Job summary
We are seeking an experienced, knowledgeable, and driven clinical governance leader for the role of Associate Director of Governance at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. The right person will have an ambitious approach to leading the patient safety and quality governance agenda to drive the very best patient outcomes and experience. Supporting the Executive Chief Nurse and Medical Director, this role will play an important part in continuing to drive forward and provide leadership to the Trust's patient safety and experience functions. They will provide visible professional leadership for patient safety which inspires, motivates, and engages teams across the organisation.
The right candidate will be highly literate and able to provide effective analysis of data and clear assurance on the organisational response to risks, incidents, and issues impacting quality governance. They will act as a subject matter expert on NHS governance frameworks, patient safety standards, health and Safety legislation, and regulatory requirements. They will be a confident communicator who models civility and compassion and is able to engage a wide range of stakeholders. The post holder should be resilient, self-motivated, politically astute, and able to negotiate challenging situations and interactions.
Main duties of the job
The Associate Director of Governance, in collaboration with the Chief Nurse and Medical Director, will provide strategic and operational leadership to ensure robust systems and processes are in place for effective governance across The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
* Provide senior level leadership and direction to the Quality and Clinical Governance, Health Safety, and Risk.
* Provide expert advice to the Executive Team/Board on all matters relating to Quality Governance, Health, Safety, and Risk.
* Lead the continual development and evolution of the Trust Local Risk Management System.
* The postholder will have specific responsibility for Patient Safety, Risk Management, Learning from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE), Complaints, Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), Claims, Inquests, and Health and Safety.
* Work collaboratively to promote a culture of transparency, learning, and continuous improvement, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and delivering high standards of care.
About us
The Christie is one of Europe's leading cancer centres and an international leader in cancer research. We are a performance-driven, high-achieving organisation, with the patient at the heart of everything we do. Our ambition is to be one of the leading comprehensive cancer centres in the world.
A Foundation Trust since 2007, we treat over 44,000 patients a year and have a turnover in excess of £220m. Based in Manchester, we serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, and as a national specialist, around 26% of patients are referred to us from other areas of the country.
Our combination of service, research, and education provides opportunities for innovation, and we use a strong business approach to develop our services. Our ambitious strategy includes delivering services closer to patients' homes through our network of Christie radiotherapy centres and developing new treatments for patients in our early phase trials unit, which is the largest in the world.
If you think you could be the person we are looking for and wish to arrange an informal discussion, please contact Laura O'Brien, PA to Vicky Sharples, Chief Nurse and Executive Director of Quality: laura.obrien3@nhs.net
Job description
Job responsibilities
Strategic Leadership of Quality Governance
* Develop and deliver a comprehensive quality governance strategy for the Trust, aligned with national standards and best practices.
* Act as a key advisor to the Trust Board and senior leadership team on matters related to quality governance, including patient safety, risk, health and safety, and patient experience, ensuring compliance with local and national regulatory standards and statutory requirements.
* Role model leadership in the creation of a culture that encourages reporting, learning, and continuous quality improvement across the organisation.
* Develop a framework of systems and processes to deliver and manage effective governance across the Trust.
* Ensure the adequate functioning of governance committees responsible for delivery and oversight of the quality governance agenda.
* Facilitate and support the local implementation of the current and future national strategies that apply to the governance agenda.
* Maintain evidence required for external assessments and ensure timely completion and implementation of action plans in respect of regulatory and corporate requirements.
* Monitor information about the quality of complaints, incidents, risk, claims, and inquest outcomes demonstrating a positive response to learning and improvement.
Patient Safety and Risk Management
* Lead the development and implementation of the Trust's Patient Safety Strategy and Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), ensuring alignment with the NHS Patient Safety Strategy 2020.
* Embed the principles of PSIRF ensuring robust assurance is provided to the board, identifying any areas for improvement and implementing strategies that directly address poor performance.
* Responsible for the oversight of clinical and non-clinical risks, including maintaining and monitoring the Trust risk registers.
* Ensure systems are in place for investigating, managing, and learning from patient safety events/incidents, delivering improvements to safety priorities as described in the Trust PSIRF policy and plan.
Learning from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE)
* Lead the implementation and operationalisation of the Learning from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) framework across the Trust, ensuring alignment with national standards and reporting requirements.
* Promote a culture of openness and learning through timely reporting, investigation, and analysis of patient safety events.
* Ensure lessons learned from patient safety events are shared and embedded across the organisation to improve care quality and safety.
* Utilise LFPSE data to identify trends, themes, and areas for improvement, providing regular reports to the Board and clinical teams.
Duty of Candour / Compassionate Engagement
* Act as the Trust's strategic lead for the Duty of Candour, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and embedding the principles of openness and transparency across the organisation.
* Develop and oversee policies, training, and guidance to ensure all staff understand and fulfil their responsibilities under the Duty of Candour.
* Provide assurance to the Board and regulators on the Trust's compliance with Duty of Candour requirements through robust monitoring and reporting systems.
* Ensure that patients, families, and carers are provided with clear, honest information following incidents of harm, including timely, heartfelt apologies and updates on investigations and remedial actions.
* Promote a culture of accountability and learning to improve patient outcomes and foster public trust, developing mechanisms of compassionate engagement to support resolution of adverse outcomes, complaints, or claims.
Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU)
* Work closely with the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian to embed an open and transparent culture.
Health and Safety
* Line management of Trust Head of Health & Safety responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of the Trust's health and safety agenda, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements.
* Supervise Head of Health & Safety to oversee the development, implementation, and monitoring of the Trust's health and safety policies and risk assessments.
* Ensure the Trust has effective systems to identify, assess, and control health and safety risks, including those related to staff, patients, and visitors.
* Provide regular reports to the Board and senior leadership on health and safety performance, compliance, and improvement plans.
Legal
* Leadership and oversight for the management of clinical and non-clinical claims, ensuring compliance with NHS Resolution requirements; liaising with Trust Solicitors as required.
* Oversee the Trust's response to coronial inquests, ensuring thorough preparation, support for staff, and learning from outcomes aligned to PSIRF.
Governance and Compliance
* Ensure the Trust meets all statutory and regulatory requirements, including those set by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS England, NHS Resolution, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
* Provide assurance to the Board on governance processes, patient safety, health and safety, and risk management.
* Lead the preparation of reports, self-assessments, and submissions for external inspections/audit across portfolio of the role.
Leadership and Team Management
* Provide leadership to teams responsible for patient safety, risk management, complaints, PALS, FTSU, LFPSE, health and safety, claims, and inquests.
* Ensure staff have access to appropriate training, support, and development opportunities.
* Foster and role model a culture of collaboration, professionalism, and continuous improvement.
Stakeholder Engagement
* Act as a key liaison with external stakeholders, including regulators, commissioners, and patient advocacy groups and ICB.
* Promote patient and public involvement in governance and service improvement initiatives.
Finance
* Ensure value for money and best use of resources when planning and initiating quality improvement activities.
* Responsible for management of managed employees and directorate budget and monitoring the budget position within the department to ensure spending is reasonable, of the best value and accurately recorded.
* Seek out opportunities for value improvement/efficiencies within budgets.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
* Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., healthcare management, risk management, or clinical governance) or equivalent experience.
* Evidence of continued professional development.
Desirable
* Risk Management/Governance Qualification.
* Relevant Management Qualification.
* Understanding of research methodology.
* Experience of working directly with NHS Boards inc. Governors and NEDs.
Experience
Essential
* Significant experience in governance leadership within the NHS or a comparable healthcare setting.
* Experience at a senior level of managing healthcare delivery systems.
* Experience of concurrently managing a wide variety of projects.
* Experience of working in partnership with the public and independent sector.
* Relationship management of internal and external stakeholders.
* Significant experience of engaging clinicians in service improvement.
* Significant professional leadership of governance.
Desirable
* Experience of effective redesign and improvement methodologies.
* Experience of negotiation and managing organisational change.
* Demonstrable track record of service improvement.
* Demonstrable commitment to patient-centred care, learning, and improvement.
Skills
Essential
* Strong knowledge of NHS governance frameworks, patient safety standards, health and safety legislation, and regulatory requirements.
* Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
* Strategic thinker with the ability to manage complex priorities and deliver results.
* Ability to draft board level reports providing succinct analysis of data and assurance of organisational response to risks or issues impacting quality governance, patient care, or experience.
* Politically astute.
Desirable
* Mentor/Coaching.
* Financial management in NHS.
* Information Governance.
* Restorative practice.
Knowledge
Essential
* Political awareness of and sensitiveness to the interactions and interdependencies between the NHS and non-NHS organisations.
* Ability to interpret and manage complex policy and assimilate into organisational delivery.
* Effective influencing, communication, and negotiating skills.
* Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
* Performance management tools and techniques and the application to NHS organisational standards and targets.
* Able to communicate with and engage front line clinical staff and clinical leaders in service strategy/redesign.
* Able to build redesign processes and systems that are simple, and which engage front-line staff and clinical and non-clinical leaders.
Desirable
* Natural partnership worker - supports and challenges people to work together to develop pathways that enhance service quality.
* Understanding of a broad range of professional standards and codes of practice.
* Knowledge of legal processes pertinent to clinical negligence/personal injury/NHS resolution.
* Just & Fair blame culture tools.
Values
Essential
* Ability to work autonomously with minimal supervision to meet deadlines in a high-pressure environment.
* Approachable, helpful, and encouraging.
* Initiative-taking approach to problem-solving.
* Excellent people skills and emotional intelligence.
* Ability to work as a team member and individually.
* Senior level experience of managing in a complex organisation.
* Ability to utilise and implement governance strategies and push their application to improve patient care and experience.
* Strongly held commitment to openness, honesty, inclusiveness, and standards.
* Demonstrates resilience & determination to achieve results.
Desirable
* Ability to translate strategic intent into operational reality.
* Self-awareness of own strengths & weaknesses and impact on others.
Other
Essential
* Frequent exposure to highly sensitive and distressing circumstances including delivering unwelcome news to staff and patients, resolving conflict, dealing with challenging behaviour.
* Investigation and management of complaints and incidents.
* Attendance/representation at coroner's courts.
* Contributes to strategy and operational developments/functions outside of core role as a member of the senior leadership team.
Desirable
* Willingness to travel across GM and Nationally as required for the role.
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 .
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. .
Employer details
Employer name
The Christie NHS FT
Address
Quality and Standards - E00025
Manchester
M20 4BX
Employer's website #J-18808-Ljbffr