Job Overview
This role will offer individualised supportive interventions related to students, early career retention, late career progression and retire and return flexibility based on local data and insights including learning, career advice and pastoral care.
This role will facilitate the lead on induction and orientation of new midwives and support staff to the Trust.
This role will enhance supernumerary support to newly qualified midwives and return to midwifery practice learners and will work closely with the Quality and Education Midwife to promote retention within the maternity workforce.
This role will lead and coordinate the Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA) service, providing professional support and advocacy for midwives to enhance wellbeing, practice, and development. The role involves promoting high standards of midwifery care, facilitating restorative clinical supervision, and implementing national maternity initiatives within the organisation.
As part of this role, you will have line management responsibilities and will be expected to be part of the maternity on-call rota.
Main duties of the job
The Band 7 Retention Lead Role plays a critical function in workforce retention, a key priority in both the Ockenden Report and NHS England’s Three-Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services. The role supports retention by providing visible, accessible leadership that fosters a positive working environment, professional growth, and clinical supervision—all central to staff satisfaction and wellbeing.
In line with the Ockenden Report’s recommendations, this role ensures safe staffing, supports continuous professional development, and strengthens a culture of safety and learning. The Three-Year Delivery Plan specifically calls for experienced leaders who can mentor, retain, and develop the maternity workforce, helping to reduce vacancy rates and turnover
Working for our organisation
At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.
We are proud to be in the top 20 best hospitals to work for in the country.
We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks – celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.
A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.
We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We’ve even got a pool!
We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
Please find attached to the vacancy a detailed person specification and job description for further information about this role.
Person specification
Training And Qualifications
Essential criteria
* Registered Midwife with the Nursing & Midwifery Council. BSc in Midwifery or able to demonstrate recent study at this level and a willingness to complete. Significant experience working within a senior clinical midwifery role. Demonstrates evidence of ongoing continuous professional development. Teaching and assessing qualification (recognised by the NMC). Training in; managing conduct, health, sickness and performance, recruitment and appraisal.
Desirable criteria
* MSc in Midwifery or related qualification. Further leadership / management related qualification or training.
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
* Significant relevant clinical and management experience at band 6 or above. Evidence of working across a variety of midwifery settings including experience working with women with mental ill health. Thorough and up to date knowledge of national and local drivers for change. Clinical management experience. Thorough understanding of equality and diversity and its application to managing self, staff and patients within own area. Understanding of NMC Code of Practice and requirement of it for the practice and behaviour and its application to the management of staff and self. Understanding of the principles and application of Clinical Governance. Able to demonstrate effective consolidation of midwifery knowledge and practice. Knowledge of using Windows Office Applications.
Desirable criteria
* Evidence of further study. Evidence of involvement in service users’ advocacy and complaints resolutions. An understanding of Health and Safety of patients, staff and visitors to the ward. Evidence of leading change. Evidence of working with a wide team of professionals.
Values
Essential criteria
* Values and respects others, treats everyone as an individual, is non-judgemental. Motivated to be genuinely kind and caring. Helps and co-operates with colleagues. Pro-active and takes responsibility. Willing to learn, open to change. Motivated to make a difference in whatever way they can. Takes pride in themselves, their appearance, their role and where they work.
Specific skills
Essential criteria
* Patient Care: Able to advise on and implement improvements to the quality and efficiency of care for patients in an area. Demonstrates compassion and caring approach to women and relatives and ability to motivate staff to demonstrate this also. To ensure that women’s privacy and dignity is always maintained. Strong organisational skills - Able to organise own workload and take responsibility for own clinical actions and systems / standards across area of responsibility. Able to work under own initiative within boundaries of role. Demonstrates commitment to working as part of a team Demonstrates ability to apply research-based practice and advocate it to improve the quality & efficiency of wards / unit’s services. Able to take charge and delegate duties effectively. Able to act as an advocate to service users. Demonstrate ability to ensure that there is good information Governance maintained e.g. confidentiality by self and ward/unit staff. Professional Development & Education. Demonstrates evidence of commitment to professional development. Ability to act as effective facilitator, coach and clinical supervisor. Demonstrates evidence of ability to educate others. Demonstrates ability to use audit and improve quality of services. Communication. Highly effective communication skills. Able to gain credibility with and influence fellow clinicians, managers and speciality leads – including influencing clinical changes where appropriate. Leadership & Management skills. Able to manage Registered Midwives, MSWs, learners and support workers effectively through effective standard-setting, monitoring, feedback, appraisal, mentoring, clinical supervision and reflective practice. Able to appraise staff effectively in line with Trust Appraisal Policy. Able to demonstrate principles of effective budgeting practice, including the need to exercise care and economy. Able to interview staff effectively in line with Trust Recruitment & Selection Policy. Able to manage change effectively. Able to lead specific midwifery policy development across the wider health community in conjunction with other agencies. Able to manage own stress and that of staff. Able to apply understanding of equality & diversity to management of own staff. Able to use computerised system for accessing patient information, staff training records and to type own correspondence and meeting minutes etc. Committed to specialty / clinical area of work and able to motivate others in it. Willing to work in other clinical areas Trust-wide as and when required. Undertake Manager on Call duties covering maternity services over a 24-hour period.
Desirable criteria
* Evidence of delivering high quality training to staff groups. Experience of implementing change. Experience of significant service development. Experience of managing a team.
Physical skills and meotional environment
Essential criteria
* Physical Skills: Undertake specific midwifery procedures involving physical skills. Typing skills - to use computerised system for accessing client information, typing of correspondence and meeting minutes. Physical Effort - Able to work and cope with rotating shift patterns - early, late, long day, nights and on-call over 7 days of the week on a rotational basis. Ability to manually handle service users and equipment e.g. hoists, wheelchairs etc. push trolleys and beds to other areas of the hospital. Emotional Effort - Dealing with death / bad news. Ability to sensitively inform service users on emotional and complex issues such as patient death, diagnosis and treatment, complaints investigation and resolution. Able to support & facilitate own staff in dealing with these issues. Continuously required to challenge and lead practice including ability to justify actions, to be scrutinised and to scrutinise others. Conflict - Ability to deal with conflict in the ward team, with service users and involving patients with mental health problems. Staff Management – emotional pressures of managing staff against performance and budget.
Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
* JD and PS (PDF, 352.4KB)
* Join the RUH (PDF, 1.1MB)
Further details / informal visits contact
Name Kerry Perkins Job title Interim Quality and Safety Lead Midwife Email address kerryperkins@nhs.net Telephone number Microsoft Teams #J-18808-Ljbffr