Head of Quality

Job summary

New opportunity and challenge working across the Adult Business Unit for a senior clinician as Head of Quality and Improvement leading the Adult Clinical Quality Leads. This role is a development opportunity to assist an experience clinical leader in 'stepping up' to a broader operational quality role and experience the different challenges this brings to the role.

We are seeking an experienced, highly motivated individual with excellent proven clinical skills. The successful candidate must have a relevant clinical qualification and a track record in operational delivery, quality assurance and quality improvement of clinical services. The successful applicant will work closely with all the Adult Operational Services, the Assistant Director of Clinical Quality and Improvement for Adults and CYP, Assistant Director of Nursing/AHPs and the Risk Team to support the Trust moving from 'Good' to 'Outstanding'.

This role will require you to be highly motivated, hardworking and passionate about adult community services. You will have a proven track record of working in a senior clinical role and have a broad experience of management and leadership.

This is a part time post working to hours per week over 3 days.

A full valid driving license and access to a car to use regularly for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

Main duties of the job

Provide clinical leadership, management and development of the adult clinical quality leads and to work flexibility at both at service level and strategic level depending on identified priorities and the support required across the BU's.

Oversight of the adult quality assurance programme. The review of services' quality wheels and continuous quality improvement plans (CQIP) interpreting results, identifying gaps and risks; using these to focus effort for quality and service improvement.

Monitoring of all clinical risks, ensuring that are reflected in the BU's risk registers, and to support operational managers and clinical leads with clinical risk assessment, ensuring escalation in line with agreed processes.

Make significant contributions to corporate policies, procedures, strategic and business planning processes from an adult's operational quality perspective. Including ensuring process are in place to monitor local practice and ensure compliance with CQC standards, NICE guidance and professional regulatory bodies.

Lead the ACP development to meet the growth of urgent and emergency care services within the adult community setting, providing consistency and equity in the role development and expectations of the individuals who are appointed to these roles.

About us

The Adults Clinical Quality Team at HCT are a cohesive group of individuals who represent breadth of different professions. They work independently with their allocated services and collaboratively across the teams and professions supporting each CQL team play a key role across Adult Services working with all corporate teams to ensure services are delivered in accordance with targets and performance indicators.

All areas of Clinical Governance are monitored and reviewed with teams through HCT's assurance framework to ensure that teams and services are delivering high quality services. The CQLs lead the review of this work providing challenge where appropriate and facilitate shared learning of best practice.

Improvement actions identified through the assurance processes are held locally by services on their Continuous Quality Improvement Plans, which are reviewed regularly at Operational Performance Review meetings and business unit meetings to monitor progress with actions. CQIPs are also used to record improvement actions following incidents, complaints or quality assurance visits. The team supports services with their improvement actions, through either a 'just do it' simple improvement approach or using more formal quality improvement tools through HCT's Making Things Better programme.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Outline of main job duties/responsibilities

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This role is based in Hertfordshire at Head Office, multiple clinical locations and home working. The successful candidate needs to be a clinical professional and is expected to work across locations in Hertfordshire to meet service needs and demands.

You will need a full valid driving licence and access to a car to use regularly for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010)

Please see attached job description and person specification for more information about this role.

JOB PURPOSE SUMMARY:

To support the Assistant Director of Quality and Improvement in the delivery of services ensuring an integrated approach at Place and Neighbourhood level focusing on meeting the needs of the community.

To play a key role across Adult Services working with all corporate teams to ensure services are delivered in accordance with targets and performance indicators.

Work flexibility at both a service line and strategic level depending on identified priorities and support required across the BUs.

To lead the operational delivery of continuous quality improvements to enable the Organisation to achieve an outstanding rating.

To provide expert professional leadership and clinical advice, challenge and analysis to the Assistant Directors/Service Leads in the BU in order to deliver high quality and innovative operational services based upon best practice evidence.

Work closely with the Deputy Director Nursing and Quality, and Head of Risk and Assurance to ensure that improvement strategies for clinical effectiveness, patient experience and patient safety are implemented in practice.

Lead the ACP development to meet the growth of urgent and emergency care services within the adult community setting, providing consistency and equity in the role development and expectations of the individuals who are appointed to these roles.

MAIN DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES:

Operational

Lead the delivery of high quality effective clinical practice within the Business Unit, supporting the delivery of best practice.

Review services Quality wheels interpreting results, identifying gaps and risk using these to focus effort for quality and service improvement.

Have a lead role in the BU quality assurance programme providing assurance to the performance reviews.

Support the Deputy Director of Nursing & Quality in the delivery of quality improvement, CQUINS, Quality priorities and the implementation of national nursing and AHP strategy in the BUs.

Monitor all clinical risks, ensuring that are reflected in the BUs risk registers, and to support operational managers and clinical leads with clinical risk assessment and ensuring escalation in line with agreed processes.

Make significant contributions to corporate policies, procedures, strategic and business planning processes from an operational quality perspective.

Ensure process are in place to monitor local practice and ensure compliance with CQC standards, NICE guidance and professional regulatory bodies.

Patient / Customer Care

Ensure patient and public involvement is integral to the planning and delivery of clinical services.

Work closely with representative groups to gain feedback on service delivery issues that can be used to inform changes and developments.

Ensure that risk assessments are undertaken on an ongoing basis and resulting action plans are implemented and foster a culture of open reporting and analysis.

Strategic Management

To work as part of the BUs Management Team and lead and contribute to the development of plans, which will support the strategic direction of the Trust and wider local health, education and social care economy, leading on implementation of appropriate service specific plans.

Assess the impact of any new national initiatives and legislation within the service, ensuring successful action planning, implementation and compliance.

Develop and contribute to written policies, procedures and protocols in line with the agreed development of the services within area of responsibility.

Service Development and Improvement

Take responsibility for the identification and delivery of service and quality improvement and transformation opportunities, working with commissioners and the transformation lead to achieve standards of best practice across operational services.

By evaluating quality data and metrics work with service leads to identify service priorities and develop action plans for service improvement across the county.

Ensure improvements in practice identified following complaints, incidents and Serious Incidents are implemented and embedded across adults. Take remedial and correct individual performance management action where required.

Work with ICB/PCNs and other stakeholders on required service changes and improvements.

Proactively work with communications and engagement to embed service user feedback into everyday service planning.

Responsible for instigating clinical audits and development work in order to ensure a continual improvement methodology, engaging with research activities as required.

Management and Leadership

Provide professional and managerial leadership to staff within areas of responsibility, ensuring implementation of and compliance with policies and procedures.

Manage all aspects of Human Resource management, supported by the People Team Business partner and associated People Team services, including recruitment, retention and individual performance management.

Provide effective leadership to services within the area of responsibility, ensuring strong clinical leadership is established and supported.

Communication and Relationship Building

Establish effective means of communication within the service area, so that all staff are fully engaged with the Trusts Quality priorities and Clinical and Quality Strategy.

Produce papers and reports as required or as directed by the Assistant Director

Always act as an ambassador to the Trust when engaging with patients, commissioners, stakeholders, other external organisations, and members of the public.

Build relationships for health and service improvement with key partners, including commissioners, contractors, local Trusts, and partners in local government and the third sector.

Information Management

Responsible for the collation, collation and interpreting of results for Quality Wheel and peer reviews analyse complex information received from quality wheels and performance metric to produce options for the AD and Director to consider in relation to the quality of services.

Ensure all aspects of quality improvement initiatives adhere to agreed processes and standards of reporting against performance standards/ targets.

Finance and Resource Management

Produce relevant business cases, including the identification of priorities in line with clinical need, national and local targets.

To work with the Assistant Director of Clinical Quality & Improvement to establish appropriate and realistic budgets for the service area, supporting annual cost improvements and efficiencies ( PIES)

Responsible for authorising expenditure and accountable for expenditure within an allocated budget.

Be an authorised signatory for invoices and staff expenses.

Initiate plans to deliver service improvements and development in line with benchmarks and best practice.

Policy

Develop policies for implementation across the trust as required ensuring that they reflect evidence-based practice.

Provide expert advice into the Clinical advisory group on policy development and Standard Operating procedures.

Adhere to all trust policies and procedures.

Whilst it is not a legal requirement, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust encourages and supports all its staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID-19.

HCT has been voted one of the top 100 NHS trusts to work for in the country. We are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation and a menopause accredited employer.

We dont want you to miss out so be aware that if we have a high level of interest in this role, the vacancy may close prior to the advertised closing date. Please make your application as soon as possible

Person Specification

Other Requirements

Essential

Relevant clinical qualification to first degree level or equivalent Registration with appropriate professional body Knowledge and expertise acquired through in-depth experience or theoretical study to Master's degree level or equivalent experience) Management qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience

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