Quality and Improvement Director

Job overview

NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership is one of five pathology networks in London and is seeking a board-level Quality and Improvement Director.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a tight-knit director team. As one of the largest pathology networks in the NHS, we carry out over 100,000 tests a day for over three million patients.

As Quality and Improvement Director you will be responsible for delivering all aspects of the Pathology Partnership’s clinical governance, quality management, service improvement, training, compliance, risk, and health and safety across all Pathology Partnership laboratories.

You will also be deeply involved in broader strategic and day-to-day decision making for the organisation to ensure that we stay true to our vision ‘to always deliver consistently reliable and timely pathology tests for every one of our patients’.

You will be a member of the Pathology Partnership’s Board, together with four other directors, six executive directors from our three owner trusts and an independent Chair.

The Pathology Partnership is hosted by Barts Health and so you will have the support of one of the NHS’ largest hospital groups.

Main duties of the job

You will be the board director responsible for leading clinical governance, quality management, service improvement, training, compliance, risk, and health and safety across all seven of the Pathology Partnership laboratories.

This will include accountability for accreditation with UKAS, MHRA and other regulatory bodies, management of Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and complaints processes, maintenance of the Partnership’s risk register and delivery of service improvements identified as part of service changes or any agreed Cost Improvement Programmes (CIPs) for the Partnership. Through these activities, you will contribute to ensuring that services provide optimum patient care, experience and value for money.

You will be a member of the Partnership’s Strategic Management Board, which is responsible for the strategic direction and effective operational management of the Pathology Partnership and – as a member of the Partnership’s director team and wider senior leadership team – will collectively provide leadership, drive and direction for the Partnership.

The Quality and Improvement Director will be responsible for quality and improvement-related leadership for any expansion of the existing pathology network to incorporate new member organisations.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description and person specification attached below provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, together with the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required.

The Pathology Partnership is hosted by Barts Health and we embrace Barts Health’s WeCare values. The WeCare values are set out I the job description. attached. We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Pathology Partnership and Barts Health at this band.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.