Lead Diabetes Specialist Midwife

Job summary

Diabetes in pregnancy increases the risk of serious health complications to women and their babies. The diabetes team at South Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT) help to support women with diabetes to greatly reduce these risks. Are you a midwife who is interested in joining the diabetes team and improve outcomes for women? If so, we are looking forward to hearing from you!

We have an exciting opportunity for a Lead Diabetes Specialist Midwife. You will lead the team and demonstrate expert knowledge, under pinned by evidence-based practice.

Main duties of the job:

• The post holder will be responsible for the co-ordination and oversight of the diabetes service within maternity.
• Together with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) they will develop and provide appropriate programmes of care for pregnant women who have diabetes.
• Education is a key aspect of this role and the post holder will be required to deliver training to support staff so that they are competent to provide care to women with diabetes.
• The post holder will also be required to work with the MDT to develop any plans to meet any national targets such as Saving Babies Lives (SBL): version 3.

SWFT are committed to obtaining the best outcomes for mothers and babies and this role will be critical in that.

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Date posted: 27 March 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 7

Salary: £46,148 to £52,809 a year pro rata

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Part-time

Reference number: 203-FH1031

Job locations: Warwick Hospital, Lakin Road, Warwick, CV34 5BW

Job description Job responsibilities

Clinical

To provide clinical leadership, giving advice and support to staff as required and acting as women's advocate at all times.

To monitor and evaluate clinical standards within the department ensuring that clinical practices are evidence based and bench-marked against best practice locally, regionally and nationally.

To ensure that all care programmes are accurately documented and that the standard of record keeping reflects the NMC and Trust guidelines for records and record keeping.

To act as an autonomous practitioner to provide highly specialised advice and support to pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes, those who develop gestational diabetes, their families and other health care professionals.

Develop communication strategies for giving complex information in a variety of formats so that women, birthing people and their families can receive information in a sensitive way that meets their needs.

Demonstrate expert knowledge of and practice in the use of treatment regimens during pregnancy and the immediate post-natal period.

To advise on the stabilisation of women on insulin according to locally formulated guidelines and protocols.

To support diabetic clinics and manage own caseload.

Perform antenatal checks and review ultrasound findings and discuss with the patient and obstetric/medical team as necessary.

To review antenatal and postnatal women in hospital and be available via telephone contact for the purpose of assessment, stabilisation and continuing care.

To teach women the skills necessary for home blood glucose monitoring and self-administration of insulin.

Ability to perform assessments of women's needs and liaise with other members of the multi-disciplinary team where necessary.

To ensure that midwifery practice is appropriate for each individual woman for whom care is provided.

Work independently and with other health care professionals in primary and secondary care; you will be expected to plan and co-ordinate specialised programmes of care.

To supervise, support, guide, assist in the development of and assess the competency of midwives and junior medical staff.

To participate in the mentoring process with designated personnel as appropriate.

To assume responsibility for the safe custody and administration of drugs in accordance with the Trust Policies, Guidelines and Statutory Rules and Regulation.

To be part of clinical escalation within the maternity unit.

Management

To develop good working relationships with other ward/ departments/ agencies within and outside the Trust, ensuring that all stakeholders understand, respect and recognise the Trust's philosophy and operational policies.

To provide a visible, accessible and authoritative presence in the maternity unit to whom patients and their families can turn to for assistance, advice and support.

To effectively manage the diabetes caseload.

To provide effective direction and support to the midwives and clerical staff within the team by communication and role model example.

To co-ordinate activity in the diabetes clinics and work within allocated resources.

To maintain effective channels of communication both within and external to the Trust.

To investigate complaints, incidents and accidents within the team and assist in their resolution and dissemination of learning outcomes.

To attend or send representation to relevant meetings as requested.

To allocate and manage own time, creating a balance between clinical and managerial duties.

To effectively monitor the performance of all the midwives and support workers in the diabetes team using the Trust's HR tools and resources.

Research and Service Development and Education

To understand new health care related developments ensuring that midwifery practice is evidence based, cost effective and regularly benchmarked against best practice.

To understand all national initiatives and assist in the implementation in order to influence patient care and service delivery.

To be aware of and support local and national research projects as applicable.

Attend regional Diabetes Screening Forum and network with other diabetes specialist midwives.

Assist in the design, implementation and evaluation of structured education programmes to meet the needs of health care professionals working both within and outside the Trust.

To ensure and facilitate in meeting training needs of student midwives by providing a suitable learning environment and by engaging in clinical teaching where appropriate.

Professional

To provide dynamic and visionary leadership, giving expert, professional advice, guidance and support to staff and service users.

To challenge traditional boundaries and introduce new ways of working if applicable.

To maintain responsibility for personal and professional development of self, enhancing individual performance to deliver organisational objectives, maintain valid NMC registration and practise in accordance with the NMC Code.

To maintain effective communication and working relationships within the team and between the team and with the wider MDT.

To actively foster strong links with other clinical areas and support agencies.

Clinical Governance

To ensure that midwifery practice specific to diabetes is in keeping with current research by the development of an evidence based culture and the implementation of research and evidence based protocols and guidelines.

To maintain, monitor and evaluate standards of care within the midwifery team and to assist in the implementation of recommendations from Government or Professional bodies in relation to maternity care specific to diabetes.

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Registered midwife with significant experience
• Additional Qualification, or experience, in diabetes care

Desirable

• Recognised Teaching and Assessor Qualification

Experience Essential

• Evidence of management/ leadership skills and autonomous practice
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Ability to analyse and understand information and clinical data
• Experience of managing difficult situations
• Experience in the delivery of education and training programmes with field of expertise

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

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Warwick Hospital

Lakin Road

Warwick

CV34 5BW

Employer's website

https://www.swft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)