Matron - Mental Health - Urgent & Emergency Care and Medicine

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK is seeking a Mental Health Matron to lead the Mental Health Enhanced Care Team across urgent and emergency care. The role requires extensive experience in acute mental health settings and proven leadership abilities to implement high-quality patient care. Candidates must be a registered Mental Health Nurse with a postgraduate qualification in a related field. The position offers a competitive salary of £64,156 to £71,148 annually, inclusively of HCA.

Qualifications

• Registered Mental Health Nurse or dual registered RN or LD/RMN.
• Extensive experience in acute, crisis, or liaison mental health settings.
• Proven track record in operational service management at a senior level.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Mental Health Enhanced Care Team (MHECT).
• Ensure delivery of safe and person-centred care.
• Drive clinical standards and lead quality improvement initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Motivational interviewing

Mental health assessment

Trauma-informed care

Education

Postgraduate diploma/degree in mental health

Recognised teaching/assessing qualification

Qualification in motivational interviewing

Job description

Matron - Mental Health - Urgent & Emergency Care and Medicine

The closing date is 24 December 2025

We are seeking an experienced, motivated, and compassionate Mental Health Matron (MHM) to lead our Mental Health Enhanced Care Team (MHECT) across Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) and Acute and General Medicine (AGM). This exciting senior post has been created in response to rising demand, increasing acuity, and the growing complexity of mental health presentations in our Emergency Department and inpatient wards.

You will join a well‑established, highly committed team, providing visible leadership, expert guidance, and professional oversight to deliver safe, person‑centred, trauma‑informed, and least‑restrictive care. Working closely with senior nursing, medical, safeguarding, and liaison psychiatry teams, you will support high‑quality assessment, therapeutic engagement, and integrated mental and physical healthcare.

As Matron, you will drive clinical standards, lead quality improvement initiatives, and develop innovative models of care. You will champion staff development, wellbeing, and a psychologically safe culture, empowering teams to manage complex mental health presentations confidently in fast‑paced acute settings.

Main duties of the job

Lead and develop the MHECT, providing visible, expert leadership and professional oversight. Ensure the delivery of safe, person‑centred, trauma‑informed, and least‑restrictive care, support complex decision‑making, oversee enhanced care, lead risk assessment and management, and integrate mental and physical health pathways. Support Departmental Sisters and Charge Nurses to maintain and enhance clinical standards, drive quality improvement, and contribute to strategic planning, performance monitoring, and service development to meet increasing demand.

About us

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK's best known hospitals – Guy's, St Thomas', Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation. We are among the UK's busiest, most successful foundation trusts, providing specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services, and a full range of local hospital and community services.

Person Specification

Qualifications / Education

• Registered Mental Health Nurse or dual registered RN or LD/RMN
• Educated to postgraduate diploma/degree level in a subject related to mental health; evidence of equivalent knowledge and experience to Masters level
• Recognised teaching/assessing qualification
• Qualification in motivational interviewing

Experience

• A proven track record of operational service management at a senior level, including staff management, financial management and change management
• Extensive experience of working in a substantive role in an acute, crisis or liaison mental health setting
• Demonstrable previous success in leading and delivering change
• Ability to think and plan strategically, tactically and creatively, and to prioritise work programmes in the face of competing demands
• Ability to collaborate constructively with internal and external partners to create the conditions for successful partnership working (particularly across the acute/mental health interface(s))

Knowledge

• Detailed knowledge and understanding of mental health risk assessment and current approaches to mental health risk management
• Sound political judgement and astuteness in understanding and working with complex policy, diverse interest groups, and common sense in knowing when to brief “up the line”
• Current, working knowledge of operational pressures common to UEC/acute medicine/acute trust care settings
• Knowledge and skills in motivational interviewing

Skills / Abilities

• In‑depth knowledge and advanced skills in the engagement and care of patients with common mental disorders and complex psychological presentations
• Expertise in trauma‑informed care and restrictive practice, including motivational interviewing skills
• Well‑developed leadership and influencing skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams, and to communicate the Trust’s and your performance expectations
• Ability to be intellectually flexible and to look beyond existing structures, ways of working, boundaries and organisations to produce more effective and innovative service delivery and partnerships
• A commitment to improving patient services through an ability to sustain a clear performance focus on achieving demanding goals

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exception Order) 1975 and requires a submission for Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£64,156 to £71,148 a year, inclusive of HCA.