proven breadth of experience in all areas of midwifery as a leader with demonstrable success in quality improvement work alongside being a confident communicator; with excellent written and verbal skills.They will be empathetic by nature and a good listener. They will have strong analytical skills, with the ability to give balanced and measured responses. They will have the ability to identify themes and trends within data which warrant further investigation.

They will be able to support members of the maternity team at all levels with governance and risk management processes to include supporting with statements, investigations and potentially coroners inquests.

They will need to remain clinically visible and respected. This will be maintained with working clinically as required, and supporting the day to management of the unit.

Main duties of the job

They will have lead responsibility for Clinical Governance, Safety and Quality Management to ensure full implementation of the risk management strategy which supports internal reporting and communication across the Trust and to external partners.

Responsible for leadingimprovementsinqualitystandardsacrossMaternityservices,participatinginNational benchmarking and clinical validation as required.

They will be instrumentalinmonitoringandsupportingriskissuesandthereportingofriskwithinthe department.

The successful candidate will promoteandencourageriskandsafetyawarenessacrossthe area.

Usinginformationandlearningfromincidentstobeproactiveindevelopingpracticeand ensuring the delivery of the highest standards of care provided within theservice.

They willprovideprofessionalandmanagerialsupporttothe Divisionalmanagementteamin relation to clinical risk, complaints and qualitystandards.

Working for our organisation

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites—Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital—along with award-winning clinics across North West London.

Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5 million, providing full clinical services, including maternity, A&E, and children’s services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health clinics. The Care Quality Commission rates us 'Good' in safety, effectiveness, care, and responsiveness, and 'Outstanding' in leadership and resource use.

We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and Westminster and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Middlesex.

We welcome applications for flexible working arrangements, accommodating requests where possible to support our staff and patient needs.

The Trust is committed to equality and welcomes applications from all, regardless of background. Adjustments can be made for disabled candidates. Early application is advised as vacancies may close once sufficient applications are received. If you haven’t heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful. Employment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

Some roles may require weekend shifts at multiple sites.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Toprovideprofessionaland managerialsupporttotheDivisionalManagementteam in relationto Complaints, Clinical safety and qualitystandards.
• The post holder will take responsibility for development and implementation of the maternity risk strategy ensuring that it complies with the Trust strategy and incorporates all required externalinfluences.
• Support all elements of incident investigation under the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)
• Support all elements of the Perinatal Mortality Review tool in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team.
• Provideguidance,supportandleadership to allstaffwithinthematernityservicewithregardto Risk Management and Clinical safety and Governanceissues.
• Coordinate the day to day maternity risk management procedures including the accurate reporting of incidents onto the local incident reporting system and to ensure that the appropriateactions are taken in relation to any risks that areidentified.
• To be responsibleforensuringincidentsfromtheserviceareportedtotheNPSAviathe reportingsystem.
• Toco-ordinateinvestigationsandprovideleadershipandsupportfor s taffwhen patient safety incidents occur withinmaternity.
• To ensure that patient safety incidents are reported and investigated and that any subsequent action plansare implemented andmonitored.
• Provide support to the rest of the Division if needed when they are undertaking patient safety incident investigations.
• To be able to debrief and support staff and families following traumatic cases or where practice has been reviewed.
• Undertake clinical risk assessments as required and ensure that these are discussed at the appropriate forum and then escalated onto the Divisional risk register if necessary.
• Collate safety related data and present it in a variety of formats and forums
• Coordinate safety meetings
• To lead implementing improvements in quality standards and direct the team to participateon National benchmarking and clinicalvalidation.
• To provide professional advice and leadership to all staff and to ensure care standards are patient centered, evidence based and meet CQC requirements.
• Proactively take responsibility for monitoring effectiveness of maternity services against national and local reports into care quality and safety
• Take responsibility for co-ordination and completion of clinical audits across the service. Ensure learning and outcomes are disseminated across all areas
• Explore current practices to identify areas for development, planning the appropriate change using evidence based principles and evaluate the outcomes in line with the Trust’s Governance Strategy, including submission to the risk register.
• To support the implementation of national policy documents.
• To act as a clinical role model promoting professional, competent standards, working closely with the multi-disciplinary team.
• To represent the Maternity Division on safety and clinical governance issues where required.

See full job description attached

Person specification

Education & Qualifications

• Active Midwifery registration
• Masters degree or evidence of continuing professional development towards accreditation
• A risk management qualification

Experience

• Comprehensive midwifery experience across all clinical areas alongside management level
• Understanding of the PSIRF, learning responses and report writing
• Formulating, implementing and closing comprehensive action plans
• Analysing data for trends and presenting/discussing at senior level
• Experience in change management/QI
• Line management/management of teams
• Working alongside relevant external agencies
• Presenting at/leading complex meetings with the MDT

Skills & Knowledge

• Clear understanding of the national and local Healthcare agenda
• Good understanding of CNST/CQC maternity and general standards and their implementation
• Negotiating and influencing skills

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.

Name Claire Durkan Job title Lead Midwife for QA, Governance and Compliance Email address claire.durkan@nhs.net Telephone number 07917336377