Band 8c - Associate Director of Governance for Paeds and Gynae

Job overview

Are you an experienced governance leader with a passion for patient safety, quality improvement and delivering exceptional care for women, babies ,children and young people?

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and forward-thinking Associate Director of Governance (Band 8c) to join the Women's and Children's Division at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, providing strategic leadership for governance, quality, patient safety and risk management across both Gynaecology and Paediatrics Services.

Working closely with the Deputy Directors of Nursing, Clinical Directors, Head of Midwifery, senior clinicians and operational leaders, you will lead the governance agenda across two high-profile specialties, ensuring robust governance systems support the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care.

This is a pivotal leadership role with responsibility for developing and embedding a strong culture of patient safety, continuous improvement and organisational learning. You will provide expert leadership in patient safety investigations, risk management, complaints, claims, assurance processes, regulatory compliance and quality improvement, driving improvements that make a real difference to patients, families and staff.

Main duties of the job

As Associate Director of Governance, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for governance and patient safety across Gynaecology and Paediatrics.

You will:

• Lead the governance, patient safety, quality and risk management agenda across both specialties.
• Provide expert advice and assurance to divisional and corporate leadership teams.
• Oversee implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and development of a strong learning culture.
• Lead the management of serious incidents, complaints, claims, inquests and litigation processes.
• Ensure effective governance systems are in place to monitor quality, safety and patient experience.
• Develop and maintain divisional assurance frameworks and risk registers.
• Lead governance reporting to divisional, Trust and external committees.
• Drive quality improvement programmes and ensure learning from incidents, audits and patient feedback is translated into measurable service improvements.
• Manage and develop governance teams across Gynaecology and Paediatrics.
• Support compliance with national standards, regulatory requirements and NHS best practice.

The successful candidate will be an experienced governance professional with a proven track record of leading quality, safety and governance programmes within a complex healthcare environment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Associate Director of Governance will provide senior leadership and professional expertise to ensure effective governance arrangements are embedded across Gynaecology and Paediatrics.

The post holder will:

• Lead the development and delivery of the divisional governance strategy.
• Provide leadership for governance, quality improvement, patient safety and risk management teams.
• Ensure effective systems are in place for incident reporting, investigation, action tracking and organisational learning.
• Oversee the management of complaints, claims, coronial matters and external reviews.
• Maintain oversight of divisional risks and assurance processes.
• Ensure effective governance reporting arrangements to support Board and Committee assurance.
• Work collaboratively with clinical, nursing and operational leaders to improve patient outcomes and experiences.
• Lead implementation of PSIRF and promote a just and learning culture.
• Monitor quality performance indicators and provide expert analysis and recommendations.
• Support regulatory inspections, accreditation programmes and external assurance reviews.
• Develop governance capability across the division through education, coaching and leadership.
• Represent the Division at Trust-wide governance and quality forums.

The role requires an experienced and credible leader who can influence across organisational boundaries, manage complexity and inspire teams to deliver continuous improvement in patient safety and quality.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.