Matron for Clinical Education – Theatres, Surgery and Elective Centre

Job Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced clinical education leader with significant senior perioperative experience to join the STACC Directorate in a Band 8A leadership role.

The post holder will provide strategic and operational leadership for clinical education, practice development and workforce development across Theatre services, ensuring a consistent approach to learning, professional development and clinical excellence across multiple sites. In addition, the post holder will provide expert educational guidance, support and advice to Surgery and the Elective Hub, working collaboratively with clinical and operational leaders to meet workforce, service and quality objectives.

The role will lead the development and delivery of education programmes that support high standards of patient care, professional practice and staff development. Working with multidisciplinary teams, the post holder will promote evidence-based practice, support workforce and succession planning, and contribute to service improvement and transformation.

Using extensive perioperative expertise, the post holder will lead practice development initiatives, embed learning from incidents, audits, patient feedback and best practice, and strengthen clinical governance and patient safety. This senior leadership role will influence workforce capability, quality improvement, service innovation and the delivery of safe, effective, patient-centred care across Theatres, Surgery and the Elective Hub.

Main duties of the job

• Provide senior clinical education leadership across Theatres
• Provide expert educational guidance, support and advice to Surgery and the Elective Hub, working collaboratively with clinical and operational leaders within STACC directorate
• Lead and coordinate workforce development, training programmes, and competency frameworks.
• Drive practice development initiatives, including preceptorship and clinical learning environments
• Embed learning from incidents, complaints and risk reviews into clinical practice
• Support governance and compliance through audits, monitoring and reporting
• Line manage and provide professional leadership to the Clinical Education team
• Undertake training needs analysis for theatres and oversee delivery of education programmes
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to improve patient safety and care quality
• Support development pathways for Bands 1–4 staff and contribute to apprenticeship and training initiatives
• Represent the Directorate in internal and external education and workforce forums

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

This senior Band 8A role provides leadership for clinical education and workforce development across Theatre services on multiple sites within the STACC Directorate. The post holder is responsible for ensuring high-quality, standardised education and practice development, supporting a workforce of approximately 500 staff and coordinating student learning.

In addition, the post holder will provide expert educational guidance, support and advice to Surgery and the Elective Hub, working collaboratively with clinical and operational leaders to support workforce, service and quality objectives.

Key responsibilities include leading and managing the Clinical Education team; delivering and overseeing education and training programmes; driving practice development and competency frameworks; embedding learning from incidents, complaints and clinical risk reviews; and supporting governance, audit and compliance requirements.

The role also involves working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, education providers and corporate functions to improve patient safety, workforce capability and quality of care, while contributing to service improvement and transformation across the Directorate.

Person specification

Essential

Essential criteria

• Registered NMC/AHP Practitioner
• Educated to Masters level or equivalent level of knowledge and experience
• PG Certificate in Education
• Teaching qualification eg ENB 997/998, Mentorship/SLIPs
• SIM Facilitator course or experience
• BSc/BA Degree healthcare related
• Exposure to Practice Development, preceptorship and Learning environment

Desirable criteria

• Counselling skills experience

Experience

Essential criteria

• Operating Theatre or Surgical multi-site working experience
• Experience of course design, lesson planning and reviewing poor performance

Desirable criteria

• Good understanding of the NHS modernisation agenda
• In-depth experience in a variety of hospital units.

Professional and functional experience

Essential criteria

• Exposure of working at the inter-face between the hospital and the prehospital environment
• Ability to implement post incident investigations

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.

We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.

We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.

Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.

Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.

Apply online now