The Network Director of Quality, Nursing and AHP and Network Medical Director and Network

Director of Operations form the collective leadership team for the defined Care Network and are jointly responsible for:

Setting Strategic Direction – developing service strategies and plans for improvement that promote consistency in standards and outcomes across our footprint.

Delivery and Performance – ensuring accountability and governance in place within the Care Network and support delivery of the Trust Big Ambitions, strategic objectives and statutory requirements.

Leadership and Support – creating the right culture and environment for high performance.

As a member of the leadership team, the post holder is responsible for ensuring services within the Care Network comply with CQC registration requirements, national and local performance targets, annual business plan priorities and internal governance processes.

The post holder is also jointly responsible for maximising the use of resources within the Care Network by leading on transformation priorities, service improvements, quality improvements and efficiency programmes.

Working with the leadership teams within the other Care Networks, the post holder will ensure people with lived experience and their carers have a strong voice in decision making and service development and will embed continuous improvement throughout all services to ensure service users and carers experience the best possible care.

The post holder is also responsible for ensuring mechanisms are in place for employee involvement and engagement across the Care Network in order to develop an open and inclusive culture with a focus on employee health and wellbeing, equality and diversity.

The post holder will be a member of the Gold on-call rota.

Job description

Main duties and responsibilities

Collective responsibilities of the leadership team

• Ensure that the shared organisational vision and strategic ambitions, values and culture of the Trust are actively promoted and that the post-holder provides clear leadership and is a role model for their delivery.

• Provide leadership and management to a designated Care Network as part of the collective leadership team.

• Responsible for ensuring appropriate governance arrangements are in place, including risk management, health and safety, emergency planning (inc. business continuity) and Information Governance.

• Ensure governance arrangements are maintained and tested to provide assurance that quality standards and outcomes are delivered for patients and their carers and that staff are supported in a safe environment.

• Financial accountability and budget holder responsibilities for the Care Network and for delivering financial stability and value improvement plans contributing to the Trust overall financial performance.

• Ensure robust performance management of the services within the Care Hub, meeting key national and local targets and maintaining quality.

• Support the development of an Annual Business Plan (including workforce plan) for the Care Network and oversee its delivery.

• Undertake an active role in the Trust’s transformation programmes, ensuring services can demonstrate continuous improvement in both quality for patients and cost efficiency.

• Responsible for good people management practices across the Care Network including, IPDR compliance, CEST, CPD and maximising potential through talent management and succession planning.

• Triangulate data and information from key sources to understand performance, climate and culture across the Care Network and use information to drive improvements.

• Develop, maintain and manage effective relationships with a range of stakeholders internally and externally, across all disciplines and including service users, carers and the media. The post holder will need to be visible to front line staff as well as to the Board.

Specific responsibilities

• Be part of the Trust’s Senior Nursing, Healthcare Professionals and Quality team reporting directly to the Director of Nursing, Healthcare Professionals and Quality Governance, taking lead responsibility for the delivery of the Trust’s Quality Strategy within their Care Network.

• Be a highly visible, proactive and accessible clinical leader, acting as a role model to and clinical resource and ensuring the sustained delivery of high standards of nursing care and service delivery, to nursing staff, other disciplines in the trust, patients and the public.

• Proactively manage the Heads of Quality, Safeguarding Nurses, Nurse Consultants (where in post), providing support, guidance and direction to achieve optimal patient quality, safety, effectiveness, clinical and financial outcomes.

• Responsible for implementation of effective clinical and quality governance arrangements in the Care Network including clinical incidents and risk management, safeguarding, infection prevention, CQC compliance, patient and carer involvement; management of SIRIs and complaints and developing a just and learning culture where we learn and engage in continuous quality improvement at the front line.

• To uphold the standards of the profession in accordance with the NMC or professional Code of Conduct and to challenge poor practice at every occurrence. Recognise and champion excellence in care.

• To evaluate national quality standards and guidance, disseminate throughout the Care Network and take appropriate action to ensure compliance. Inform and influence professional and nursing practice and standards of care.

• To take a lead role in establishing clinical performance and quality standards and to ensure that systems are in place to regularly monitor and evaluate these. To continuously monitor the quality of patient care and the patient experience and to put in place strategies for continuous improvement.

• In partnership with the senior nurses in the Trust support the development of alternative and new roles within care such as assistant practitioners, advanced practitioners, ensuring that they process the knowledge, skills and competence to positively affect patient experience and outcome.

• To work independently to ensure delivery of quality services within Care Network working within policies, protocols and professional standards.

• Provide expert professional advice on matters related to the conduct competence and capability of registered nurses/professionals within the Care Network.

• All employees are required to be a member of a professional body are required to hold relevant registration and must comply with the standards and guidelines of their professional practice, education and conduct and must act at all times within the boundary of the code of conduct.

• This is a clinical/professional role and the post holder is expected to occasionally assess and deliver direct patient care in order to maintain professional competence, authority and credibility.

• Deputise for the Director of Nursing, Healthcare Professionals and Quality Governance when required.

• Provide strategic clinical leadership and accountability for an element of the Director of Nursing, Healthcare Professionals and Quality Governance, trust wide portfolio (to be agreed with the Director of Nursing, Healthcare Professionals and Quality Governance).

• Support the Care Network to develop and embed service user and carer involvement across the Care network ensuring people with lived experience are involved in all aspects of decision making and service redesign.

• Lead on the development and implementation of systems, control process and risk management arrangements to support monitoring of compliance with clinical governance standards and other Trust wide policies and processes.

• Lead on patient safety, effectiveness and experience and support Care Networks to embed safe processes and practices and a learning culture.

• Responsible for an effective monitoring system to review clinical standards and an appropriate clinical audit programme as part of a number of measures to provide assurance.

• Ensure robust processes are in place across the Network for ensuring the quality and safety of services working with the Clinical Governance Directorate to support the systems in place to manager adverse incidents, complaints, inquests, claims and safety alerts. Utilise these systems to support the review of clinical standards and provide assurance.

• Contribute to the development of service strategies and business cases for all services within the Care Network, providing.

• Represent the Care Network in local and GM partnership structures, and support Care Networks to build positive external relationships and play their full part in Local Care systems

• Lead specific aspects of service transformation promoting involvement of nursing and healthcare professionals in their development.

• Help shape the Trust’s Quality strategy and oversee delivery of agreed priorities (in collaboration with Network Medical Director).

• Support the development and manage the implementation of systems, control process and risk management arrangements to support monitoring of compliance with clinical governance standards.

• Lead the effective monitoring system to review clinical standards and an appropriate clinical audit programme as part of a number of measures to provide assurance.

• Ensure that the professional workforce is appropriately utilised and long term service needs are appropriately planned for in terms of both staffing levels and skill mix.

• Provide leadership and act as a role model to nursing staff including advising on professional and clinical nursing issues at local and national levels.

• Ensure the Trust’s strategies for Estates capital plans, IM&T, Quality, People and Workforce Development meet the needs of the services by actively contributing to their development.

This job description is not exhaustive, but is intended to give an overall picture of the role.

Other duties within the general scope of the post may be required from time to time.

The duties of the post and job description can be reviewed through the agreed process.

General duties of all post holders

• To undertake any other reasonable duty, which is appropriate to the salary as required.

• To be familiar with and comply with all Trust and departmental policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines.

• To be aware of and work towards the Trusts strategic goals.

Standards of business conduct

• The post holder will be required to comply with the organisations standing order and standing financial instructions and at all times, deal honestly with the organisation with colleagues and all those who have dealing with the organisation including patients, relative and suppliers.

• The post holder must ensure that their behaviour and interests inside and outside work do not conflict with their Trust position, duties and/or responsibilities.

• The post holder must comply with and support the development of the performance standards within the service/department to ensure the service is responsive to and meets the needs of its customers.

• The post holder will be required to develop and maintain good working relationships with all patients, service users, staff, contractors and where appropriate, members of the public.

• The Trust aims to maintain the good will and confidence of its own staff, patients, service users, NHS contractors and the general public. To assist in achieving this objective it is essential that at all times, the post holder carries out their duties in a courteous, ympathetic and professional manner.

• All post holders who are members of a professional body must comply with standards of professional practice / conduct. It is the post holders’ responsibilities to ensure they are both familiar with and adhere to these requirements and maintain their professional membership to the relevant body.

Equality and diversity and equal opportunities

• The post holder must carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies, avoiding unlawful discriminatory behaviour and actions when dealing with colleagues, service users, members of the public and all other stakeholders.

• The post holder must promote awareness of and respect for equality and diversity in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.

• The post holder is responsible for treating all staff, patients, service users, NHS contractors and the general public with dignity and respect at all times.

Safeguarding

• Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure.

• All staff have a responsibility to promote the welfare of any child, young person or vulnerable adult they come into contact with and in cases where there are safeguarding concerns, to act upon them and protect the individual from harm.

• All staff should refer any safeguarding issues to their manager and escalate accordingly in line with the Trust Child and Adult Safeguarding Policies.

• All staff should familiarise themselves with the NICE Guidelines “when to suspect child maltreatment 2009.”

Professional and personal development

• The post holder must ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities by attending the Trust Mandatory Training and Induction Programme.

• The post holder will be involved in a formal IPDR with their manager at least every 12 months. Once performance / training objectives have been set, the staff member’s progress will be reviewed on a regular basis, so that new objectives can be agreed and set, in order to maintain progress in the service delivery.

• The post holder will be expected to take responsibility for their own professional development and will be supported by the Trust to achieve development opportunities as appropriate.

Confidentiality and Information Governance

• Confidentiality is of prime importance. In the normal course of duties, the post holder will have access to confidential documents and information relating to patients, service users, staff and contractors, as well as information of a commercially sensitive nature. Such information should not be communicated to anyone outside or inside the NHS unless done in the normal course of carrying out the duties of the post. Disciplinary action will be considered where a breach of confidence has been established.

• All information obtained or held during the post-holders period of employment that relates to the business of the Trust and its service users and employees will remain the property of the Trust. Information may be subject to disclosure under legislation at the rust’s discretion and in line with national rules on exemption.

• The post holder must maintain high standards of quality in corporate and clinical record keeping ensuring information is always recorded accurately, appropriately and kept up to date. The post holder must only access information, whether paper, electronic or in other media, which is authorised to them as part of their duties.

• The post holder must work to the requirements of data protection laws as applicable to the UK, which includes the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Health and safety at work

• The post holder is required to take reasonable care of the health and safety of themselves and other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work and to co-operate with the Trust in adhering to statutory and departmental safety regulations.

• The post holder is responsible for ensuring that they do not intentionally or recklessly misuse or interfere with anything provided in the interests of health safety or welfare e.g. misuse of equipment.

• The post holder is required to contribute to the control of risk and must report immediately, using the Trust Incident reporting system, any incident, accident or near miss involving patients, service users, carers, staff, contractors or members of the public.

• All Trust sites have been designated a no smoking area. The post holder is therefore advised smoking is not permitted within the hospital premises or grounds or whilst representing the Trust in the course of their duty. While the Trust will not discriminate against employing smokers, all prospective employees should be aware of this policy.

Infection control

• Infection Prevention and Control is the responsibility of all Trust staff.

• All staff members have a responsibility to protect service users, visitors and employees against the risk of acquiring health care associated infections by consistently observing Trust Infection Prevention and Control Policies and procedures and best practice guidance in order to maintain high standards of Infection Prevention and Control.