Patient Safety Specialist

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be the lead patient safety expert in the organisation, working fulltime on patient safety. They will provide dynamic, compassionate and collaborative senior leadership, visibility and expert support to the patient safety work in the organisation. They will support the development of the patient safety culture and safety systems and work in networks to share good practice and learn from each other.

The post holder will lead and directly support patient safety improvement activity and ensure that systems thinking, human factors understanding and just culture principles are embedded in all patient safety processes. They will promote patient safety thinking beyond why things go wrong in healthcare (Safety I), to examining why things routinely go right and how that can be maximised (Safety II). They will support the organisations patient safety partners (patient and public representatives specifically involved in patient safety) as identified in the NHS Patient Safety Strategy.

The post holder will work as part of a wider team to ensure that patient safety is appropriately prioritised and considered in the work of the organisation. The post holder will support an aligned approach to the improvement of safety by working closely with the trusts Medicines Safety Officer (MSO), Medical device safety officer (MDSO), Central Alerting System (CAS )lead, Controlled drugs accountable officer (CDAO), Revalidation Officer (RO), Medical Examiner (ME), Learning from deaths lead, safeguarding leads, Maternity safety champion and GIRFT lead.

They will build and maintain good working relationships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders on issues relating to patient safety. Including Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, patient safety collaboratives and Academic Health Science Networks, Health Education England, Care Quality Commission and relevant parts of profession regulators such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of implementing national guidelines and policies with the ability to interpret national advice, guidance and requirements and advise their organisation on how these should be implemented
• Experience and knowledge of the components of clinical governance, incident response, risk management and assurance function; current NHS national policies, standards, requirements and directions that relate to measuring and improving the quality and safety of patient care.
• Demonstrable evidence of developing and leading change management processes for the benefit of patients and service users
• Success in working collaboratively across multi-disciplinary teams and services.
• Experience of leading / working in a patient safety role ( Governance in an acute NHS Trust
• Have previous experience / responsibility for clinical governance systems (NHS governance)
• Experience in project/change management in a healthcare environment and driving improvement for the safety of patients which can include techniques and tools such as Agile, Prince 2 or Managing Successful Projects
• Experience of implementing national guidelines and policies with the ability to interpret national advice, guidance and requirements and advise their organisation on how these should be implemented.
• Experience of working collaboratively with patients/service/ stakeholders to improve quality of service by co-design
• Experience of developing & delivering training programmes

Desirable

• Experience in providing advice on complex professional and other people issues
• Significant demonstrable experience in senior management in healthcare ( to include acute care)
• Significant experience of working in a clinical operational role in the NHS.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to interpret complex information (including patient safety incident data, administrative data, mortality data) that may conflict and where expert opinion may differ
• Proven ability to develop and communicate a long-term vision for patient safety and convert that into plans, objectives and deliverables for the organisation
• Ability to communicate effectively with clinical, academic and all levels of staff
• Ability to provide senior leadership and work with senior leaders Ability to contribute to the patient safety debate
• Ability to develop and communicate a vision, and convert that into plans, objectives and deliverables working to tight and often changing deadlines.
• Ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships and deal confidently with staff at all levels of an organisation.
• Ability to develop, maintain and monitor information systems to support innovation initiatives
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
• Ability to manage time effectively and to prioritise
• Ability to use established networks and create new ones to share good practice and facilitate engagement with regional colleagues and the national patient safety team
• Ability to use informed persuasion to influence others
• Able to negotiate and influence at an organisational level and externally with a range of stakeholders
• Demonstrates sound judgement in the absence of clear guidelines or precedent, seeking advice as necessary from more senior management when appropriate
• High quality presentation skills and ability to provide and effectively communicate highly complex, sensitive and contentious information to staff, patients and relatives/carers, particularly where a potentially antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere may present significant barriers to acceptance
• High level analytical skills and the ability to draw qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of sources draw appropriate conclusions and present in a clear concise manner
• High level critical thinking skills
• Show credibility and enthusiasm for patient safety
• Show enthusiasm and interest in ensuring others are trained and developed in patient safety, as appropriate.
• Self-awareness with effective coping strategies
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills.

Knowledge

Essential

• Experience and knowledge in a patient safety-related role with an understanding of the principles that underpin approaches to improving patient safety in healthcare
• Experience and knowledge of the components of clinical governance, incident response, risk management and assurance function; current NHS national policies, standards, requirements and directions that relate to measuring and improving the quality and safety of patient care.
• Knowledge and experience of developments in quality improvement science
• Knowledge of the NHS patient safety strategy and how it can be implemented
• Knowledge of safeguarding and the legal duties expected of NHS organisations
• Knowledge of systems thinking, human factors understanding and just culture principles
• Knowledge and understanding of the Equalities Act 2010, including the importance of collecting and analysing data on key protected characteristics
• Knowledge and understanding of the factors that contribute to healthcare inequalities and access to services

Desirable

• Significant demonstrable knowledge of local and national patient safety policy and strategy
• Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development

Qualifications

Essential

• Current Professional Registration e.g. RN, RMN etc
• Educated to Masters Level in a related subject or equivalent experience working at a senior level

Desirable

• Post-graduate management, leadership or specialist qualification or previous experience
• Quality improvement qualification or previous experience

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Essential

• Ability to operate in a value-driven style consistent with the values of the public services and specifically with the organisational values
• Ability to take actions which support and promote the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).