Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity to provide strategic oversight and leadership across our diverse medical wards, which include Frailty, Older People Services, End of Life Care, Respiratory, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, General Medicine, and Stroke. The role also involves some outpatient activity, offering a varied and rewarding portfolio.
What the Role Involves
As a Matron, you will:
1. Deliver high-quality, patient-centred care and uphold clinical governance standards across the division.
2. Lead, support, and develop nursing teams, focusing on professional growth and staff wellbeing.
3. Provide visible, compassionate leadership, empowering ward managers and team leaders to deliver excellence.
4. Contribute to the division’s operational and strategic goals, including quality improvement, patient safety, and efficiency metrics.
5. Work clinically for at least 50% of your time, maintaining your expertise and credibility as a nursing leader.
What We’re Looking For
6. A registered nurse with proven leadership experience, ideally at Band 7 or above in an acute care setting.
7. Strong knowledge of clinical governance, safeguarding, and acute nursing practice.
8. Demonstrated ability to lead teams in delivering safe, compassionate, and efficient care.
9. Commitment to professional development, both personally and for your teams.
10. Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage with multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders
Main duties of the job
This role provides key strategic oversight for our Medical Wards at Whipps Cross Hospital. The post holder provides innovative clinical and professional leadership to nursing at all levels within the service group, ensuring nursing care is delivered to a high standard and the nursing resource is managed effectively. This will be achieved by the post holder supporting ward managers running the directorate wards. The role will be supportive of nursing leads in these areas in their delivery of safe and compassionate care. The post holder is responsible for maintaining the standards as identified by the Care Quality Commission and other regulatory bodies are maintained supporting quality improvement projects with the ward sister/charge nurse and support the multidisciplinary team to take forward the directorate’s quality and safety agenda. This post combines clinical expertise, leadership and educational/research skills with managerial and professional responsibilities.
Working for our organisation
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
Person specification
Qualifications and Knowledge
Essential criteria
11. Comprehensive knowledge of acute nursing
12. Comprehensive knowledge of the role of the ward manager
13. Knowledge of clinical governance systems in the acute setting
14. Knowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures
Desirable criteria
15. Degree level registered nurse
16. Ability to study at Masters level (or working towards)
17. Leadership/management course
18. Post-registration qualification in a relative area of nursing practice
Experience
Essential criteria
19. Previous experience as Band 7 in acute care setting
20. Experience in staff / practice development including Policy development
21. Experience of leading a team to develop and deliver on action plans related to external organisations assessment ( eg CQC)
Desirable criteria
22. Previous experience of working as an 8a
23. Operational management experience in acute hospital setting
24. Teaching and education
Skills
Essential criteria
25. Excellent written and verbal communication skills
26. Formal presentation skills
27. Promotes, monitors and maintains best practice in health, safety and security
Desirable criteria
28. Audit skills
29. Clinical governance and risk management
30. Ability to interpret and analyse complex data and findings
People and people development
Essential criteria
31. Able to utilise ICT to full potential
32. Organisational skills
33. Decision making skills
34. Professional nursing issues
35. Able to manage time effectively
36. Able to prioritise objectives and workload
Desirable criteria
37. Human resource skills
38. Practice development
39. Clinical supervision
Specific requirements
Essential criteria
40. Respect privacy &dignity of an individual
41. Understands the implications of equal opportunities
42. Data collection and interpretation required
43. Able to delegate appropriately
44. Highly professional role model
45. Budgetary management skills
46. Skill mix and workforce planning
Desirable criteria
47. Thorough understanding of NHS improvement agenda
48. Business planning
49. Quality assurance and improvement
50. Developing policies and procedures
Visa Sponsorship Information
This role is subject to UK immigration requirements. Where sponsorship is required, applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa in accordance with current UK Visas and Immigration rules, including any salary, qualification, and role-specific requirements applicable at the time of appointment. Candidates who require sponsorship will only be considered where the post is eligible and where all sponsorship criteria can be met. Evidence of the right to work in the UK will be required before appointment. Please note that for roles employed under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions, the High-Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is not included when calculating the basic salary for the purposes of sponsorship.