Quality Matron

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust; Carlisle; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS Pension

27-day holiday scheme

NHS Discounts

Salary Sacrifice schemes

Vivup support

Job summary

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Quality Matron to lead quality, safety and patient experience across Specialist Surgical Care. You will provide visible clinical leadership, champion patient safety and drive improvement, supporting teams to achieve excellence in outpatient, diagnostic, procedural and multidisciplinary pathways.

The role requires senior nursing leadership, governance expertise and a commitment to compassionate, person-centred care across a diverse

Qualifications

• Professional knowledge from degree level study with senior nursing experience.
• Postgraduate specialist training and CPD demonstrated.
• Leadership training and change management experience.
• Experience supporting executive directors and governance.
• Ability to develop and implement patient experience initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead quality improvement, assurance and patient safety initiatives across the Care Group.
• Provide professional nursing leadership and support to clinical teams.
• Promote compassionate, person-centred care and patient experience excellence.
• Lead clinical governance, quality metrics, risk management and regulatory compliance.
• Support teams to achieve continuous improvement through evidence-based practice.
• Drive improvements in clinical outcomes and workforce experience.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Leadership

Patient safety

Quality improvement

Communication

Change management

Education

Nursing degree

Postgraduate diploma

PP126/127 or equivalent

Leadership training

Masters level equivalent

Job description

Go back North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Quality Matron

The closing date is 29 September 2026

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

An exciting opportunity to lead quality, safety and patient experience across a diverse portfolio of specialist surgical services.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an exceptional, motivated and forward-thinking senior nurse to join our leadership team as Quality Matron for Specialist Surgical Care.

This is a rewarding opportunity for an experienced nursing leader who is passionate about delivering high-quality patient care, driving improvement, and supporting teams to achieve excellence. As a key member of the Care Group leadership team, you will provide visible professional leadership, champion patient safety and quality, and support the development of high-performing teams across a broad range of specialist services.

About the Care Group

Specialist Surgical Care provides services to patients across North Cumbria and beyond, encompassing a wide range of highly specialised clinical areas including:

• Audiology
• Breast Services
• Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)
• Head and Neck Laboratory Services
• Ophthalmology and the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP)
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Orthodontics
• Orthopaedics

This breadth of specialties creates a unique opportunity for a dynamic leader to influence quality and service delivery across outpatient, diagnostic, procedural, surgical and multidisciplinary care pathways.

Please see additional document for more information

Main duties of the job

The Role

As Quality Matron, you will be a highly visible clinical leader responsible for promoting excellence in patient care, professional standards and service delivery. Working in partnership with clinical, operational and corporate colleagues, you will ensure that quality and patient safety remain at the heart of everything we do.

You will:

• Lead quality improvement, assurance and patient safety initiatives across the Care Group.
• Provide professional nursing leadership and support to clinical teams.
• Promote compassionate, person-centred care and an exceptional patient experience.
• Lead on clinical governance, quality metrics, risk management and regulatory compliance.
• Support teams to achieve continuous improvement through innovation and evidence-based practice.
• Drive improvements in clinical outcomes, patient feedback and workforce experience.
• Develop and support leaders at all levels, fostering a culture of accountability, learning and excellence.

About us

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and coastal healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of 'safe, high quality care every time':

• Being a clinically led organisation
• Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust
• A positive patient experience every time
• A great place to work
• Managing our money well

As an organisation we are committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment.Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed. For further information visit theUK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligible vacancies.

Disclosure and Barring Service:

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.

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £21.50 + Administration cost of £6.50 = £28.00. Deducted from salary over following 4 months or one off payment.

Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £6.50 = £56.00. Deducted from salary over following 4 months or one off payment.

NCIC can offer successful future employees the following benefits:

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

NHS Discounts*

Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*

Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Professional knowledge acquired through degree level study; supplemented by post graduate diploma specialist training
• Substantive experience in a senior nursing position
• PP126/127 or equivalent teaching/assessing D32/33 qualification
• Evidence of CPD
• Leadership Training
• Further specialist professional training to Masters equivalent level

Knowledge and Experience

• Knowledge through in-depth experience/clinical experience in a relevant speciality
• Thorough understanding of contemporary nursing issues
• Thorough understanding of PSIRF
• Successful track record of managing incidents and complaints and developing systems to support learning
• Ability to deal with complex strategic and operational interdependencies
• Relevant senior management experience and supporting executive directors in the delivery of organisational goals
• Sound practical understanding of leadership styles
• Knowledge and experience of Information Governance

Skills and Aptitudes

• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to form positive working relationships at all levels
• Ability and confidence to communicate across many channels and formats.
• Highly developed presentation and facilitation skills
• Well-developed collaboration and stakeholder-building skills
• Flexibility - the post holder will be required to work outside core hours
• Ability to demonstrate and generate commitment to patient experience, public involvement and equality and diversity
• Determined and self-motivated
• Ability to develop and implement a range of engagement tools and techniques to capture patient experience
• Ability to deal compassionately with patients, families and carers and deal with complaints against staff members
• Evidence of change management experience in ward/department or clinical specialty oEvidence of proven practice development
• Evidence, knowledge and demonstration of maintaining effective clinical governance strategy
• Knowledge of primary care
• Evidence of innovation in practice
• Thorough understanding of expanded roles/professional practice issues
• Understanding of national political and professional agenda and ability to apply this to clinical areas
• Organisational and time management skills
• Computer Literacy
• Presentation Skills

Personal Circumstances

• Ability to work flexibly to cover the needs of the service - cover evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
• Ability to work across sites as part of the role.

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.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust