Matron – Brain Injury Services

Situated within beautiful gardens and grounds, the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (RHN) is a leading national centre of excellence, providing adult person-centred services that span the entire care pathway from post-acute rehabilitation services to end of life care, for people with complex Neuro-disability and their families, underpinned by a strong research and education framework. We are committed to investing in and strengthening our senior nursing team in order to provide the best possible care and services to our patients and residents.

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, driven, dynamic nurse leader to join our senior nursing leadership team. As Matron of the Brain Injury Service (BIS), you will be responsible and accountable for the provision of person-centred patient care through role modelling strong clinical leadership to nursing teams across 2 units in the Brain Injury Service both of which are led by a senior nurse ward manager.

Closing date for applications: 27/02/2025

The Brain Injury Service encompasses two clinical pathways: Complex Rehabilitation and Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness (PDOC) assessment and disability management. Our BIS units provide values-based, goal-orientated rehab for people following severe brain injury. Our Complex Rehabilitation programme is patient-centred and endeavours to work on self-directed goals where the patient is able.

You will have the support of and work closely with our other four Matrons who cover the following services:

Ventilation and Complex Respiratory Service
Neuro-behavioral Service
Young Adults Service
Specialist Nursing Home

We are proud of our gold accreditation as “ Leaders in Safeguarding” as the first healthcare provider in England to achieve this prestigious award and our recent achievement of becoming the first independent hospital in the UK to be awarded the international nursing designation of ‘Pathway to Excellence®’.

We have a passion for learning and development and supporting our staff through their career journey within the RHN. We have many in house and external services which all our employees have access to which include our organisational development team who offer a vast range of training opportunities.

What we can offer you:

Free counselling and therapy sessions and other mental wellbeing support through our partner CIC Wellbeing
Get involved in our free on-site wellbeing programs, including weekly yoga, and monthly pottery club (we are the UK’s only hospital with its own kiln)
Financial support services such as low-interest loans and help with savings accounts through our partnership with London Capital Credit Union
Join our wellbeing networks to connect with people in our hospital; we have a Pride network, Women’s network, and our Race Equality network. We also have heritage events to celebrate the diversity of our workforce – most recently we had a South East Asian celebration.
Free on-site parking (rare in London)
More benefits: Cycle2Work scheme, tech purchase support scheme, Blue Light Card discounts, and more.

How we work and behave – with each other, patients, relatives and others is a vital ingredient which makes the RHN stand out as a provider of services to people affected by brain injury.

Our values come from within the organisation and reflect our desire to meet the complex needs of people with profound disabilities arising from acquired brain injury. Those values are:

Seeing the whole person
Willingness to learn
Delivery on promises
Honesty and Integrity

How we do what we do is underpinned by the concept of individualised care – ensuring that everything we do is truly personalised in all areas, running through all that we do.

Main Objectives of the Role

To provide leadership and direction to the nursing workforce in the Brain Injury Service.
To provide day-to-day management and supervision of the Brain Injury Service nursing workforce, ensuring that RHN provide clinically excellent, safe care through a person-centred model of care to each individual patient.
To ensure nursing complies fully with the NMC code and standards of practice.
To create a humanising culture where quality is at the centre of everything we do and it is delivered on all occasions, to the highest level, in accordance with the appropriate regulations, professional standards and legislation.
To deliver against the nursing budget and workforce planning targets, managing staffing efficiently and effectively in line with safe staffing principles.
To participate in the on call Clinical Response Service across the hospital.
To work collaboratively with the Director of Nursing, matrons, the Clinical Education Team and Clinical Nurse Specialist team and all key stake holders to deliver safe, effective nursing and day to day management of wards.
To deputise for the Director of Nursing as required
To be responsible for the implementation of organisational policies and procedures within the Brain Injury Service
To participate in complaints management within the framework of the hospital complaints policy; this will include undertaking investigations, incident reporting and investigating and root cause analyses including reviewing trends and reporting and monitoring.
To ensure that the Patient Safety and Incident Framework (PSIRF) is applied across the organisation under the leadership of the Head of Patient Safety and Quality Assurance.

Person specification: Essential (E) and Desirable (D)

Qualifications:

First level Registered Nurse with current registration on the NMC register E
First degree in relevant subject or post-registration qualification in Specialist Practice that is relative to the role E
Evidence of continuing professional development at degree level or equivalent. E
Master’s Degree or demonstrated commitment of working towards one D
Relevant management/leadership qualification or evidenced experience. E

Knowledge and Experience:

Extensive post-registration experience at ward and department level in a Neuro or Neuro-disability setting and/or in a medical nursing environment, including but not limited to experience of complex long-term conditions, and the acutely unwell patient. E
Experience working in a neuro-rehabilitation setting D
Experience of delivering clinical supervision and evidence of clinical audit. E
Evidence of astute financial awareness to inform clinical decisions without compromising patient care, e.g. ordering specialist equipment etc. E
A demonstrable commitment to team and MDT work. E
A demonstrable commitment to evidence based practice and undertaking and supporting Nursing research. E
Have an understanding of the National Service Frameworks for patients with long term conditions and the ability to apply this in care delivery. E
Understanding of specific Rehabilitation Outcomes tools and UK-ROC data, providing support, training and mentoring of staff for the effective data entry with respect to nursing inputs. D
Ability to keep up to date with current best practice guidance, including the BSRM guidance and be able to apply where relevant to practise E

Interested in applying and hearing from us?

If you are interested in becoming part of the team to help and support our patients, we would welcome you to contact us to find out more about the role and would be happy to show you around our service and answer any questions you may have.

For further information please contact Declan Lawlor, Senior Resourcing Advisor [email protected] or 07887 566017

To provide leadership and direction to the nursing workforce in the Brain Injury Service.
To provide day-to-day management and supervision of the Brain Injury Service nursing workforce, ensuring that RHN provide clinically excellent, safe care through a person-centred model of care to each individual patient.
To ensure nursing complies fully with the NMC code and standards of practice.
To create a humanising culture where quality is at the centre of everything we do and it is delivered on all occasions, to the highest level, in accordance with the appropriate regulations, professional standards and legislation.
To deliver against the nursing budget and workforce planning targets, managing staffing efficiently and effectively in line with safe staffing principles.
To participate in the on call Clinical Response Service across the hospital.
To work collaboratively with the Director of Nursing, matrons, the Clinical Education Team and Clinical Nurse Specialist team and all key stake holders to deliver safe, effective nursing and day to day management of wards.
To deputise for the Director of Nursing as required
To be responsible for the implementation of organisational policies and procedures within the Brain Injury Service
To participate in complaints management within the framework of the hospital complaints policy; this will include undertaking investigations, incident reporting and investigating and root cause analyses including reviewing trends and reporting and monitoring.
To ensure that the Patient Safety and Incident Framework (PSIRF) is applied across the organisation under the leadership of the Head of Patient Safety and Quality Assurance.

Nursing: Patient Care and Patient Experience

To provide a clear focus for nursing, with a highly visible presence within the wards.
To be responsible for ensuring there are systems in place that results in the provision of care in a suitable environment that is safe, providing for the physical, psychological and emotional requirements of patients, relatives, staff and other service users; identifying clinical risks and ensuring appropriate action is taken in accordance with RHN policies.
To be responsible for recruitment and retention of nursing in the Brain Injury Service to ensure that, the highest standards of care are delivered against agreed workforce planning targets and budgets.
To ensure the delivery of care is within best practice guidelines and compliant with the NMC Standards and Code of Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses, Midwives and Nursing Associates including the Professional Guidance on the Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines and The NMC Code – Standards relevant to Record Keeping.
To participate and lead in the clinical audit programme as required
To be responsible for overseeing the nursing rehabilitation outcome measures submitted to UKROC
To manage and monitor absence levels for nursing supported by the Director of Nursing and HR Business Partner.
To be responsible for nursing performance including any disciplinary issues within the Brain Injury Service, supported by the HR Business Partner.
To be involved in decision making as part of the MDT which centre on the pre-assessed care needs of potential patients regarding suitability of placements and to manage the discharge pathway ensuring a smooth transition between service and/or back to the community.
To be accountable for ensuring that infection prevention and control (IPC) audit result are acted on across the Brain Injury Service and that and action plans and feedback from alert organisms are discussed at ward and department level, recording actions and compliance with those actions. This will require working closely with the Clinical Nurse Specialist for IPC.
To provide leadership and direction in safeguarding vulnerable adults in their service, collaboratively working with the Head of Safeguarding
To adhere to an effective method of incident management and provide quality assurance that concerns are being addressed in a timely manner.
Awareness of the mental capacity act and deprivation of liberty legislation and its application in the context of neuro rehabilitation.

Leadership

Lead and be responsible for the delivery of effective nursing for a complex group of patients and their families, ensuring compassionate, humanised and efficient care, making sure the patient is always central to the service and how it is delivered.
Line manage the Ward Managers on the Brain Injury Service, overseeing resource management in line with the workforce planning strategy.
Implement and maintain a robust quality assurance system to ensure consistent high standards of care in line with regulatory requirements and best practice.
Contribute to the review plans, policies and procedures, in line with current emergent and anticipated needs, best practice, regulatory requirements and legislation.
Ensure the provision of high standards of holistic care which directly relates to care plans and the regularly reassessed needs of patients.
Make decisions based on the pre-assessed care needs of potential patients regarding suitability of placements.
Ensure robust engagement with MDT and agencies and ensure that this is reflected in patients’ personalised care plans.
Wherever possible, ensure that there are meaningful mechanisms in place which facilitate patients having an input into the running of the service, resulting in patient choice as part of the overall objective to achieve person-centred care.
Actively encourage and support patient families and friends to maintain contact and to participate in the choices being made about care provision.
Work closely with estates and housekeeping to ensure a patient environment which is clean, comfortable and safe; represent nursing as required to support these services.
Lead on a portfolio depending on your experience and interest

Financial

Deliver the service within the agreed budget, raising awareness of any variance and agreeing actions as required to minimise those variances.
Support the Head of Service to meet their occupancy targets.
Ability to flex staffing requirements depending on bed occupancy. Have a strong understanding of staffing requirements in a neuro rehabilitation setting as per British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine guidelines.
Ability to effectively manage key performance indicators such as sickness, annual leave and training.
With the Director of Nursing, meet the workforce planning targets, minimising the dependency on agency staff through the robust management of staff rostering.

Human Resources and Organisational Development:

Work closely with the HR Business Partner to manage staff performance including any performance management, conduct and disciplinary issues.
To be responsible for managing the attendance of nursing staff, addressing prolonged absences supported by the HR Business Partner, within the framework of RHN policy.
Being highly visible, the Matron will support the organisational development agenda and RHN values.
With the support of their teams and HR Business Partner, the Matron will manage vacancies as they occur, supported by the Director of Nursing and in line with the Nursing Strategy.

Organisation-wide:

Build and maintain effective working relationships with all key stakeholders.
Develop relationships with external agencies as required e.g., social services, national agencies and the community to support person-centred care.
From time to time participating in additional duties as required by the Director of Nursing to support the patient agenda.

View full job description To open a PDF you may need to download Adobe Reader

Benefits

Apply for this role

Candidates applying for a role at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability will be expected to have received their vaccination against the coronavirus strain (COVID-19) as part of our pre-employment process before commencing employment at the RHN. Please let us know if you have not managed to arrange to receive the vaccine via other channels yet, as we can arrange the administration of the vaccine within the hospital. Please note that if you have a medical reason as to why you are not able to have the vaccine or you have any questions on the vaccination, please feel free to contact [email protected].

Matron – Brain Injury Services

Main objectives of the role

Key responsibilities