Maternity Operational Manager
The closing date is 30 April 2026
The Maternity Operational Manager is responsible for providing clinical and operational midwifery leadership with support and direction from the Senior Leadership team, to ensure the effective and safe running of the maternity unit during the week, night shifts, weekends and Bank Holidays.
The post holder will maintain a visible professional presence where patients, carers and staff can turn for senior assistance, advice and support, and on whom they can rely to ensure that the fundamental and specialist aspects of care are met.
It includes the management of staff and being accountable for the quality of services (both clinical and non‑clinical) delivered within the span of authority. This includes redeployment of staff to meet the needs of the service across the maternity setting.
Main duties of the job
Gain an in‑depth understanding of the process’s supporting flow through maternity and Gynaecology to ensure appropriate placement of patients according to their clinical need and ensure the best placement of birth and minimise service closure.
Recognise the trigger factors associated with the Maternity and Trust Escalation policy in order to minimise bed crisis through effective planning and how to implement the strategy when necessary.
Gain an understanding, and liaise with our Main Trust Operations centre and regularly attend Site Safety meetings to report staffing levels and quality issues.
Recognise the need to escalation admission, discharge, safeguarding and patient flow issues, to the Midwifery Manager or on‑call or relevant specialist teams and become aware of the strategies that can be employed to address critical bed states and maximise staffing.
Implement communication with our sister site at Luton & Dunstable, along with other Trusts & Health Care providers in the area regarding capacity to support when the maternity unit is in escalation and when necessary coordinate the transfer of patients to other hospitals.
Support data collection from Red Flag reporting, staff redeployments, emergency calls (working to aid improvement work to optimise safety and provide analytics to facilitate best redeployment for staff).
Participate in roster writing to ensure appropriate skill mix of staff across inpatient areas of maternity.
About us
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics‑led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.
Our values
We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trust’s core values. We achieve this by using values‑based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.
All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering the first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required.
Qualifications
* Registered Midwife
* Evidence of Degree or Masters qualification
* Research qualification
Experience
* Suitable Post‑Registration experience within relevant speciality at band 6 or above
* In‑depth knowledge of inpatient pathways
* Evidence of the application of management/leadership skills and autonomous practice
* Evidence of continued professional development
* Participation in Research
* Participation in roster management
Knowledge
* Organisational and negotiation skills
* Evidence of audit and change management ability
Personal Skills
* Effective communicator both written and verbal
* Ability to take managerial and professional responsibility for team and staff.
* Ability to think logically, prioritise and use initiative
* Diplomatic
* Assertive and confident
* Reliable, Adaptable and Dependable
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr