Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

QI Lead Patient Flow

The closing date is 10 July 2025

Job summary

Are you an experienced leader with knowledge and experience in delivering improvement projects? Are you familiar with mental health service delivery and keen to play a part in helping to deliver ambitious change? Are you passionate about delivering excellent outcomes for service users and their families? We're excited to announce a 12-month contract, that's also open to secondment opportunity, for a dynamic and experienced leader to lead areas of the Trust's Strategic Objectives. Reporting into the Managing Director for Patient Flow you will lead and develop those improvement projects relating to services for adults and older adults, including those with dementia. You will have excellent communication and engagement skills with real commitment to provide the leadership and management for the improvement work. A significant part of this role is producing information and updates which will require you to have good analytical skills and be able to translate into service improvement plans. Developing positive working relationships through engaging with clinical teams will be vital in this role. This is an exciting time for the Trust and the improvement work that will deliver the Strategic Objectives is critical to improving the service experience for patients and those who care for them. So, if you're looking for a challenging and rewarding role, where you can have a positive impact on people's lives, we would love to hear from you!

Main duties of the job

Working closely with the Managing Director for Patient Flow you will lead and develop the service improvement work that impacts on patient flow - particularly with regards to length of stay, the number of patients who are clinically ready for discharge and the length of time patients wait for admission to our inpatient wards.

The postholder will also:

- Work closely with the other Deputy Service Directors, the wider Divisional Leadership Teams and other SPFT services as well as partners in the ICS; other agencies and those who use our services.

- Be expected to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of work that supports the improvement plans.

Please see the job description for a further information and detail regarding responsibilities for this role.

About us

Sussex Partnership provides mental health, learning disability and neurodevelopmental services for all age groups across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.

Living and working in Sussex:

Travel easily between coast and countryside; with a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns, there's always new experiences to be enjoyed

Embrace city life with great access to Brighton and London

With easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow and excellent railway links across the UK, there is plenty of opportunity for adventure

We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which positively impacts the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part-time hours, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.

Your benefits: Excellent NHS Pension, Generous holiday entitlement (starting at 27 days + 8 bank holidays), Access to a host of NHS discount schemes (Blue Light Card, Health Service discounts, discounted petrol etc.) A position within a trust rated as 'Outstanding' for caring and 'Good' overall by the CQC, where 82% agree that care for patients is our top priority. Free parking on-site

Access to full psychological support, via our internal well-being team. Excellent supervision programmes, with ongoing opportunities for training and development

Details

Date posted

26 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£62,215 to £72,293 a year pa

Contract

Secondment

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

354-AE-21163

Job locations

tbc

tbc

BN27 4HU


Job description

Job responsibilities

The following principles apply to all postholders within the Discharge Transformation Programme, including those hosted within provider organisations such as Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT):

  • Expected to engage in cross-functional collaboration, recognising the interconnected nature of acute, community, mental health, learning disability, primary care, and social care services.
  • Expected to drive integration between physical and mental health services, particularly in relation to complex discharge pathways such as dementia, cognitive impairment, and delirium care.
  • Required to work across all age groups, collaborating with colleagues across ICS directorates and Place-based partnerships to achieve key objectives.
  • Must uphold the ICS commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.
  • Expected to ensure the delivery of a high-quality, well-coordinated, and patient-centred discharge transformation programme, aligned with national and local strategic priorities.

Required to map and refine existing discharge processes, engage with partners to develop best practice approaches, and oversee the successful implementation of improvements.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The following principles apply to all postholders within the Discharge Transformation Programme, including those hosted within provider organisations such as Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT):

  • Expected to engage in cross-functional collaboration, recognising the interconnected nature of acute, community, mental health, learning disability, primary care, and social care services.
  • Expected to drive integration between physical and mental health services, particularly in relation to complex discharge pathways such as dementia, cognitive impairment, and delirium care.
  • Required to work across all age groups, collaborating with colleagues across ICS directorates and Place-based partnerships to achieve key objectives.
  • Must uphold the ICS commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.
  • Expected to ensure the delivery of a high-quality, well-coordinated, and patient-centred discharge transformation programme, aligned with national and local strategic priorities.

Required to map and refine existing discharge processes, engage with partners to develop best practice approaches, and oversee the successful implementation of improvements.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to degree level or equivalent level of experience in relevant field.
  • Trained and accredited in Operational Excellence to Green Belt or equivalent
  • Formal qualification in leadership or management

Knowledge/Experience

Essential

  • Experience of managing operational staff and/or clinical teams
  • Experience of working at a senior management level
  • Experience of working within an MDT environment
  • Extensive experience of successful complex change management programmes
  • Extensive experience of using evidence-based improvement methodologies, tools and processes
  • Experience of delivering major projects or programmes that have significant financial investment
  • Experience of delivering and evidencing significant business benefits through transformation of workforce, IT, estate, new ways of working
  • Experience of programme planning and delivery, including all aspects of programme governance and control
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to degree level or equivalent level of experience in relevant field.
  • Trained and accredited in Operational Excellence to Green Belt or equivalent
  • Formal qualification in leadership or management

Knowledge/Experience

Essential

  • Experience of managing operational staff and/or clinical teams
  • Experience of working at a senior management level
  • Experience of working within an MDT environment
  • Extensive experience of successful complex change management programmes
  • Extensive experience of using evidence-based improvement methodologies, tools and processes
  • Experience of delivering major projects or programmes that have significant financial investment
  • Experience of delivering and evidencing significant business benefits through transformation of workforce, IT, estate, new ways of working
  • Experience of programme planning and delivery, including all aspects of programme governance and control

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

tbc

tbc

BN27 4HU


Employer's website

https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

tbc

tbc

BN27 4HU


Employer's website

https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Managing Director East Sussex and Patient Flow

Ruth Hillman

Ruth.hillman1@nhs.net

07880576106

Details

Date posted

26 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£62,215 to £72,293 a year pa

Contract

Secondment

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

354-AE-21163

Job locations

tbc

tbc

BN27 4HU


Supporting documents

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