Safe Staffing Matron / Lead
Go back County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
The closing date is 30 October 2025
Do you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a keen eye for detail? Are you able to inspire and use highly developed influencing skills to effectively support clinical teams through workforce planning initiatives, audits, and evaluation? Can you pull this data together to provide robust and concise reports? Can you think and act creatively, embracing new ideas and ways of working and have the ability to translate into practice? If your answer is 'yes' to these questions, and you are an experienced NMC/HCPC registrant this post is for you!
We are seeking an enthusiastic, highly motivated individual who is passionate about patient safety to lead our Safe Staffing team within the corporate nursing directorate. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about the safe staffing agenda and enjoys working within and line managing a small but dynamic team.
The post holder will lead on embedding the safe staffing agenda across the Trust and will be a key link and interface between clinical and corporate teams supporting with training; and reporting on compliance with Trust initiatives such as SNCT audits and other workforce planning initiatives.
Main duties of the job
Lead on managing and developing processes to ensure staffinglevels within non medical teams and inpatient wards across CDDFT are safe, effectively planned and fit within the financial envelope.
Be knowledgeable about the e rostering system and related safe staffing technologies, and offer leadership, and training in this area.
Advise senior leaders on safe staffing numbers and the setting up and adjustment of templates on Safe Care/Healthroster. Provide clinical leadership for embedding and sustaining Healthroster and Safe Care across key areas of the organisation. Be responsible for the management, further development and implementation of the e-roster information system for NMAHP.
Support the Associate Director of Nursing to prepare detailed establishment reviews every six months and benchmark with similar organisations. Oversee and lead the efforts of all staff groups working on staffing initiatives, which require collating and interpreting complex and varied data.
Support the development of nursing practice within the safe staffing field.
Act as a professional role model and expert, supporting clinical teams to deliver safe clinical care while adhering to CDDFT values.
About us
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 BAME candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Job responsibilities
Provide Trust wide leadership to clinical teams in the ongoing management, implementation and future development of electronic rostering.
Work with Associate Directors of Nursing to ensure Safe Care processes and systems are in place to monitor and ensure compliance with staffing / skill mix and acuity and dependency models.
Contribute to the six monthly nursing, midwifery and AHP establishment reviews.
Ensure that the RAG rating of staffing levels on Safe Carereflects professional judgement accurately and where necessary make recommendations for change.
Horizon scan developments related to safer staffing at local, national and international level and share best practice.
Review methods and processes for assessing safe staffing on a day to day basis.
Maximise functionality of the non-medical e-rostering system as prioritised for the organisation.
Provide advice, support and oversight as the senior experienced registrant in relation to e-rostering across the organisation.
Identify and monitor key performance indicators around rostering practice.
Provide assurance reports around the non-medical safe staffing agenda and internal and external (mandatory) reporting requirements.
Act as the prime contact for the e-roster provider (non-medical).
Operationally lead the further ongoing development and implementation of e-rostering integrating with other essential trust information systems and functions i.e. ESR/Nurse bank. This will include leading on the interpretation and implementation of technical requirements and trust policies for areas of responsibility.
Operationally lead on e-rostering upgrades and development.
Operationally lead and advise on changes in supporting the care groups to ensure that e-rostering templates respond to service change, revised staffing establishments and skill mix changes.
Contribute to internal/external stakeholder meetings where appropriate to support safe staffing.
Contribute to the production of a range of reports as required.
Make formal and informal presentations to staff at all levels of the organisation from a variety of professional groups. This will involve presenting complex, sensitive or contentious information to a large group of staff.
Provide highly complex and highly contentious information, where developed persuasive, motivational, negotiating, training, empathic or re-assurance skills are required.
Contribute to the education and development of staff involved in e-rostering at all levels in the organisation, this will include planning, organising and delivering training in relation to e-rostering.
Provide ongoing support to staff in their understanding and utilisation of electronic rosters enabling them to deliver effective rosters in their clinical area.
Provide facilitation training and support for staff to migrate to a position of real time electronic rosters.
Maintain information, education resources and records relating to training.
Improve efficiency and effectiveness of roster planning by supporting analysis of rosters, challenging rostering practice and supporting changes in systems of working.
Adapt and design the e-roster information system to meet the specifications of clinical areas.
Monitor progress and produce reports that reflect quality, safety and efficiency improvements obtained as a consequence of electronic rostering.
Perform regular audits of safer nursing care staffing levels using recognised tools (currently bi-annual) to inform decision making.
Responsible for analysis of safer nursing care audit data to support establishment reviews and daily safe staffing across whole Trust, daily, weekly and monthly.
Utilise e-rostering to provide actual versus planned staff fill rates as required locally and nationally to inform the safer nursing care staffing agenda.
Review and update the safe staffing policy and rostering policy in line with Trust guidelines.
Maintain and develop knowledge of principles of service improvement, information technology and electronic rostering.
Manage budgets related to staffing and contractual obligations.
Support the development of business cases as required for enhancements and developments etc.
Person Specification
Special Requirements
* Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post
Qualifications
* Educated to degree level in relevant subject
* Teaching qualification i.e. Post Graduate certificate in Education
* Knowledge of NHS Performance Management Framework
* Educated to / currently studying for Masters Degree in relevant subject
Special Skills & Knowledge
* Expert knowledge of end user Electronic Rostering (relevant recent experience)
* Detailed understanding of e-Rostering functionality
* Experience of information system implementation and management
* Knowledge of staff fill rates reporting requirements
* Experience in leading staffing and patient acuity audit activity
* Ability to communicate well with people at all levels of the organisation and with differing levels of knowledge
* Enthusiasm for IT and an interest in its role within Health Care
* Ability to prioritise and deliver work of a high quality to tight timescales, and to manage conflicting priorities
* Ability to remain calm under pressure
* Able to give clear accurate advice
* Excellent written, verbal communication and interpersonal skills
* Effective negotiation and influencing skills utilising tact and persuasion
* Well organised
* Ability to be flexible and adapt to the needs of the service.
* Analytical skills
* Knowledge of issues which will influence future nursing & AHP workforce strategy and educational/training needs
* Successful completion of Fundamentals of Safe Staffing E Learning or 2 day CNO Introduction to Safer Staffing module
* Working knowledge and understanding of Developing Workforce Safeguards
Experience
* Experience of electronic rostering and its implementation
* Experience of successful achievement of competence at Band 7 level
* Experience of problem solving, diagnosis, presentation, report writing, persuasion
* Proven ability in identifying and realizing benefits of a project
* Evidence of major change management within the area of work
* Experience of managing staff
* Experience of successful achievement of working towards National and Local NMAHP Workforce Strategy and support with workforce safeguarding processes
Statutory Registration
* Registered Midwife / Nurse (Adult or Child) on part 1 of the NMC register
* Valid UK NMC PIN
* HCPC Registrant
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.
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
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