Job overview

Working Full or Part time hours 

We are seeking enthusiastic and dynamic midwives to join our highly motivated Midwifery team at The Countess of Chester. The post holder will have completed their preceptorship and will be expected to rotate around Labour ward, Triage, Inpatient Ward, Antenatal Clinic and Community.  They will participate in an on call rota to cover the inpatient service in times of escalation.

We are committed to providing a safe and positive experience to our women, while recognising that staff are our greatest asset. We engage with our staff at all levels to discuss ideas to improve our care, while providing staff development opportunities.

With 1800  births per year, our Maternity Service  includes the following:

• An alongside midwifery unit
• An 8 bed consultant led obstetric Unit
• A Community midwifery service
• A Fetal Medicine Service inc. preterm clinics
• A  27 bed antenatal and postnatal ward providing 4 transitional care beds 
• Specialist midwives within Bereavement, Infant Feeding, Perinatal Mental Health Midwife, Smoking cessation, Fetal Services, Fetal monitoring.
• Close relationship with our local Maternity Voice Partnership

We are also excited to announce we are currently working on plans for our new maternity unit which is planned to open in July 2025.

Main duties of the job

1. Work autonomously within guidelines and Sphere of Professional Practice within a designated area whilst being responsible for performing a comprehensive assessment plan, implementation and evaluation of care delivery according to the health and social needs of women and their babies.
2. Work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies to ensure women and their families’ needs are met especially in relation to ongoing health/social requirements and discharge arrangements.
3. Work collaboratively to ensure care women receive is safe, kind and effective.
4. Establish and maintain effective communication with women and their families.
5. Collect, collate and report information, ensuring accurate records are maintained
6. Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations
7. Involve women and their families in the planning and delivery of care.

Working for our organisation

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.                                                                 

The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.