East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Matron - Specialist Surgery [ENT]

The closing date is 12 February 2026

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a part-time Matron to work as a job share on our Ashford Site in our Specialist Surgery department, primarily focusing on our ENT patients. As a visible and accessible clinical leader, the Matron will foster a culture of excellence, safety, and continuous improvement, offering guidance and support to staff, patients, and families.

Main duties of the job

The predominant responsibilities of the role will be to provide clinical leadership to department and ward managers in balancing the challenges of providing safe services with excellent outcomes and in a way that delivers efficiencies and meets the expectations of patients and the public.

To provide clinical leadership to department and ward managers in delivering person-centred, safe and effective care and develop the leadership capability of others.

To maintain a highly visible presence as a role model to staff, patients and visitors by working a minimum of 50% time in clinical practice, this can be through face to face complaints management, hands on patient care or part of department/ward-based rounds for example.

To hold professional accountability for patient safety and effective care with a particular focus on the strategic priorities of handover of care, preventable venous thromboembolic events, practice errors, catheter associated UTIs, falls with harm, pressure ulcers and sepsis.

As the Matron, you will be responsible for supporting the Head of Nursing, by establishing effective relationships to enable collaborative working to design local improvements on behalf of Critical Care, Anaesthetics, & Specialist Surgery CCASS Care Group

About us

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.

Details

Date posted

06 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time, Job share

Reference number

344-2027SAC

Job locations

WHH Hospital

Kennington Road

Willesborough, Ashford

TN24 0LZ


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in Documents to download.

If you have further queries please dont hesitate to contact the line manager using the contact details below.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in Documents to download.

If you have further queries please dont hesitate to contact the line manager using the contact details below.

Person Specification

Qualification and Training

Essential

  • Minimum three years at Band 7 (or higher clinical grade) in a hospital setting.
  • Extensive post registration experience.
  • Ability to evidence continuous quality improvement.
  • Ability to evidence resolving user concerns effectively

Desirable

  • Monitoring and audit of facilities services and clinical environment

Clinical Skills and Experience

Essential

  • Patient and carer centred approach.
  • Clinical credibility and knowledge of evidence based clinical practice.
  • IT Skills
  • Highly developed verbal and written communication skills.
  • Influencing and negotiating skills. Coaching and facilitating skills. Staff development and empowerment
  • Ability to handle difficult situations with tact and diplomacy. Ability to manage conflicting and complex issues.

Governance

Essential

  • Ability to prioritise workload and cope under pressure in order to meet deadlines.
  • Calm under pressure.
  • Ability to lead a team

Personal/Professional Attributes

Essential

  • Local improvement journey priorities.
  • Current Health Service priorities. National and local nursing agenda.
  • Clinical Governance.
  • Health & Safety

Desirable

  • National Standards for cleanliness in hospitals. PLACE programme.
  • National Standards for Privacy & Dignity.
  • NHSLA Standards

Other requirements

Essential

  • Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development related to role.
Person Specification

Qualification and Training

Essential

  • Minimum three years at Band 7 (or higher clinical grade) in a hospital setting.
  • Extensive post registration experience.
  • Ability to evidence continuous quality improvement.
  • Ability to evidence resolving user concerns effectively

Desirable

  • Monitoring and audit of facilities services and clinical environment

Clinical Skills and Experience

Essential

  • Patient and carer centred approach.
  • Clinical credibility and knowledge of evidence based clinical practice.
  • IT Skills
  • Highly developed verbal and written communication skills.
  • Influencing and negotiating skills. Coaching and facilitating skills. Staff development and empowerment
  • Ability to handle difficult situations with tact and diplomacy. Ability to manage conflicting and complex issues.

Governance

Essential

  • Ability to prioritise workload and cope under pressure in order to meet deadlines.
  • Calm under pressure.
  • Ability to lead a team

Personal/Professional Attributes

Essential

  • Local improvement journey priorities.
  • Current Health Service priorities. National and local nursing agenda.
  • Clinical Governance.
  • Health & Safety

Desirable

  • National Standards for cleanliness in hospitals. PLACE programme.
  • National Standards for Privacy & Dignity.
  • NHSLA Standards

Other requirements

Essential

  • Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development related to 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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

Employer details

Employer name

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

WHH Hospital

Kennington Road

Willesborough, Ashford

TN24 0LZ


Employer's website

https://www.ekhuft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

WHH Hospital

Kennington Road

Willesborough, Ashford

TN24 0LZ


Employer's website

https://www.ekhuft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Head of Nursing

Maria Jenner

mariajenner@nhs.net

07970546127

Details

Date posted

06 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time, Job share

Reference number

344-2027SAC

Job locations

WHH Hospital

Kennington Road

Willesborough, Ashford

TN24 0LZ


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)