Quality Assurance Manager

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations. Job overviewThe Quality Assurance Team is responsible for developing and providing systems and information to support clinical and operation work across the trust in the following areas: Patient Experience, NICE implementation, Clinical Audit, Service User Led Accreditation, Quality Reporting and Regulatory Compliance (CQC). A key principle underlying each of these areas is the use of testing new or innovative approaches and informing the Quality Improvement programme. The post holder will ensure the Trust meets its clinical regulatory requirements as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The post-holder will support the team's management of relationships with the clinical directorates. Main duties of the jobThe post holder will be responsible for leading the trust Quality Assurance agenda, contributing to improving outcomes in clinical quality and patient experience across mental health and community health services in East London, Bedfordshire and Luton. Although the post is based in Central London, the post holder will be expected to travel across the entire geography of the Trust on a regular basis. Working for our organisationThe East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) strategy is to improve the lives of all we serve through improving population health outcomes, staff and service user experience and offering the best value for the community. Detailed job description and main responsibilities The Quality Assurance Manager plays a key role in supporting East London NHS Foundation Trust to deliver safe, effective, high quality care. The postholder will provide professional leadership across a portfolio of directorates, working closely with clinical and operational colleagues to build strong quality assurance capability and to embed a culture of continuous improvement. They will contribute to the production of high quality reports, including Quality Accounts and Quality & Safety reports, and will support the strategic development of the Trust's quality assurance functions.The postholder will maintain close effective working relationships with directorate teams, providing expert advice on quality assurance processes, methodologies and improvement planning. They will oversee and support members of the Quality Assurance (QA) Team, contributing to the development, supervision and induction of staff, and leading elements of the team's workstreams. The role includes organising and facilitating Trust-wide QA events, training sessions and presentations for internal and external audiences, and leading communication strategies-such as newsletters, articles and videos-to promote learning and showcase improvements.The postholder will represent the QA Team at key meetings and committees and will work collaboratively with Trust governance structures to support delivery of the Trust Quality Strategy. They will use and promote Quality Improvement methodology, including PDSA cycles, and provide coaching to QI projects as required.As a champion for high-quality assurance practice, the postholder will support services to understand and evaluate their performance against regulatory frameworks, particularly the CQC quality statements. They will enable teams to develop, monitor and complete action plans arising from self-assessments, mock inspections and service reviews. Building effective relationships with clinical and managerial stakeholders will be central to ensuring engagement in assurance processes and supporting services to act on feedback and drive improvements.The role includes oversight of a comprehensive clinical audit cycle, ensuring meaningful local standards, effective measurement systems and robust feedback. The postholder will promote multidisciplinary audit, embed service-user involvement and provide expert advice to healthcare professionals on audit methodology. They will support the development of audit tools, surveys and digital reporting systems, working with informatics and QI teams to ensure accurate and timely data display.The postholder will champion patient and carer feedback, supporting the development and use of patient experience systems, survey tools and engagement methods. They will supervise QA data analysts in procuring and maintaining relevant equipment and liaise with service-user and carer groups to ensure their voice informs service development. The postholder will assist services in responding to patient experience findings and will drive forward the Service User Led Accreditation programme, providing strategic direction and brokering support to enable services to improve.The postholder will oversee the Trust's NICE implementation processes, ensuring new guidance is reviewed, gaps analysed, and improvement actions monitored. They will support services to achieve and evidence compliance with relevant guidelines.Working closely with the QA leadership team, the postholder will ensure efficient use of resources and contribute to the delivery of a high-value, responsive quality assurance service across the Trust. Person specificationEducation/Qualifications/Training Essential criteria Educated to degree level Desirable criteria Quality Improvement trainingRecognised further qualification in a relevant fieldExperience Essential criteria Experience of working in quality assurance/clinical governance in a healthcare or similar organisationExperience of delivering quality assurance programmes such as clinical auditExperience of preparing services for CQC inspectionExperience leading, supporting and influencing with regards to quality and governanceExperience in effectively managing competing priorities and a portfolio of projects Desirable criteria Experience of managing changeExperience of working in a culturally diverse inner-city areaExperience of QI methodologiesKnowledge and Skills Essential criteria Knowledge of structures, concepts & processes of quality assurance and clinical governanceUp to date knowledge of CQC regulatory preparedness processes, framework and standardsUnderstand the need to engage with clinicians and senior leadership to provide factually accurate information relating to regulatory performance and quality standardsExcellent numerical, analytical and data management skillsExcellent verbal and written communication skills, including report writing skillsAbility to confidently and effectively communicate and advise across all levels of the organisation with respect to regulatory compliance and qualitySkills in project managementAbility to design and deliver interactive presentationsAbility to deliver interactive training tailored to the audienceAbility to establish and maintain effective administrative systems and processesHigh level organisational skills including event management skillsAbility to manage own time and priorities, ensuring that non-negotiable external deadlines are metAbility to synthesise complex information and present in a format suitable to the audienceAbility to provide line management, support and supervisionAble to work effectively across organisational boundariesExcellent knowledge of Office 365 and MS Teams Desirable criteria Ability to produce articles, stories and promotional materials to aid communicationOther requirements relevant to the post Essential criteria Able to move around the organisation and other locations within the geographical area served by the TrustAble to concentrate for long periodsAble to cope with demanding and unpredictable work patternAble to cope with emotional circumstances relating to personal histories of service users, carers, and staffAble to use computer technology for sustained periodsCommitment to equal opportunitiesMaking Things BetterQuality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don't stand still So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.Our CommunityWe provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.Aiming HighWe were rated 'Outstanding' by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated 'Outstanding' again in 2018 and continue to be rated 'Outstanding' in 2021. We were named in the HSJ's Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.Staff and Service Users UnitedWe strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.DiversityELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.Other reasons to applyAs a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's job share, part time or another flexible pattern.As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.What Next?If you like the sound of ELFT, don't waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply nowAs part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.Find us online at www.elft.nhs.uk | Find us on Facebook | Follow us on @NHS_ELFT Employer certification / accreditation badges Applicant requirementsThe postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions. Documents to download ELFT Quality Assurance Manager JD&PS (PDF, 330.0KB) ELFT at a glance (PDF, 151.0KB) ELFT Staff Benefits leaflet (PDF, 920.1KB) ELFT Strategy (PDF, 153.5KB) Trust Demographic Information (PDF, 1.5MB)