Clinical Quality Improvement Lead

Position Overview

**Newly Established Role in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) - Band 7 Clinical Quality Improvement Lead**

We invite applications from individuals with a nursing background who possess transferable skills. While experience in CAMHS is advantageous, it is not a prerequisite.

An exciting opportunity has emerged for a dedicated, enthusiastic, and committed professional to become part of the growing CAMHS inpatient service.

In our CAMHS inpatient unit, we are deeply invested in the well-being of young individuals and their mental health. The selected candidate will play a crucial role in enhancing the inpatient experience for our patients, their families, and the staff team, ensuring the delivery of high-quality care.

This distinctive position within Pennine Care involves collaboration with the Inpatient Service Manager, Acute Pathway Lead, and Head of Quality. You will work alongside the inpatient nursing teams to facilitate the implementation and advancement of clinical excellence and best practices in alignment with the trust's quality objectives and national standards.

The ideal candidate will possess substantial clinical experience and a keen interest in quality enhancement, with prior involvement in quality improvement initiatives within a mental health context, or a willingness to pursue necessary training to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills for successful performance in this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide Professional and Clinical Leadership
• Enhance and expand the existing CAMHS inpatient training program and orientation for new staff
• Conduct Clinical Audits and establish standards
• Implement Quality Initiatives
• Serve as a learning leader, focusing on the educational needs of staff, commissioning learning opportunities, and acting as an authority on practice enhancement.
• Be a visible and proactive clinical leader and role model within the multidisciplinary team, actively engaging in the delivery of clinical care at the ward level, including clinical risk assessments.
• Assist the service area in meeting clinical governance objectives by participating in individual service evaluations, ensuring the formulation of action plans, and sharing best practices.
• Maintain personal skills and clinical credibility through ongoing professional development.
• Engage in clinical work to assess standards and identify areas of concern and excellence.
• Stay informed about current clinical practices relevant to your area of expertise.
• Support ward staff in managing complex cases.
• Act as a resource for all staff members.
• Promote and ensure research-based practices.

About Us

We take pride in delivering high-quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community, across multiple boroughs.

Our vision is to foster a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities, and our staff are dedicated to providing the best possible care for those who utilize our services. We are proud of our #PennineCarePeople and strive to create an excellent working environment.

We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including those with lived experiences of mental illness, whether personally or as a caregiver.

Role Responsibilities

Clinical Quality Improvement Lead

This role is distinctive in that the Clinical Quality Improvement Lead serves as a learning leader, concentrating on the educational needs of staff, commissioning learning, and acting as an authority on practice enhancement.

The successful candidate will engage in audit activities with the Head of Quality to support the enhancement of nursing practices and care standards in collaboration with our quality leadership.

Collaborative Working: The selected candidate will work in partnership with the nursing team to develop processes that ensure patients, their caregivers, and families are actively involved in decisions affecting their care.

Quality Assurance: A Clinical Quality Improvement Lead will ensure that patient care records are multidisciplinary and that the standards of record-keeping, patient assessments, care planning, risk assessments, and management are executed in accordance with established care protocols.

Initiate patient-centered interventions that acknowledge the diverse social, cultural, religious, and spiritual needs of individuals, ensuring that quality assurance, governance, and risk management strategies are effectively implemented at the ward level. Develop and monitor action plans arising from incident reports.

Organizational Standards: In collaboration with Ward Managers, Service Leads, and the Head of Quality, the Clinical Quality Improvement Lead will develop and uphold high standards throughout inpatient services concerning cleanliness, catering standards, and infection control, with particular attention to patient privacy and dignity, taking appropriate action when issues arise.

Work with Infection Control Nurses and Ward Managers to ensure robust systems are in place to minimize the risk of hospital-acquired infections and maximize infection control measures. Promote the involvement of service users, relatives, and advocates in the evaluation and development of services, acting as the primary contact for the PALS Officer.

Standards and Compliance: Investigate complaints and clinical incidents related to nursing practices within the inpatient setting, collaborating with all members of the ward teams, including during unsocial hours when necessary.

Education and Training: Collaborate with relevant parties to enhance the ward's learning environment, supporting the training of pre-registration nurses, preceptorship programs, and the competency development of trained staff.

Commission, develop, and promote learning networks that ensure best practices are in place and that learning from incidents is integral to practice improvements.

This job description is not exhaustive but aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the role. Additional duties within the general scope of the position may be required periodically. The responsibilities of the post and job description can be reviewed through the agreed process.

General Duties of All Post Holders: Undertake any other reasonable duties appropriate to the band when requested by senior management, and be familiar with and comply with all Trust and departmental policies, procedures, protocols, and guidelines.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential:

• Professional nursing qualification/registration
• Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant health-related field
• Experience in change management within a health-related context
• Completion of short courses and experience at the Master's level

Desirable:

• Recognized leadership or management qualification
• Project management qualification or willingness to pursue PRINCE2 certification

Experience

Essential:

• Experience leading clinical projects and implementing change
• Proven track record of achieving targets
• Experience in a leadership role, managing and developing junior staff
• Experience analyzing and evaluating complex data
• Experience writing and presenting high-quality reports to various stakeholders
• Experience delivering training or workshops across diverse staff teams and disciplines
• Promotion and development of internal and external partnerships
• Experience in co-design and patient partnership initiatives
• Project management skills with demonstrable experience in leading projects

Desirable:

• Previous management/leadership of a recovery/CQUIN initiative
• Experience working with families and caregivers
• Previous experience utilizing quality improvement methods to initiate and deliver service development

Knowledge

Essential:

• Excellent IT skills - Word, Excel, data collection models
• Working knowledge of the new code of practice (MHA 1983) and other government policies aimed at improving mental health services
• Awareness of whole-person care
• Knowledge of the role of co-production in designing and delivering quality services
• Understanding the importance of engaging individuals with lived experience in the design and delivery of quality care
• Recognizing the significance of involving caregivers in the design and delivery of quality care
• Understanding the importance of engaging staff in the design and delivery of quality care

Skills and Abilities

Essential:

• Ability to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively to meet strict deadlines
• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of external and internal partners, patients, and caregivers
• Excellent interpersonal skills, both written and verbal
• Able to analyze complex data or information to develop innovative working methods
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
• Demonstrable leadership skills
• Evidence of supporting a range of staff in achieving project objectives
• Ability to create action plans and solve problems
• Ability to envision and translate this into a meaningful action plan
• Ability to effectively evaluate projects and apply ongoing improvement methodologies to plan changes

Desirable:

• Understanding of operational service structures within an NHS Trust setting and the ability to work within these frameworks to deliver service improvements