Senior Team Leader

Job summary

The annual salary includes an attractive benefits package (including the ability to maintain your NHS pension) and work environment (relocation package may be available for the right candidate)

The hours include weekends/bank holidays/evenings and nights as required, for which unsocial hours enhancements are payable

Are you an excellent communicator, motivated and passionate about childrens palliative care? This is an exciting time to join our team as significant investment is made to reflect our adapted ways of working and focus on staff and service development.

This is an excellent opportunity for a dynamic clinical leader with a passion to have a key influence to making a difference to the lives of children with life limited conditions. In this role you will be a key part of the hospice care leadership team ensuring that care standards are high, care delivery is responsive and reflects the model of hospice, that families are engaged and the team is well led and supported. Providing line management to the Team Leaders as part of a leadership team, projects and portfolios will be undertaken to support the Head of Care deliver a well led, responsive, and kind service.

Working closely with the Deputy Director for Quality to ensure the quality agenda is taken forward including supporting the hospice based teams with audits, policies, standards and learning.

Main duties of the job

You will be visible to the team, maintaining clinical credibility through working regular care shifts and to develop a clinical facing role.Qualified RSCN with demonstrable experience of leading, motivating and supporting a successful team.

Qualified RSCN with demonstrable experience of leading, motivating and supporting a successful team. Highly specialist clinical skills within paediatric palliative care with the ability to provide clinical leadership. Knowledge and understanding of the needs of children and families with palliative care needs The commitment and ability to champion the values and behaviours of Childrens Hospice South West delivering our services reflecting the ethos of the organisation.

Working as part of a friendly team, Little Bridge House offers a beautiful, welcoming, well equipped workplace within a supportive environment where you will be recognised as a valuable individual member of the care team. 96% of our staff strongly agree that they enjoy the work they do at CHSW and we value our staff and offer an excellent working environment with an enthusiastic and committed team.

Meet Lorraine one of our Team Leaders , be inspired by our family stories or view our quality report

About us

An established and successful charity, Childrens Hospice South West (CHSW) provides hospice care for children with life limiting conditions and their families in the South West of England. CHSW has three hospices Little Bridge House in North Devon, Charlton Farm in North Somerset and Little Harbour in Cornwall. CHSW delivers services to children and their families who have a palliative care need and meet the agreed referral criteria. The CHSW ethos is support the whole family making the most of short and precious lives and our current delivery model includes care wherever the child is when they need it most including care at the hospice base, at home and virtual support.

Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide leadership and clinical expertise as an experienced nurse to the care team in the hospice. This includes being part of the daily operational management of the hospice ensuring the service is safe and well led and reflects our model of hospice, home and virtual care. This includes on-call as required.

To support hospice based education working collaboratively to ensure that all staff are clinically confident and competent to undertake their role and the workforce can meet the needs of all children on the caseloads.

To ensure where possible cost neutral options are taken forward and efficient use of charitable resources is delivered.

To be involved with recruitment including interviews and retention strategies.

To be part of financial controls including checking of credit cards, checking staff claims and authorising team purchases.

To work with the senior leadership team to ensure that workforce strategies and projects are developed and delivered to support a competent, valued workforce with clear roles and responsibilities and training to undertake their role. Whilst ensuring talent management and succession planning is supported at every level.

To work as part of the senior leadership team to ensure that standards are high and support service developments and projects to take forward care at CHSW ensuring consistency and collaboration across the three hospice teams.

To ensure that there is positive and robust engagement with children and families and ensuring the voice of the child is heard and evidenced in our care provision and measured against the standards set by the CQC and other external organisations including professional bodies.

To support a positive learning approach to risk, closing the loop and providing the link between governance and education. This includes understanding incidents, engaging staff, identifying learning and implementing this to support positive change. This includes ensuring that learning from risks and quality feedback is reflected in policy updates and staff education.

To ensure families are being supported as described in the care strategy / care modelincluding regular reviews to ensure their needs are assessed and responded to appropriately and where possible families are given choices.

To ensure individualised care is delivered, capturing the experience and voice of the child.

Ensure the culture of the hospice is welcoming, inclusive and respectful promoting calm and rest for families whilst ensuring professional standards are high.

To provide line management for a group of Team Leaders / Care Team as directed by the Head of care. This includes ensuring staff feel well supported, valued, listened to and have the opportunity for development and progression. This includes providing and evidencing: A clear understanding of their role, with supported induction programmes. Training required to undertake their role and support development Regular line manager meetings and supervision Annual appraisal and developmental plans to support progress as appropriate. Clear and effective communication with positive role modelling. Development and talent management opportunities. Early feedback with a plan on how to move forward when issues arise. Sickness and other leave management and review.

To work as part of the care leadership team to ensure the team are clinically competent and grow leadership skills through education, training and shadowing. Supporting the hospice to meet mandatory and competency training requirements.

To engage in the collaboration across hospice teams to provide seamless care. engaging in meetings (operational, governance, risks and sub groups) leading on topics and projects as required. Supporting the workforce to see themselves as part of the wider CHSW care team and providing leadership support as required across the three hospice bases.

Work with the senior team to ensure the workforce is well led including Effective rostering and Annual Leave management reflecting the CHSW guidelines Team meetings and effective communication & engagement. Collaborative senior leadership giving staff confidence in the leadership team. Supporting the CHSW roles to work as part of the team, with open communication and shared goals. Modelling visible and approachable leadership Ensuring that development is a key part of every role and working with the team to achieve this. Promoting positive culture, teamwork and communication across care at CHSW. Promoting accountability for behaviours and actions Striving for excellence and supporting the quality and education agenda.

To undertake clinical shifts to maintain clinical knowledge & skills at minimum on a twice monthly basis. This could be a direct care or working alongside a care team member.

To ensure all staff are positively motivated and adopt a positive, caring approach, upholding the CHSW values and behaviours with a culture of engagement and respect.

To support the ongoing compliance assessment process across care ensuring the hospice isCQC inspection ready and the development of action plans for the hospice following a CQC inspection.

To ensure that the three hospices operate as part of the wider CHSW Care team ensuring consistency and equity across all three sites, working collaboratively on policies, care pathways and service development with clear escalation enabling central oversight in place.

Supporting the audit agenda including undertaking key audits, sharing progress and leaning and monitoring actions.

Ensuring through clinical visibility that standards are upheld and individualised care is delivered to children and their families. This includes (not exhaustive) Medication and Pharmacy standards and checks Infection Control Documentation and Communication Care Plans and delivery Health & Safety including risk, tissue viability, lifting & handling, fire etc. Privacy, Dignity and Respect including professional boundaries

Support the Head of care to ensure evidence required for business and quality assurance is available and used to provide a basis for consistent improvement.

To uphold standards in line with CHSW and professional standards with the advice and support of the Senior Care Leadership team and Human Resources, to investigate risk and staff concerns including taking the role of investigating officer as required.

To support the safeguarding leads at CHSW in accordance with the CHSW Policy for Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults and to ensure that interagency Safeguarding training at the agreed level and frequency for this role. Providing advice as needed to the team ensuring escalation as required ensuring that children and young people are safeguarded at all times.

To work with the senior teams across the bases to ensure a consistent approach to safety and standards developing policies, procedures and systems that are CHSW wide. This includes developing new digital ways of working and innovative practice.

To support the Governance agenda across CHSW working closely with the CHSW leadership team. This includes embedding and delivering compliance and assurance evidence with: Risk ensuring an open learning culture Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Medication and Controlled Drugs Infection Control Clinical Standards Health & Safety Information Governance including duty of candour Equality & Diversity (including accessible information) Data Quality and KPIs Concerns, complaints and compliments Escalation and crisis responses Family engagement and feedback

To recognise the emotional toll caused by working closely alongside seriously ill/dying children and grieving families and to be alert of signs of stress in individuals (personal and team) and taking responsive action accessing the support available to them. This includes promoting and engaging with Clinical Supervision and working with psychology.

Ensure team members are all encouraged to grow their leadership skills through development of line management and supervision skills. Routinely leadership should be visible and in the hospice rather than remote.

To support a culture where whistleblowing, safeguarding and escalation of concerns are supported and listened to and explored in a non-judgemental way promoting safety, dignity and respect for children, families and staff.

To ensure the care team is clinically facing ensuring skills and expertise are shared and supported at every level.

Ensuring that communication with care staff is effective, engaging with teams, providing updates on safety, quality and education.

To develop and maintain a collaborative and supportive working relationship with the Heads of Care and senior teams all CHSW hospices to promote a unified approach to the provision of care and standards.

To ensure communication is inclusive for everyone regardless of their communication needs, language, diversity, age or cultural background.

To maintain confidentiality, in line with CHSW Confidentiality and Information Governance Policies and Procedures in all aspects of the role, including information regarding children, families, other staff, and the business of Childrens Hospice South West.

To ensure all staff maintain accurate records of all types, (written or computerised) and to ensure confidentiality is always respected and protected and IG requirements are met.

To have a clear knowledge and understanding of the care database / digital systems ensuring that all data is accurate and updated in a timely and consistent way meeting business and quality requirements.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

RSCN RN Child including Professional UK registration NMC Education to degree level or equivalent knowledge and skills gained through a combination of alternative study, or employment experience.

Desirable

Degree/Diploma in palliative care for children or equivalent. Managerial qualification or experience. Quality Governance or Risk Training or Experience. Mentor qualification for clinical setting with Sign off mentor status.

Experience

Essential

Clinical experience and competence, including extensive post qualification experience working with children/adults with a life limiting / life threatening condition, chronic illness or disability in a variety of settings - acute, community. Extensive knowledge and insight into the needs and current issues of children with life limited conditions and their families. Understanding of Quality Governance and the implications for clinical services including experience of quality issues. Experience of managing risk responding, investigating and learning. Experience of audit and research. Evidence of continuous professional development (CPD) clearly recorded for professional profile. Leadership and people management experience, with lead responsibility for a ward, department or other staff team.

Desirable

Experience of working in a hospice setting and delivering care in the community setting. Experience of developing clinical competency assessment and assessing clinical competency. Experience of effectively managing and responding to complaints/concerns. Knowledge of key legislation and key drivers within paediatric palliative care, local and national Agenda.

---