Matron

Lewisham and Greenwich; Greater London; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is seeking a Matron for Theatres at University Hospital Lewisham to lead theatre teams and transform perioperative services. This senior role demands a passion for exceptional patient care, development of high‑performing teams and driving innovation in a busy surgical environment.

The Matron will provide visible leadership across theatre services, ensure safety and quality, and collaborate with cross‑functional teams to optimise capacity, pathways and patient

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience within Theatre Services or Perioperative Care.
• Experience in leading service improvement and change programmes.
• Strong understanding of theatre operations and perioperative pathways.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional and operational leadership for Theatre Services at University Hospital Lewisham.
• Promote a culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement across all theatre areas.
• Lead service transformation programmes to improve efficiency, productivity and patient outcomes.
• Ensure compliance with national standards, Trust policies and regulatory requirements.
• Work with Surgical, Anaesthetic, Recovery and Day Surgery teams to deliver perioperative care.

Skills

Leadership

Theatre operations

Staff development

Change management

Education

Nurse registration

Master’s degree

Postgraduate qualifications

Job description

Step into a place where exceptional care, patients, culture, and careers come together.

Explore our current vacancies and take your first step toward making a real difference.

Join us. Make a difference. Be part of Team LGT.

Main area surgery Grade Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Mon - Sun) Job ref 197-R-LC8799

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

Matron, Theatres Services – University Hospital Lewisham

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is seeking an exceptional and forward-thinking Matron for Theatres at University Hospital Lewisham (UHL) to lead our theatre teams and support the ongoing delivery and transformation of perioperative services.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced senior nurse / ODP leader with a passion for delivering outstanding patient care, leading high-performing teams and driving innovation within a busy and dynamic surgical environment.

Main duties of the job

Key Responsibilities

Provide professional and operational leadership for Theatre Services at University Hospital Lewisham.

Promote a culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement across all theatre areas.

Lead and support service transformation programmes to improve efficiency, productivity and patient outcomes.

Ensure compliance with national standards, Trust policies and regulatory requirements.

Work collaboratively with Surgical, Anaesthetic, Recovery and Day Surgery teams to deliver seamless perioperative care.

Support the effective management of theatre capacity, utilisation and patient flow.

Lead on workforce planning, recruitment, retention and staff development initiatives.

Oversee clinical governance, incident management, quality assurance and risk management processes.

Champion evidence-based practice, innovation and quality improvement methodologies.

Foster a positive, inclusive and supportive working environment where staff can thrive.

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

• Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
• Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
• Improving the experience of staff with disability
• Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
• Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As Matron, you will provide visible professional leadership across theatre services, ensuring the highest standards of quality, safety and patient experience. Working in partnership with clinical, operational and corporate colleagues, you will lead service improvements, support elective recovery ambitions, optimise theatre utilisation and contribute to the development of modern, efficient and patient-focused perioperative pathways.

This role offers the opportunity to influence strategic decision-making, champion excellence in clinical practice and develop a highly engaged and motivated workforce.

We are looking for an inspirational and experienced leader who can demonstrate:

• Senior leadership experience within Theatre Services or Perioperative Care.
• Strong understanding of theatre operations, elective pathways and perioperative patient journeys.
• Proven experience of leading service improvement, transformation and change programmes.
• Excellent leadership, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Experience managing performance, budgets, workforce and operational challenges within a complex healthcare environment.
• A commitment to delivering exceptional patient care and improving patient experience.
• Evidence of continued professional development, with management or leadership qualifications desirable.
• The ability to inspire, motivate and develop multidisciplinary teams.
  As Matron for Theatres, you will have the opportunity to:
• Shape the future of theatre and perioperative services at UHL.
• Lead dedicated and highly skilled multidisciplinary teams.
• Drive innovation and improvement across surgical services.
• Contribute to Trust-wide strategic priorities and elective recovery programmes.
• Develop your leadership career within a progressive and ambitious NHS organisation.

If you are a compassionate, dynamic and transformational leader who is passionate about delivering excellence in perioperative care, we would welcome your application.

Join us and play a pivotal role in delivering safe, effective and outstanding surgical care for the communities we serve.

Qualifications and Training

• Degree Registered nurse [Part 1] / or theatres Practitioner Post registration qualification or equivalent experience in theatres specialty
• Master’s degree in relevant discipline or in process of studying to Masters level or equivalent experience
• Evidence of Post Graduate Specialist qualifications relevant to area of practice (examples –:non-medical prescribing; mentorship , coaching , leadership or clinical expertise)
• Change or human factor training
• Management or supervisory qualification / programme of study

Experience

• Proven experience of working in surgical specialities and theatres including high volume and/or day surgery
• Senior clinical experience within speciality.
• Partnership/multi-professional working.
• Managing staff
• Developing and implementing service development initiatives. Demonstrate experience of change management
• Participation in developing and implementing Training and Competency development programmes for departmental staff.
• Research or audit.
• Proven track record of staff development and team working
• Management of finances within a budget, including delivery of cost improvements
• Achievement of high quality patient care through evidence-based practice
• Leadership of clinical governance and patient safety
• Management/Clinical Leadership experience
• Experience in analysing complex problems and implementing workable solutions
• Ability to think and plan strategically, operationally and creatively and to prioritise work programs in the face of competing demands

Knowledge and Skills

• Advanced nursing skills relevant to specialty
• Advanced verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills
• Experience of managing and leading a team.
• Working with and within a diverse community
• Demonstrates innovative thinking.
• Facilitation skills. Understanding of the health and social care agenda and commissioning processes in the current political environment.
• Understanding of National Service Frameworks and NICE guidance to relevant to care setting and its application across health care services
• Highly developed written and verbal skills
• A strong sense of personal and team accountability coupled with a clear understanding of the boundaries around delegated authority
• Finance and resource management. Knowledge base of research methodology

Personal Qualities

• Facilitative working style. Sensitivity to emotional situations
• Able to use own initiative.
• Ability to deal with stressful situations and to manage conflicting priorities.
• Able to cope with interruptions and adapting workload to service need.
• Ability to work autonomously and as a member of a multidisciplinary team
• Good attendance record. Flexible and able to work on any hospital site, or community sites.
• High level of work organisation, self- motivation, drive for performance and improvement
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills
• Ability to communicate complex, sensitive information to individuals and groups
• Ability to prioritise care delivery in a professional manner, taking into account Trust policies and procedures.
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills
• Able to support the implementation of local and national agenda’s for health under the guidance of the senior Practitioner
• Knowledge base of Project management skills.

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve.

We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women’s staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note: Information provided during recruitment and pre‑employment checks must be accurate. Misrepresentation may be investigated as fraud and could lead to withdrawal from the process, professional sanctions, or criminal action.

Please note: that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.

Use of AI in recruitment: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support the initial review of applications against the essential criteria for this role. Where AI is used, it will support rather than replace human decision-making, and applications will remain subject to appropriate human review.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Application numbers

To ensure fairness and manageable shortlisting processes, some vacancies may have an application cap. This means the vacancy will close once a set number of applications have been received even if this happens before the advertised closing date.

Name Rebeccah Beck Job title Senior Matron - Theatres and Day Care Unit Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07891126244