Assistant Director of Quality and Patient Safety

Job overview

To lead the continued development of the quality and patient safety strategy, policy and decision making within the Trust. Advise the Executive and board on issues relating to the design, implementation and maintenance of strategies and policies related to patient safety, safety culture, incident management, learning from experience and PSIRF. The role will support the Deputy Chief Nurse in leading the patient safety work as outlined in the Patient Safety Improvement Plan and embedding a safety focused just and learning culture across the organization.

To develop and maintain strong working relationships with other health care providers, regulators, and stakeholders relevant to the work of the service within the Quality, Patient Safety, Integrated Governance and Risk Management agenda.

To support the delivery of quality services around the core dimensions of safety, effectiveness, and patient experience.

Provide professional leadership to all staff fostering a culture which values continuing professional development and strives for excellence in the delivery of patient care and quality improvement in accordance with clinical governance principles.

To act as a direct conduit of information between the Directors, Executives and other members of the Trust, with particular reference to the dissemination of information in relation to, patient safety, acting as the single point of contact to members of the Trust, advising, reporting and focusing ideas and initiatives as appropriate

Main duties of the job

As a senior manager within South Central Ambulance Service, you will be required to provide leadership to your team to ensure the effective provision of the service they provide and to champion change in the organization. You will ensure that your staff are motivated and express a positive attitude towards the organization. You will address any issues and concerns that may inhibit your staff from achieving both their personal and organizational goals.

As a senior leader, you will be expected to participate in an on-call rota.

Please note this role can be based from our Northern House (Bicester) or Southern House (Otterbourne) locations, the post holder be will required to travel into the office but some home working days will also be possible. The role will cover all of our counties so travelling across the SCAS patch will be expected.

Working for our organisation

Benefits we offer:

• Full training and support when you join and ongoing throughout your employment with us.
• Holiday entitlement is 27 days rising to 29 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years, plus 8 bank holidays (pro rata for part time).
• Enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.
• Access to continual professional development and opportunities within SCAS and the NHS.
• Occupational Health support along with an Employee Assistance Programme.
• NHS Discounts in over 200+ stores including Holidays, Days out, Car insurance, Restaurants and Clothing.

About Us

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of emergency, urgent care and non-emergency healthcare services, along with commercial logistics services.

The Trust delivers most of these services to the populations of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire as well as non-emergency patient transport services in Surrey and Sussex.

We serve a population of over 7 million and answer over 500,000 urgent calls a year. We employ 4,551 staff who, together with over 1,100 volunteers, enable us to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To advise and support the relevant committees which oversee quality governance in the trust providing analytical reports where required.
• To provide expert advice and report highly complex information to the Board and senior management/executives on all matters relating to patient safety compliance and quality within the organization
• Work collaboratively with other professional leads in developing a culture which embeds clinical quality and patient safety, monitoring its effectiveness to ensure continuous improvement and compliance.
• To lead the development and implementation of polices related to all domains of quality and patient safety.
• To support the provision of evidence, data, clinical and quality information and outcome measures for compliance with the CQC regulations, key NHS policies, NPSA alerts and NICE Guidance which cover all of our services - 999, 111, call centers and commercial services.
• To lead and support the implementation of PSIRF in SCAS as part of the organizations Patient Safety and Quality Strategy and national policy directives.
• To take a strong personal role in influencing key stakeholders in delivering the trust’s quality agenda and quality schedules which cover all of our services - 999, 111, call centres and commercial services.
• To advise the executive management team on strategic development in relation to the trust on all quality and safety issues to produce informed and desired outcomes of patient care service provision ensuring best practice, value for money and legislative compliance.
• To influence the service delivery and development by providing specialist expertise to support clinical practice and quality agendas, ensuring services provided are progressive and support new models in delivering patient care.
• Assist the clinical leads in balancing the challenges of providing high quality, safe services, with excellent outcomes and in a way that delivers efficiencies and meets the expectations of patients and the public.
• Deliver improvements in patient experience through making the patient central to all activities of the Trust and ‘championing’ the patient/service user experience with compassion.
• Actively contribute to and influence the formulation of the trust’s business plans.
• Support and contribute to the delivery of CQUINs, Quality contracts and patient safety improvements across all services.
• To support the implementation and delivery of national policy and targets including regulatory requirements and developing implementing and sustaining the Trusts’ clinical governance and quality programs.
• Develop and maintain communication processes with key stakeholders such as the NHSE, ICBs, CQC, NHS Trusts, Healthwatch, H&SCOCs and other providers as well as partners outside of the NHS such as social services, voluntary organizations, universities, patients and families, governors and members of the public.
• Provide and deliver appropriate quality performance measures to ensure the Trust can make informed decisions. This will require significant judgement and option appraisal following analysis and interpretation of highly complex data.
• To be an effective member of Quality and Clinical groups supporting the work of the Clinical Directorate and providing assurance to the Trust Board.
• To work closely with the Operations and Education team to ensure the harmonisation of clinical and quality policies and processes are in place through the development of standard protocols and guidelines
• Promote a positive image of the Trust with appropriate external professional/NHS/Government and other organisations.
• To provide detailed analysis and synthesis of highly complex information/data related to quality issues business performance, management and financial implications, in compliance with legislation, interpreting this information offering expert guidance and opinion to senior management as appropriate, exercising judgement which may be determined by individual or unique commercial circumstances
• To advise on policy implementation across a range of services across the Trust, ensuring that appropriate policies and procedures are in place to safeguard trust staff and resources, setting quality standards as appropriate, proposing, developing and implementing policy appropriate to the Trust including policies which impact on commercial provision and other areas of the trust e.g. Emergency and Urgent Services, Patient Logistics Services, BASICS Doctors, and the Out of Hours Services
• To contribute to the overall achievement of the Trust’s Key Performance Indicators ensuring the provision of cost-effective services.
• Provide effective leadership and management to staff, which promotes high performance standards both individually and as a team, in the achievement of the Trust objectives and priorities. The Trust’s success will be dependent upon all managers playing an active role to make sure the existing areas of good employment practice are universally embedded within the organisation. Managers will be expected to:
• Understand the Trust’s key priorities and those for your Directorate or Service
• Ensure management of staff is consistent with Trust’s HR policies to the achievement of equality, equity, and optimum performance.
• To maintain a recognisable profile in the Trust through visits and to take part in and to participate pro- actively in Trust communication events.
• To develop and maintain strong working relationships with all directorates of the Trust, in particular Operations, Finance and Education, ensuring that open and robust lines of communication between departments to ensure high standards of performance.
• Work collaboratively with Finance leads to manage budgets and any financial implications that pose a risk to any underperformance against quality targets.
• Budget holder for designated budgets.
• Contribute to the achievement of the Trust’s efficiency and cost improvement plans.
• To ensure that the Trust’s policies in relation to Equality and Diversity are central to the working ethos of all staff.
• To adhere to all Trust and regulatory body operational procedures, protocols and guidelines at all times
• To ensure that staff are able to work in a safe and conducive working environment and that responsibilities regarding Health and Safety and staff welfare legislation and best practice are fulfilled.
• To ensure that identified areas for improvement are evaluated, possibly as a result of audit or assessment, and that implementation programmes are developed and instigated, monitoring and reporting on outcomes, reporting key performance indicators across the Trust for individual service lines which come under the responsibility of the role.
• To support the database of all CQC standards and regulations is maintained in accordance with regulatory and NHS requirements providing detailed reports, using the information provided by the work of the department to identify issues of concern and to recommend actions to managers or other appropriate professionals in order to resolve issues and prevent non- compliance and to further develop pathways of best practice.
• To act as Chairperson when appropriate of various Committees, and to oversee the effective management of related matters for the Trust, ensuring they are collectively agreed and delivered, in compliance with appropriate service policies and procedures.
• To assist in the maintenance of good practice in data protection, liaising closely with the Information Governance Officer, and to support the nominated ‘Caldicott Guardian’ in the discharge of these responsibilities.

Person specification Qualifications Essential criteria

• Professional registration with, NMC or other relevant professional body
• MSc or equivalent in healthcare or leadership
• Qualifications in Patient Safety (e.g.IHI, NHSE, HSIB)
• Significant strategic management and leadership experience across a breadth of disciplines
• Applied knowledge and demonstrable experience in the application of Patient Safety, Incident Management and Learning from Experience methods
• Applied knowledge of the Care Quality Commission Standards and the NHSLA Risk Management Standards
• Significant demonstrable experience in a senior corporate governance/patient safety role
• Experience of the development and application of quality and patient safety strategies and policy across multiple systems
• Experience of deputising for Executive Director at Board level meetings

Desirable criteria

• Recognised leadership qualification
• Recognised training qualification
• Knowledge of professional development and revalidation principles

We actively welcome job applications from candidates who have a disability or who are members of the BAME, LGBTQ+ and Armed Forces community (including: Reservists, Veterans, Spouses and Cadets). Here at SCAS we are proud to have a workforce that reflects the diverse community we serve. Applicants who have a disability or are members of the armed forces community who meet the minimum shortlisting criteria for their post of interest will be invited for an interview and/or assessment (where applicable).

Please be assured that any requests for reasonable adjustments will not negatively affect your application.

As well as standard NHS benefits like generous holiday entitlement and an excellent pension scheme, we offer lots of extras for our staff.

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