Surgical Matron

Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Surgical Matron to provide professional and operational leadership across designated surgical wards and departments. Based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, you will work with the Head of Nursing to drive safe, effective and compassionate care while delivering excellence in patient experience and outcomes.

You will lead quality improvement, clinical governance and workforce development, supporting ward managers and multidisciplinary teams to

Qualifications

• NMC Registered nurse with current registration.

Responsibilities

• Provide visible, compassionate and effective nursing leadership across surgical services.
• Lead quality improvement, patient safety and clinical governance initiatives.
• Champion Harm Free Care, patient experience and Quality and Safety Strategy.
• Develop ward managers and multidisciplinary teams to achieve excellence in care delivery.
• Drive performance against quality, workforce and operational indicators.
• Lead investigations, risk management and lessons learned after incidents/complaints.
• Support safe patient flow and discharge planning.
• Foster a positive learning culture and staff wellbeing.
• Contribute to service transformation, innovation and workforce planning.
• Participate in senior leader site oversight rota, including weekend cover.

Skills

Nursing leadership

Quality improvement

Clinical governance

Staff development

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Budget management

Project management

Change management

Staff wellbeing

Education

NMC Registered nurse

Degree-level education

Master’s degree

Teaching and assessing qualification

Non-medical prescribing

Tools

Budgeting tools

Job description

Are you an experienced nursing leader ready to shape the future of surgical services? An exciting opportunity has arisen for an ambitious and inspirational Surgical Matron to join the senior nursing leadership team within the Surgery Division at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This is a pivotal role for a passionate and forward thinking registered nurse who is committed to delivering outstanding patient care, leading quality improvement and supporting the development of high-performing teams. As Surgical Matron, you will provide professional and operational leadership across designated surgical wards and departments. You will work closely with the Head of Nursing, Clinical Leads and Service Managers to ensure patients receive safe, effective and compassionate care while driving excellence in patient experience, workforce development and clinical outcomes.

Main duties of the job - You will:

• Provide visible, compassionate and effective nursing leadership across surgical services.
• Lead quality improvement, patient safety and clinical governance initiatives.
• Champion the delivery of Harm Free Care, patient experience and the Trust Quality and Safety Strategy.
• Support and develop ward managers and multidisciplinary teams to achieve excellence in care delivery.
• Drive performance against key quality, workforce and operational indicators.
• Lead investigations, risk management activities and lessons learned following incidents and complaints.
• Support safe patient flow and timely discharge planning across the division.
• Develop a positive learning culture that promotes professional development, education and staff wellbeing.
• Contribute to service transformation, innovation and workforce planning.
• Participate in the senior leader site oversight rota, including weekend cover.

About us

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

We offer

• A supportive and inclusive leadership team.
• Opportunities for continued professional and leadership development.
• The chance to influence strategic nursing priorities across surgical services.
• A culture focused on innovation, quality improvement and patient-centred care.
• The opportunity to make a real difference to the experience and outcomes of patients and their families.

Person Specification

• NMC Registered nurse [Part 1] - Registered Nurse with current NMC registration.
• Degree-level education. Post-registration qualification or equivalent specialty experience. Master's degree or equivalent (or working towards Master's/equivalent level qualification). Teaching and assessing qualification.
• Minimum of 3 years senior clinical leadership experience within a surgical environment.
• Proven experience managing and developing multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrable experience leading service improvement and change management programmes.
• Experience of quality improvement, clinical governance, audit and patient safety initiatives.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Strong understanding of the wider NHS agenda and healthcare landscape.
• Experience of managing budgets and resources.
• Non-medical prescribing qualification.
• Project management and service development expertise.
• Previous Experience as Matron, Minimum 3 years' experience of working as senior manager.
• Surgical experience.
• Leadership qualities and managing staff.
• Ability to deal with stressful situations and to manage conflicting priorities.
• Advanced verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Advanced Communication Course.