Stroke Matron

Go back East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 13 January 2026

Come and join one of the UK's best performing Trust for Acute Stroke Care situated in the heart of historic city of Canterbury. Our service admits around 1200 acute stroke patients a year with HASU LoS of 5 days and ASU LoS of around 15 days. We provide east Kent stroke services based at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital (KCH). We have our Hyperacute and Acute stroke wards with a total capacity of 50 beds with 8 monitored hyperacute beds.

We provide Front-Door stroke urgent service 24/7 from the KCH Emergency Care Centre. Our hyperacute care includes IV Thrombolysis, Endovascular Mechanical Thrombectomy and Stroke Vascular Service (Kent & Medway) for – Rapid Access Carotid Endarterectomy (RACE). EKHUFT stroke service also provides 7/7 Neurovascular service for TIA.

We care about our patients and our people. We are focused on providing outstanding, safe patient care, and a positive working culture that benefits staff and patients alike. With our emphasis on staff training and development, a staff support scheme that's second to none, and a healthy package of benefits, it's easy to put down roots in East Kent Hospitals.

Stroke Matron will provide visible authoritative presence, inclusive leadership and professional accountability ensuring delivery of well‑led, safe, effective, responsive and compassionate care. The Matron has a pivotal role in creating best experiences in the safest environment for our service users where patient is always put in the centre of everything we do.

The Stroke Matron will lead service improvement, workforce establishment, and governance in line with the role expectations set out in the NHS England Matron's Handbook (2021). The post holder will act as a clinical leader, role model, and advocate for service users and staff groups. It is envisaged that 80% of this role will be spent on Leadership and Management and 20% spent on the direct Clinical Capacity.

Stroke Matron works within the Care Group's Corporate Team to drive the Quality and Compliance for NHS Fundamentals of Care. There is an expectation that the post holder will work closely with other Matrons and Multidisciplinary colleagues within the department and Care Groups and Trust boundaries in the interest of patient care.

The job holder will have developmental opportunities within the Corporate Team supported by the Directors of Nursing and Quality.

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'.

It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day‑to‑day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.

• RGN 1st level qualification – Currently Registered Nurse on the NMC
• Master's Degree or equivalent or willingness to work towards
• Knowledge & qualification on Patient Safety and Clinical Governance Process
• Teaching qualification or equivalent
• Leadership & Management Course
• Qualification in specialism:
  Stroke
• Attended/completed Matron's Development Days or equivalent

• Proven Leadership and management experience at a senior level
• Proven record of leading & effectively managing clinical services in Acute Sector
• Experience of successful resource & budget management
• Experience in managing risks within department and service development
• Expe…