Infection Prevention and Control Matron

Employer information

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

Barts Health supports the Pregnancy Loss Pledge and commits to supporting their staff through the distress of miscarriage.

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

Job overview

In conjunction with the Clinical Director, Infection Prevention & Control (IP&C) the post holder will be responsible for the co-ordination and development of a quality infection prevention and control service in their allocated site(s), providing leadership, support and guidance to all Trust staff and ensuring a patient focused service.

The post includes providing clinical and managerial leadership to the Infection Prevention & Control Nursing Team. The post holder will practice at an advanced level demonstrating a high level of autonomy and clinical decision-making. They will work as a highly specialised member of the Infection Prevention & Control Team, to assist in containing and reducing the incidence of infection across the Trust, through risk assessment, surveillance, audit, intervention and education. The role is a collaborative one, working with individuals and groups, across professional and organisational boundaries.

The post holder directly reports to the Associate Clinical Director, Infection Prevention & Control. They will manage their site's IP&C Nursing Team.

Main duties of the job

The IPC Matron will provide clinical and managerial leadership for the Infection Prevention and Control service at their allocated hospital site(s), delivering a patient-focused service that reduces healthcare-associated infections.
You will manage and develop the site IPC nursing and administrative team, provide expert, evidence-based advice and support outbreak management. Key responsibilities include surveillance, audit, risk assessment, staff education, policy development and implementation of the Trust IPC strategy. You will lead improvement projects, challenge poor practice, escalate risks and provide evidence and reports to support governance and assurance. Working across professional and organisational boundaries, you will promote safe care and effective infection prevention standards.
We are seeking a registered nurse with a specialist IPC qualification and significant senior IPC experience in acute healthcare. You will bring strong leadership, communication, influencing and organisational skills, with the ability to work autonomously, make sound clinical decisions and manage competing priorities. You will be confident in teaching, developing staff and delivering improvement, with a collaborative, resilient and innovative approach that reflects our WeCare values.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.

Person specification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant post-registration experience in infection prevention within an acute trust.
• Clinical experience within acute healthcare, with the ability to apply this experience to support staff in practice.
• Experience of professional leadership.
• Experience of research and development in practice.
• Experience of training and facilitating staff and practice development in varied settings, with individuals and small and large groups.
• Experience of implementing HR policies and procedures.

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of leading service development changes.
• Experience of coaching or mentoring individuals.
• Experience of publication or conferenceEvidence of regional or national working within IPC, for example through the Infection Prevention Society. presentations.
• Experience of budget management.
• Experience of developing and using governance frameworks and structures to minimise risk and improve patient safety
• Experience of working with different organisations to review complex infection issues or cases.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Proven leadership and management skills, including the ability to inspire and motivate a team to achieve excellence.
• Ability to plan and deliver projects and services within agreed timescales, anticipating problems and devising solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to positively challenge teams and individuals.
• Ability to work across professional and organisational boundaries to negotiate and agree joint programmes of work.
• Evidence of innovation in practice.
• Ability to negotiate and influence.
• Ability to prioritise a complex workload and support others to prioritise their workloads.
• IT literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and internet use, with excellent keyboard skills.
• Ability to deliver training and education to groups and individuals.

Desirable criteria

• Highly developed analytical skills, including identifying risks, anticipating issues, interpreting complex information and making decisions where there is no obvious solution.
• Ability to make strategic, risk-based decisions using specialist knowledge and an understanding of corporate priorities and challenges.
• Advanced critical analysis skills.
• Experience of policy development and effective implementation.
• Experience of leading change with measurable, evaluated outcomes.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Highly developed specialist knowledge across infection management, clinical practice, decontamination, cleanliness, environmental infection prevention and outbreak control.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of change management and leadership methodologies to sustain improvement in patient safety and inspire and lead a team.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Registered nurse on the live register, with significant senior IPC experience, including a minimum of four years at Band 7.
• Specialist qualification in infection prevention and control at a minimum of BSc level.
• Qualification or training in teaching and/or professional development.
• Evidence of ongoing personal development.

Desirable criteria

• Qualification in leadership development and/or management.

Other

Essential criteria

• Evidence of self-awareness, confidence, self-reliance and resilience.
• Evidence of a dynamic and enthusiastic approach.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and switch rapidly between pieces of work in response to unpredictable service demands.
• Ability to work in a rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to manage and balance conflicting demands on self and team.

Additional employer information

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment where staff treat one another with dignity and respect. We aim to create an equitable working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential.

As an Equal Opportunities Employer we actively support applications from individuals' who apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and will process your application as appropriate.

We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once a sufficient number of applications has been received and we regret that we are unable to provide notification if your application is unsuccessful.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to Barts Health NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Barts Health is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and to child protection. The Trust aims to ensure as far as is possible that anyone, paid or unpaid, who seeks to work in our organisation and who gains access to children, is safe to do so. As such, you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check as part of the recruitment process if appointed to a post with direct access to children or vulnerable adults.

Barts Health promotes active travel as part of its goal to reach Net Zero. Each site is accessible by public transport and the Trust has a cycle to work scheme and some sites have Brompton Hire Pods.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description and Person Specification Band 8a (PDF, 770.2KB)
• Our Values and Behaviours (PDF, 334.9KB)
• Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders (PDF, 92.0KB)
• Candidate Information Pack (PDF, 549.5KB)