Consultant Midwife | Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

As an inspirational leader the Consultant Midwife will;-
Assist the Director of Midwifery and Women’s Services in the development of the professional midwifery agenda to achieve consistency of practice, high standards of care and innovation with a strong patient safety focus.
The post holder will use midwifery expertise to support normality in maternity care and will be required to be a leader in midwifery practice within maternity services across all clinical areas.
The Consultant Midwife will lead and support midwives in realising their full potential and capability in supporting women and their families and supporting a philosophy of midwifery practice as stated within Nursing and Midwifery Council (NNC) guidance.
The Consultant Midwife will have an educational commitment in ensuring normal midwifery practices are enveloped in all staff training programmes. They will also foster a climate of research, innovation and clinical excellence through clinical practice and working with the multi-disciplinary team. This will include actively participating in advancing midwifery practice at a strategic level.
The post will be characterised by the following four principle functions of a Consultant Midwife:-
 Expert Midwifery Practice and Service Development
 Professional Leadership and consultancy function
 Education and Training Function
 Research, audit and evaluation function
For more information please see the attached Job Description.
Function as an expert practitioner leading midwifery care and working in collaboration with the appropriate multi-disciplinary groups to meet the specific needs of pregnant women.
 Take the lead on innovating quality improvement developments and supporting staff to do so.
 Work for up to 50% of the time in clinical practice. This may be on a shift basis to work with different staff groups or/ and specialist clinics. This will wholly depend on work priorities agreed with the Divisional Director of Midwifery
 Provide expert advice to staff and hands on practical care in all practice settings where required
 Demonstrate advanced clinical skills and knowledge that informs practice decisions
 Support staff in developing their competence to enable them to keep the birth process as normal as possible where appropriate.
 Be prepared to make decisions about practice where precedents do not exist, and where appropriate, without recourse to others based on sound clinical evidence
 Lead the development of staff to become confident in decision making through empowerment, support and evidence based knowledge
 Lead along with MDT consultant colleagues in the implementation of strategies to reduce clinical interventions particularly the caesarean section rate and induction of labour rate.
For more information please see the Job Description attached.
 Lead colleagues in the improvement of quality standards and to develop clinical midwifery practice across all areas
 Act as the named lead midwife within the Trust
 Ensure that the Midwife Led Unit/areas are fully utilised by women for whom care there is appropriate
 Work closely with the Director of Midwifery and senior midwifery team to ensure that midwives are confident to practice midwifery led care across all areas including birth at home
 Lead in service redesign with particular emphasis on developing confident and competent midwifery practitioners capable of keeping birth normal and able to practice in a range of different settings
and contribute to the strategic planning of maternity services
 Work with the NHS England, LMNS, Neonatal Networks and other networks regarding aspects of strategic planning for midwifery and public health services
 Provide expert input across disciplines to secure improvements in quality thus improving the clients’ experience
 Be an active member of the Maternity Voices Partnership and any other group where the post holders input would contribute to maternity service improvements (e.g. CCG)
 Be a member of the Consultant Midwife Network
 Work with the clinical leads for obstetrics to ensure harmonious working relationships between staff groups
 Raise the profile of the maternity services by building relationships with external and national groups.
For more information please see the attached Job Description.
EDUCATION TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FUNCTION
 Support and work with the Lead Midwife Governance and Quality to deliver the objectives of educational roles, planning a schedule of education and training that is geared towards relevant aspects of service development
 Create a supportive learning environment for all students and staff groups
 Be an expert role model working alongside qualified midwives, midwifery and medical students
 Participate in curriculum development within Birmingham City Universisty and University of Birmingham where applicable
 Prepare lectures and teach the principles of autonomous practice and other midwifery topics to all staff groups
 As a Trust representative look for opportunities to promote the role of Consultant Midwife and service initiatives where appropriate
 Work in close liaison with the clinical co-ordinators to review and develop practice standards. Work with clinical leads to establish the learning needs of staff groups. Work with individuals following critical incidents to ensure the continual advancement of midwifery practice
 Works proactively in collaboration with Obstetric Consultants, Director of Midwifery and Senior Midwives to review and evaluate midwifery services
 Lead on and contribute in clinical research in conjunction and collaboration with Higher Education Institutions ensuring a culture of research which supports promotion of safe and personalised care.
 Initiates audit of practice and services and develop action for improvement wherever necessary
 To interpret and evaluate information from multiple streams and ensure staff are updated so they can make informed judgements to when trying to improve practice
 Give advice on best practice arising from current and relevant research and facilitate the change process for new initiatives
 Support maternity staff under-going research, by providing lead facilitator support.
 Working closely with the senior management Clinical Governance team to identify risks, analyse trends and report clinical implications which require clinical change and service redesign.
 Explore issues of midwifery practice that impact care provision, seek women’s views, and feed the views back into service development
 Submit articles for publication in peer review journals and submit findings to present at national conferences.
This advert closes on Thursday 18 Jan 2024

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