Labour Ward Coordinator

Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Midwife to apply for the position of Labour Ward Co-ordinator. The Countess of Chester NHS Trust combines an obstetric led unit & MLU.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic & forward-thinking maternity team. We pride ourselves on our three core values to be safe, kind and effective. You will become a valued member of our maternity unit, be part of an innovative team that will help us to excel further to deliver our Trust objectives & values.

We are looking for an adaptable individual who has 5 years clinical experience, excellent interpersonal skills, works well as part of the multi-disciplinary team & has an ability to work under pressure, whilst moving the services forward.

The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate previous experience of leadership and staff management skills with recent experience in the intrapartum, Day unit, Triage and antenatal/ postnatal ward. The candidate would be able to co-ordinate safe, high-quality intra-partum care on a shift-by-shift basis.

Provide shift-by-shift leadership and operational management of the Labour Ward, MLU, Triage, Day Assessment and Induction of Labour rooms.

Coordinate safe staffing levels and allocate resources according to clinical acuity and service demands.

Maintain oversight of patient flow, bed capacity and escalation processes across maternity services.

Lead and support the multidisciplinary team to ensure the delivery of safe, effective and personalised care.

Act as a senior clinical resource, supporting complex decision-making and the escalation of clinical concerns.

Promote effective communication between midwifery, obstetric, neonatal and wider multidisciplinary teams.

Support and develop midwives, maternity support workers and students through leadership, supervision and role modelling.

Ensure compliance with national maternity safety standards, Trust policies and clinical governance requirements.

Lead safety huddles, incident management, risk identification and service improvement initiatives.

The Trust’s services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.

The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery

See Job Description for further details.

Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.

If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs will be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.​

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules

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.