National Director - Quality, Safety and Improvement

Job responsibilities

The National Director will have responsibility for:

System Leadership to ensure that quality, safety and improvement are integral to all aspects of NHS Wales to transform health outcomes.

• Ensure that the Directorates strategy is guided by the requirements to support the wider system in effectively implementing the Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement Act) along with other Quality legislation. This will require the elements of Quality Planning, Quality Control, Quality Improvement and Quality Assurance to be effectively integrated into its programme of work.
• Ensure the Directorates strategy aligns to the Ministerial priorities outlined the NHS Executive remit letter and supports the work of other Directorates within the NHS Executive.
• Work closely with Welsh Government officials including the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Dental Officer, Chief Scientific Officer, and colleagues within the NHS Executive to advise and inform the development and implementation of policy to transform the quality and safety agenda across NHS Wales.
• Support the on-going development of the NHS Wales Executive function and contribute to its approach to whole system development as required.
• Work collaboratively with other NHS Executive directorates to provide coordinated support to NHS organisations.
• Support the implementation of effective Quality Management Systems across NHS Wales organisations to ensure that the Duty of Quality Statutory Guidance 2023, and the Quality Standards 2023 are embedded throughout the system.
• Advise on a co-ordinated strategy for patient safety that ensures care is safe, cohesive, coordinated and delivers better outcomes for patients within its available resources.
• Advise, design and develop improvement programmes across the NHS Executive to enable priority areas, as identified through the remit to continuously improvement.
• Build sustainable capability within, and across NHS organisations, underpinned by coaching and collaboration, to enable:
  • Effective identification of priorities for improvement.
  • spread and scale of improvement to reduce variation and inequalities.
  • Effective assurance mechanisms.
• Work with colleagues in health boards and NHS trusts to develop, embed and sustain the leadership and culture across the NHS Wales and places patient safety at its heart, minimising harm, and inappropriate variation.
• Deliver Board development sessions and programmes for NHS organisations, as required, and establish and support clinical and other relevant leadership programmes as necessary in order to support the embedding of a high reliability and learning culture.
• Provide leadership to develop collaborative approaches to supporting national improvement programmes and continue to embed enabling frameworks such as the IHIs Framework for Safe, Reliable and Effective Care.
• Provide a range of support approaches that enables NHS staff to achieve full implementation of evidence-based quality care bundles where they exist and the adoption of core clinical guidelines and policies.
• Where required, provide intensive support to teams and organisations that are in targeted intervention or special measures as requested.
• Establish a process of ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of the improvement support provided by the Quality, Safety and Improvement Directorate across all of its interventions and adapt the improvement approach as required in line with emerging best practice in improvement science internationally.
• Deliver an annual programme of learning events, publications and organisational development support for NHS Wales, particularly through strengthening the role of local improvement teams.
• Build alliances with academia, industry and the NHS to promote product development and bring innovation into practice focused on quality, safety and improvement.

Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management

• Establish close working relationships with clinicians, NHS bodies and patient groups, developing effective means for active clinical, patient and carer engagement to co-design and drive sustainable improvements in the quality, safety, efficiency, effectiveness and experience of care and support across Wales.
• Establish strong and effective relationships with quality improvement organisations nationally and internationally and actively encourage the sharing of good practice and participation of staff in international networks.
• Actively seek partnerships with academic bodies in Wales and beyond in order to advocate the inclusion of quality improvement in curricula and to evaluate improvement work.

Directorate Leadership and Management

To lead and motivate capable Directorate staff, ensuring their access and participation in learning and development opportunities, and compliance with Continuing Professional Development requirements.

• To be accountable for the compliance of all Directorate staff with the Hosting Agreement and with Public Health Wales NHS Trust policies and procedures.
• To develop, implement and report on the Directorates responsibilities in the NHS Executive Workplan in response to the NHS Executive Mandate and Remit letter in line with Ministerial priorities.
• To take lead responsibility for the operation of the Directorate within the budget confirmed in the accountablity letter issued by Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Wales, HSSG.
• Ensure that the Directorate has a comprehensive Organisational Development strategy aligned to the wider NHS Executive OD Strategy and approach to maximise team development.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to a minimum of Masters level (or equivalent experience) in the field of quality.
• Educated to Masters level (or equivalent experience) in management
• Recognised qualification in the field of Quality (Quality Management, quality improvement, quality assurance) or equivalent experience.
• Evidence of continued professional development

Desirable

• Qualified as a healthcare professional (for example medicine, nursing, pharmacy)

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Extensive knowledge, experience and expertise in both the theory and application of improvement methods at a system wide level to deliver better healthcare outcomes
• Demonstrable experience in successfully applying behavioural change approaches both nationally and locally in order to improve patient outcomes
• Knowledge and skills in applying the frameworks such as the Triple Aim to improve healthcare outcomes nationally and local level
• Knowledgeable and skilled in using data to drive improvement at both a team and organisational level
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Effective interpersonal and influencing skills
• Strong and effective presentational skills
• Sensible negotiator with practical expectation of what can be achieved
• High level of skill in relationship building and able to operate in an environment of complex relationships
• Highly developed analytical skills
• Computer literate and substantially numerate
• Financially literate and budget management skills

Desirable

• Research literate
• Ability to speak Welsh

Experience

Essential

• Experience at or near Board level
• Substantial experience at a senior management level in a large complex public sector organisation with a successful track record in delivering improvements in patient outcomes and operational performance
• Significant achievement in driving improvements in quality and safety in complex settings at a senior level
• Experience in working at a national level to improve health outcomes at scale
• Experience in working across multi sector organisations
• Experience of leading individuals and multi-professional teams through complex programmes of organisational and cultural change including the ability to recognise and manage ambiguity
• Demonstrable experience in the effective operational management of large dispersed teams of staff to deliver priorities
• Track record of sound financial management combined with experience of developing effective business cases to secure funding from external sources
• Experience of initiating and developing corporate or functional strategies for an organisation and facilitating their delivery

Knowledge

Essential

• Awareness of the challenges and opportunities for the NHS and other public services in Wales
• Awareness of the seven principles of standards in public life applicable to all in public service.
• Awareness of the Quality and Safety Framework and Duty of Quality and Candour.
• Knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance and evidence based clinical practice
• Understanding of and commitment to delivery of improved health through mainstream NHS activities

Desirable

• Cognisant of socio-economic and political environment in Wales

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).