Associate Director of Clinical Governance Patient Safety & Complaints

Job overview

The role provides compassionate and collaborative senior leadership, visibility and expert support to patient safety work across MFT

This role leads the development of a patient safety culture and safety systems and has a key role, with the Director of Clinical Governance, in supporting the Executive team to understand effective approaches to improving patient safety. The role is responsible for leading patient safety understanding, involvement and improvement activity and ensures that systems thinking and just culture principles are embedded in all patient safety processes.

The post holder is the Trust Patient Safety Specialist,  and will work collaboratively, including with external organisations, to develop links and relationships with patient safety and other relevant leads in networks to develop/share good practice and act collaboratively to improve patient safety.

The role is responsible for ensuring MFT has an effective, compassionate and responsive complaints and PALs service which embeds the principles of the National Patient Safety Strategy, NHS contract and  PHSO guidance within its operating model.

The post holder has line management responsibility for the central Patient Safety Service and the central Complaints and PALs Service .

Main duties of the job

To use highly specialist patient safety and improvement expertise to:

Provide patient safety expertise/leadership within the organisation; including expert knowledge in the use and application of systems-based responses to patient safety incidents and complaints; demonstrating compassionate leadership, visibility and supporting a compassionate patient safety culture

Be responsible for developing and delivering patient safety policy, promoting innovation and supporting operational excellence

Be the Trust's registered Patient Safety Specialist

Provide leadership to ensure that the Trust delivers a robust, compassionate and responsive regulatory complaints function in line with legislation, national guidance and best practice.

Work collaboratively with the Trust Lead for Complaints and PALS to ensure that the Trust’s approach to responding to complaints is embedded within, and in line with, the overall approach to responding to patient safety incidents

Take a lead in reviewing and assuring responses to complex or high profile complaints prior to sign off by the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Executive Officer, ensuring that a robust and compassionate approach is embedded throughout

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more detail of the roles and responsibilities of this position.