Job summary
Working Full time - 37.5 hours per week
An exciting opportunity has arisen for enthusiastic and dynamic Midwives to join our Community Midwifery Team at The Countess of Chester Hospital.
The role will be divided into 22.5 hours community and 15 hours perinatal mental health link, supporting the perinatal health midwife. You will deputise for and support the Perinatal Mental health Midwife in the perinatal mental health service here at The Countess of Chester.
We provide antenatal and postnatal care to women in the Ellesmere Port, Chester City and Chester Rural areas. Working out of Children Centre's and GP surgeries.
We are proud that our homebirth rate has increased over the last 2 years, despite the challenging times. Offering women birthplace choice and enabling women to birth safely in their home environment is especially important to us.
This post does include on calls; approximately 1 per week, for homebirths and escalation into the hospital.
Safeguarding caseloads are low to moderate depending on the area you work in however, we have a fabulous Safeguarding Team supporting us.
Teamwork is particularly important to us, supporting each other and providing high quality care to women and their families is our ultimate aim.
If you feel like a new challenge, come and join our fabulous community team at the COCH.
We are also excited to announce we are currently working on plans for our new maternity unit which is planned to open in 2025
Main duties of the job
The post holder will assess the full range of care needs and as a result develops, implements and evaluates programmes of care throughout the ante-natal, intra-partum and post-natal period in either the community or hospital setting for women and their babies.
We ask all employees to be flexible in their role, to always ensure we are delivering Safe, Kind and Effective care. The list below is to outline the main duties; however this is subject to change and will vary within the given role. We ask all employees to be flexible in their role
- Work autonomously within guidelines and Sphere of Professional Practice within a designated area whilst being responsible for performing a comprehensive assessment plan, implementation and evaluation of care delivery according to the health and social needs of women and their babies.
- Work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies to ensure women and their families' needs are met especially in relation to ongoing health/social requirements and discharge arrangements.
- Work collaboratively to ensure care women receive is safe, kind and effective.
- Establish and maintain effective communication with women and their families.
- Collect, collate and report information, ensuring accurate records are maintained
- Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations
- Involve women and their families in the planning and delivery of care.
About us
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:
- The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
- Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
- Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.
The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £23 (standard) or £43 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £23 (standard) or £43 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person Specification
Qualification
Essential
- Registered Midwife
- Degree /relevant experience
- Teaching & Assessing qualification 998/ 997 Mentorship or equivalent within an agreed Timescale
Desirable
- Relevant speciality qualification i.e Examination of the Newborn / NALS/relevant experience
- Experience or equivalent knowledge of managing a team or management of change
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Willingness to develop speciality knowledge if applicable to post
- Able to maintain accurate records within the diversity of midwifery
- Able to present factual information and deal with questions
- 2 years post registration experience.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a continuity of carer model and keen to work within tis model
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Ability to communicate in a variety of midwifery settings
- Ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships with colleagues in a variety of health care setting.
- Able to deal with women and their families at times of emotional stress
Desirable
- Understanding of quality and change in the clinical setting
- Basic knowledge of Professional & NHS issues
- Understanding of National targets related to Midwifery Practice
Person Specification
Qualification
Essential
- Registered Midwife
- Degree /relevant experience
- Teaching & Assessing qualification 998/ 997 Mentorship or equivalent within an agreed Timescale
Desirable
- Relevant speciality qualification i.e Examination of the Newborn / NALS/relevant experience
- Experience or equivalent knowledge of managing a team or management of change
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Willingness to develop speciality knowledge if applicable to post
- Able to maintain accurate records within the diversity of midwifery
- Able to present factual information and deal with questions
- 2 years post registration experience.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a continuity of carer model and keen to work within tis model
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Ability to communicate in a variety of midwifery settings
- Ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships with colleagues in a variety of health care setting.
- Able to deal with women and their families at times of emotional stress
Desirable
- Understanding of quality and change in the clinical setting
- Basic knowledge of Professional & NHS issues
- Understanding of National targets related to Midwifery Practice
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
