The Vaccination and Screening Directorate (V&S) is responsible for discharging the NHS public health functions agreement, under which the Secretary of State delegates responsibility to NHS England for certain public health services, known as Section 7A services. These include around 20 immunisation programmes, 11 screening programmes and other services such as child health information services (CHIS). Working as a multi-disciplinary team, we work across the NHS and wider partners to design and deliver the best possible services. The directorate is collectively responsible for the delivery of our mission statement: To deliver maximum levels of uptake and coverage across the whole population within and between communities, improving health outcomes, avoiding harm, enabling earlier diagnosis and helping people to stay well, leaving no-one behind.
A permanent vacancy has arisen for a Quality Assurance (QA) Advisor. The post holder will work as part of a dynamic team in the delivery of an effective quality assurance and improvement service for NHS breast screening programme providers. The post holder will support in the delivery of a comprehensive programme of quality assurance capable of maintaining and further developing, effective, high quality breast screening throughout the area. The post holder will work collaboratively with colleagues nationally to promote consistency across national screening programmes and in the delivery of the national quality assurance function.
The QA Advisor’s key responsibility is to deliver a screening quality assurance programme and support the development of policy, methods and tools for quality assurance. The post holder should provide specialist advice related to the breast portfolio of NHS screening programmes whilst building and managing relationships with local, and national stakeholders. The post holder will work within a specialist team, led by a Senior Clinical Lead.
Whilst the postholder may have a usual group of providers and commissioners that they work with they will be expected to have the flexibility to work with other screening providers and commissioners across the country to focus screening quality assurance and improvement activity with prioritised providers. The post holder must be able to work independently with the capability to interpret, implement and provide specialist advice but recognise when to refer matters of particular complexity/sensitivity to more senior staff.
The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
• Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
• Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
• Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
• Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
• Delivering value for money.
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Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
NHS England hold a Sponsor Licence; this means that we may be able to sponsor you providing the Home Office requirements are met. To be eligible for sponsorship through the Skilled Worker route you’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher. You can find more information on theGovernment website.
Some of the main duties and responsibilities will be to:
Manage, plan and develop QA activities including participating in policy and service development.
• Deliver a QA programme. Undertake service review/audit using national tools and make recommendations for service improvements. Support the delivery of QA interventions, by supporting full QA visits and leading screening pathway reviews and other interventions.
• Develop policy, methods and tools for QA. Analyse complex data from local screening programmes including key performance indicators and annual report returns.
• Provide highly specialist support. Act as the key resource for provision of information regarding NHS screening programmes. Use specialist knowledge and expertise to advise local programmes and commissioners on the quality of the screening programmes and provide guidance on how to deliver high quality programmes. Provide appropriate and timely expert advice to support the investigation and management of incidents. Ensure that areas of underperformance are investigated and addressed.
• Build relationships with stakeholders. Play a powerful role in forging partnerships with, and influencing local programmes that deliver NHS screening programmes to ensure the widest possible participation in the delivery of high quality services. Participate in and organise national/regional level working groups/networks as required.
You can find further details about the job, organisational structure, recruitment profile, expected outcomes and benefits information in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
This advert closes on Sunday 5 Jan 2025