The newly created role of Director of Midwifery, which sits within Urgent Care Group at the Trust, will be a leader and advocate for safe, high quality maternity care, managing the strategic and operational delivery of maternity services locally.

The Director of Midwifery is a key position, accountable to the Chief Nurse and Care Group Medical Director (Urgent Care), for the strategic planning of maternity services and the provision of midwifery care, the provision of strategic, professional leadership and advice, and acting as both an advocate for women and the expert voice of the profession. The role will have a prime focus on the delivery of high standards of women-centred are across integrated care pathways and services at Royal Berkshire Hospital and the local community.

The role has been created due to a significant and dedicated initiative for Maternity at the Trust. The Director of Midwifery is a strategic position; focused on the improvement of system and services, horizon scanning, proactivity in responding to external reviews, guiding the division to success and building a strong network within the Maternity discipline/world. The postholder will strategically and innovatively lead the division and will work in close partnership with Chief Midwifery Officers and Director of Midwiferies in neighbouring systems, with the aim of bringing best practice, improvement and tactical focus for planning across the system with Royal Berkshire NHS FT and its Partners.

The Director of Midwifery will be visible and accessible; within NHS England, the region and locally, sharing the highest quality practice and new developments, ensuring RBFT is well-informed and at the forefront of innovation. The successful applicant will purposefully and ambitiously lead the development and growth of Maternity at RBFT by future-proofing and driving the organisation’s application of all learning to improve outcomes and driving innovation. The Trust already has a strong performing Midwifery function, being ranked third in amongst all Trusts in the South East of England, and it is the organisation’s goal to build further on this strong performance. The postholder will also be instrumental in empowering Equality and Diversity within the service to ensure consistent improvement in this area and services overall; with access and quality care for all of their patients, from all backgrounds, when they are at RBFT.