Patient Safety Partner

Go back South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Patient Safety Partner The closing date is 12 December 2025 Would you like to help the future of Patient Safety within South Western Ambulance Service? Do you have a keen interest in making care safer for patients, and have a 'lived' patient or carer experience of the ambulance or other NHS services? We are recruiting two voluntary Patient Safety Partners (PSPs), which is a lay role developed by NHS England to help improve patient safety, for a tenure of initially 18 months. Our PSPs work alongside our teams to ensure that decisions, processes and risks are considered from a patient perspective. This is a lay role working on an honorary contract (i.e. non-employment) basis within a multi‑disciplinary team of professionals dedicated to the provision of outstanding patient‑centred care. Successful applicants will be expected to commit to approximately 2 days per month to the role for the period of the tenure, for which we will pay an involvement payment of £75 per half‑day / £150 per full day (equivalent to £20 per hour) for attending committee and other patient safety related meetings. Expenses, such as travel, will also be paid. As this is a lay role, this is not open to current Trust employees. Main duties of the job A Patient Safety Partner is actively involved in the design of safer healthcare at all levels in the organisation. The PSP will work collaboratively within the Patient Safety and Clinical Governance teams to represent the voice of the patient, and will attend relevant committees, and support key improvement projects, delivered by the Patient Safety Team. Using their 'lived experience' as a patient or a member of their local community, the PSP will support and advise the Trust on activities, policies and procedures that will help improve patient safety and promote high quality care. Through their objective contribution, 'lived experiences', and patient/carer insights, the PSP will help support effective safety governance and risk management. Our PSPs are active members of the Trust's Quality Assurance & Learning Committee, whose primary objective is to ensure that patient care and services are safe and effective, that safety learnings are identified, and that risks to quality are managed and escalated appropriately. Our PSPs will jointly chair, with other PSP(s), the Trust's quarterly Patient Participation Panel which is attended by patients, their families and members of the public to provide feedback with the aim of improving the care and service provided to our patients. Our PSPs should ensure that any committee or group of which they are a member considers and prioritises the service user, patient, carer and family perspective and champions a diversity of views. About us Working for us is an experience like no other. We provide emergency and urgent care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, operating across the largest ambulance region in England of 10,000 square miles and responding to an average of 2,650 incidents every day. We remain committed to ensuring that we provide the best possible care for all our patients, which is reflected in our new five‑year strategy which has continually improving patient care at its very core. At the heart of our beautiful and diverse region we employ over 6000 people and are supported by over 575 volunteers. Job responsibilities Being one of the joint chairs of the Patient Participation Panel which is attended by patients, and members of the public to provide feedback. Being a member of the Trust’s Quality Assurance & Learning Committee, whose primary objective is to ensure that patient care and services are safe and effective, and that risks to quality are managed and escalated appropriately. Talking with patients and staff about safety and what matters to them. Being part of project teams contributing to the design of improvement plans focused upon improving safe care and associated systems/processes. Helping develop patient safety information resources. Helping us understand what we do well and how we can do more of this. Person Specification Skills and experience Recent and relevant experience of being a patient, carer of someone using health services. Understanding of patient safety. Ability to communicate well in writing. Confidence and ability to chair meetings. Ability to put forward views on behalf of wider community, not own opinion only. Experience of championing health improvements. Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Address Trust HQ, Exeter but predominantly working from home. Depending on experience £20 per hour involvement payment. Volunteer lay role. Contract Honorary Working pattern Part‑time Reference number 202-7607619 Job locations Trust HQ, Exeter but predominantly working from home #J-18808-Ljbffr