Antenatal Clinic and Day Assessment Unit Manager - Bedford, Bedfordshire

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and motivated Midwife to undertake the role of Antenatal Clinic and Day Assessment Unit Manager, providing strong clinical, operational, and professional leadership within a busy outpatients service.

The Antenatal Clinic and Day Assessment Unit Manager will provide visible and effective leadership to midwives, maternity support workers, students, and the wider multidisciplinary team, fostering an environment of psychological safety, learning, and continuous improvement.

The post holder will work closely with the Outpatients Matron, Deputy Head of Midwifery, Head of Midwifery, and Lead Obstetricians to ensure care pathways reflect best practice, remain women-centred, and meet local and national safety standards.

The post holder will hold overall responsibility for the operational management of the Antenatal Clinic and Day Assessment Unit, ensuring safe staffing, effective patient flow, and high standards of clinical care. They will act as a professional role model, providing compassionate and supportive leadership, and ensuring the team is enabled to deliver evidence-based, high-quality care.

• Provide effective clinical and professional leadership to all midwives, and support staff and the multidisciplinary team working in the antenatal clinic and Day Assessment Unit.
• Work alongside the Outpatients Matron, Head of Midwifery, lead Obstetricians and other key members of the team to ensure pathways of care reflect best practice and are women centred.
• Provide information and communicate with all teams involved in the care of women in the antenatal period, including GP’s, social services, other maternity services.
• Provide effective clinical leadership and support to all midwives and support staff, continually seeking to develop service to reflect service and Trust objectives.
• Promote excellence in practice and be actively involved in research and audit.
• Demonstrate innovation through introduction and maintenance of a quality approach to service provision by setting, implementing, monitoring and evaluating standards of care.
• Collect, collate and present clinical data for the service and contribute to the service dashboard.
• Oversee staff rosters to ensure both areas have appropriate staff and skill mix to provide safe care within available resources.
• Possess the knowledge, skills and ability to staff in report and escalating incidents, dealing with complaints and handling sensitive issues.
• Work closely with fetal medicine services to ensure timely referrals and follow up of care of women to ensure a safe and robust plan of antenatal pathways.

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 Trusts 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.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job

• Take the lead for the management of reported Inphase reports pertaining to the Antenatal clinic or Day Assessment Unit.
• Ensure there is effective multi-disciplinary communication within the outpatient area, the department, the service and with other agencies external to the Trust.
• Provide a management and educational forum for staff by leading service meetings and taking responsibility for the cascade of relevant information to the antenatal clinic and DAU midwives and support staff.
• Be responsible for developing and monitoring adequate systems for the maintenance and checking of equipment and resources.
• Participate in the selection process for new staff and student midwives. Plan and initiate induction and orientation programmes, which integrate newly qualified and new members of staff.
• Undertake annual appraisals and build personal development plans and empower midwives and support staff to achieve their objectives by providing ongoing support and expert leadership.
• Management of personnel issues such as the management of sickness absence, and take appropriate action in line with Trust policy.
• Work in collaboration with midwifery leads for Safeguarding Children. Where appropriate initiate and support others in taking action in accordance with local Safeguarding policies.
• Exercise leadership and maintain professional attitude acting in an exemplary manner at all time.
• Ensure effective communication between clients, relatives, carers and colleagues.
• Provide expert advice on the referral of women to high-risk care.
• Exercise leadership and inspire colleagues to provide a high standard of practice based on current guidelines, policies, and protocols to improve standards quality and to develop professional practice.
• Be responsible for organising the dissemination of findings of local and national midwifery research and act as change agent particularly with regard to the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence based on guidelines, policies, protocols and standards relating to midwifery practice.
• Be aware of national and local policies that have impact upon maternity services and take appropriate action.
• Demonstrate the ability to initiate change and develop practice in light of knowledge gained through reflection, research and audit.
• Actively pursue opportunities for personal development as part of the progress plan emerging from Individual Performance Review.
• Follow Trust disciplinary procedures when dealing with staff disciplinary matters.
• Undertake bleep holder duties, supporting escalation and safe service coordination.
• Act as a visible leader, promoting psychological safety, compassionate leadership and a positive team culture.
• Oversee the management of the Keeping Well in Pregnancy Team (KWIP).
• Provide clinical and managerial leadership to staff up to and including Band 6, supporting supervision, performance, and development.
• Working in partnership with the Outpatients Matron to develop the service, strengthen safety culture, and support ongoing improvement across the maternity unit.