Deputy Chief Nurse

Job overview

Whittington Health NHS Trust is seeking an exceptional, visionary and values driven Deputy Chief Nurse to join our Nursing and Patient Experience Directorate on a 12 month fixed term basis.

This crucial senior leadership role supports the Chief Nurse & Director of Allied Health Professionals in delivering safe, compassionate, high quality care across our integrated acute and community services. We are looking for a leader who is committed to excellence, passionate about professional standards, and ready to influence care outcomes for the diverse population we serve.

You will bring: •    Significant senior nursing leadership experience at divisional/organisation level across acute and community settings. •    Experience leading large teams, managing budgets, and delivering organisational change. •    A deep understanding of quality governance, patient safety, risk, and assurance frameworks. •    Strong communication, influencing and relationship building skills across all professional groups.

Whittington Health is an integrated care organisation with a strong reputation for delivering safe, personal, and coordinated care. You will be part of a senior leadership team with a clear focus on quality, improvement and equity. This fixed term opportunity is ideal for experienced senior leaders seeking to broaden their portfolio or prepare for a future Chief Nurse role.

Main duties of the job

Reporting to the Chief Nurse and Director of Allied Health Professionals, the post holder will provide nursing and midwifery leadership ensuring patients, and the population we serve, are safe, cared for and listened to.

The post holder’s principle responsibilities will be to:

• Deputise for the Chief Nurse across the full portfolio of the Director’s responsibility in their absence and act in his/her place as required including representation at Trust Board level and meetings external to the Trust
• Support the Chief Nurse to provide professional visible leadership across the organisation to ensure that senior staff understand the contribution required of them to meet professional nursing and midwifery standards and Trust objectives
• With the Chief Nurse, Assistant Chief Nurse and Associate Directors of Nursing & Midwifery (ADON/M), provide professional leadership to foster a culture of professionalism, compassion excellence and quality improvement, in all aspects of delivery of patient care.
• Support the Chief Nurse in the setting and monitoring of nursing and midwifery staffing levels, skill mix and care contact time across the organisation relating these to patient dependence to ensure effective use of the nursing and midwifery workforce

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Leadership and Professional Responsibilities •    Promote a culture which focuses on the provision of high quality, compassionate, safe, effective care and continuous improvement which allows staff to maximise their potential and is underpinned by honest, open communication. •    Lead the trust’s team of nurses and midwives to ensure systems and processes are in place to assure the Chief Nurse on all issues related to nursing and midwifery workforce planning, professional nursing governance, education, practice development and policy development. •    Work in partnership with professional and managerial colleagues to ensure the continued improvement of patient care and safety. Develop and implement systems to assure and improve the quality of nursing and midwifery care, ensuring that appropriate processes and systems are implemented to monitor quality and outcomes. •    Ensure that systems are in place to monitor the registration of nurses and midwives and be the trust contact for all NMC issues. Ensure that all issues relating to unsafe and poor quality practice of nurses and midwives are identified and addressed. •    Provide professional advice, guidance and support to ICSU directors, and Service Managers through the Associate Directors of Nursing and Midwifery •    Work in partnership with the trust’s Assistant Chief Nurse for Education to lead the modernisation of nursing and midwifery roles and practice, ensuring that roles provide value for money and benefit to the organization.

• Provide professional leadership in partnership with the ICSU Associate Directors of Nursing and Midwifery (ADON/M) to the trust’s Consultant Nurses and Midwives, participating in their appraisal process with the relevant ADON/M
• Take an active role in the development of partnership working across patient pathways with local organisations and agencies, both NHS and non-NHS
• Ensure that appropriate reports on the monitoring of quality and outcomes measures of care are produced
• Ensure that quality improvement methodology becomes embedded into nursing, midwifery and AHP practice in the organisation
• Provide leadership to staff in the ICSU’s to ensure systems and processes are in place to continuously listen to and learn from patient/client views and experiences and enhance the experience of users of the Trust’s services
• Develop partnerships with Health Watch groups and other community groups to develop strategies and processes to learn from patient/user experience
• Provide regular reports to ICSU boards and the Trust Board through the Quality Assurance Committee which outlines the main themes and trends from complaints, PALs, incidents and claims cases and identifies key learning for the ICSU’s and Trust •    Develop processes for the development and monitoring of actions/action plans emanating from complaints, PALs and Claims at ICSU level and identify those areas that have Trust wide implications for learning and change of behaviour •    Along with Executive Directors and Operational Directors, participate in the ‘Gold on Call’ Rota acting as the Trust senior responsible officer out of hours for all unexpected issues and incidents

Financial Management •    Manage services within his/her control to ensure that budgets are adhered to and that end of year targets are met •    In collaboration with finance and human resources, lead on the management of non-medical bank and agency spend •    Ensure that all expenditure within control provides value for money and that financial targets are met •    Contribute to the development and delivery and quality impact of cost improvement plans that meet the trust’s financial targets while maintaining safe and high-quality services •    Provide clear and strategic leadership in partnership with ADON/M to ensure an appropriate mix of a skilled and motivated nursing and midwifery workforce to provide safe standards of care •    Participate in contract and service level negotiations in relation to quality issues

Quality Governance •    Contribute to the Trust’s corporate and quality governance processes to ensure the implementation of the Trust integrated governance framework that assures safe and effective care for patients and clients and complies with public sector values and codes of conduct and accountability •    Support the ADON/M to develop quality governance assurance processes for clinical care and fort professional standards within their ICSU •    Develop and establish processes and systems which provide ward/team to board assurance on patient care, experience and safety •    Work collaboratively with ICSU Directors, and Service Managers, ADON/M to ensure systems are in place to ensure all statutory nursing and midwifery requirements are being met •    Ensure systems are in place to ensure nursing and midwifery and policies are evidence based, relevant and current •    Contribute to the development of policies for the effective management of agency and bank nursing across the Trust •    Further develop the nursing and midwifery quality indicators dashboard for nursing and midwifery professions which encourages a culture where nurses and midwives can accept ownership, accountability and responsibility for the care and service they provide