Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.
We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.
You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.
The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.
We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.
We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.
We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.
Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.
Job overview
Lead the Future of Patient Safety
We are seeking an exceptional and visionary leader to join our organisation as Director of Safety & Patient Safety Specialist. This is a pivotal executive-level role, responsible for shaping, leading and embedding a culture of patient safety across the Trust.
This is a unique opportunity for an experienced senior leader with a passion for patient safety, quality improvement and organisational transformation to influence strategic decision-making at the highest level, drive improvements in patient outcomes and ensure safety remains at the heart of everything we do.
About the Role
Reporting to the Executive Nurse, you will be the Trust's lead patient safety expert, providing visible, influential leadership across all aspects of patient safety, risk management, organisational learning, complaints, patient experience and quality improvement.
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Working closely with the Executive Team, Board members, operational leaders and clinical teams, you will lead the strategic patient safety agenda and ensure the Trust continues to develop a proactive, learning-focused and safety-driven culture.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading the development and delivery of the Trust's patient safety strategy.
- Providing executive leadership for the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), Duty of Candour and Learning from Deaths programmes.
- Driving improvement through systems thinking, human factors and Just Culture principles.
- Providing expert advice to the Board and senior leaders on patient safety risks, incidents and emerging themes.
- Ensuring robust systems are in place to identify, investigate and learn from incidents and complaints.
- Overseeing patient safety intelligence, reporting and organisational learning processes.
- Leading the Complaints and PALS functions to ensure patient feedback drives meaningful improvement.
- Working collaboratively with patients, carers, regulators, commissioners and system partners to improve safety outcomes.
- Developing patient safety capability through training, coaching, leadership development and quality improvement methodologies.
- Supporting the Trust's ambition to become a recognised leader in patient safety and continuous improvement.
Working for our organisation
Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you.
- Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential.
- Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks.
- If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.
Benefits
- 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service.
- Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay.
- Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits.
- £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us
- Season ticket loans are interest-free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.
Work that wraps around your needs
- Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
About You
We are looking for an inspirational and highly credible leader who has a proven track record of delivering strategic change and improving patient outcomes within complex healthcare environments.
You will be passionate about creating safer systems of care, influencing culture change and empowering teams to learn and improve.
Essential Requirements
- Master's degree or equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
- Leadership qualification or significant leadership development experience.
- Advanced knowledge and experience of quality improvement methodologies.
- Significant senior-level experience in patient safety, quality, governance or risk management.
- Extensive knowledge of NHS patient safety policy, strategy and regulatory frameworks.
- Proven experience of leading large-scale organisational change and service improvement programmes.
- Expertise in systems-based approaches to safety, incident investigation and human factors.
- Strong understanding of learning systems, governance and quality assurance mechanisms.
- Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Experience of presenting complex information to Boards, executives and external stakeholders.
- Ability to analyse complex data and translate findings into strategic actions and improvements.
Desirable Requirements
- Professional clinical qualification and current registration.
- Recognised qualification in quality improvement, patient safety or human factors.
- Experience of working at Board or system level.
What We Offer
This role provides the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the quality and safety of services for patients, carers and communities.
You will join a forward-thinking organisation committed to continuous improvement, learning and innovation, working alongside highly skilled colleagues who are passionate about delivering outstanding care.
Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.
As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.
Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email [email protected] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.
The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.
Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre-employment checks.
Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.