Head of Clinical Governance, Patient Safety & Quality
NHUC are seeking a dynamic and inspirational leader to take on the pivotal role of Head of Clinical Governance, Patient Safety & Quality for Same Day Care (SDC).
You will shape and oversee our clinical governance framework, safeguard patients, and ensure compliance with national standards, while driving a culture of continuous improvement across our services.
Interview date: 9th January 2026 We may close this advert early should we receive a high number of applications.
Main duties of the job
* Ensure systems and processes are in place to maintain and improve patient safety & provide a rigorous approach to all aspects of clinical governance.
* Lead and enhance the organisation's commitment to delivering high quality, safe care across all services.
* Ensure that NHUC's quality and safety assurance systems and processes are robust and that they are adequately monitored, acting on risks related to safety, quality and patient experience issues.
* Oversee the clinical governance framework, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and implementing quality improvement initiatives.
* Oversee the CQC preparedness process, linking in with all leads/directors for the services across NHUC.
* Work collaboratively across teams to promote a culture of safety and continuous improvement, aligning with the organisation and strategic objectives across the whole of the organisation.
* Please see the full job description for a full list of duties and responsibilities.
About us
NHUC is a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society, working in partnership with the NHS. NHUC provides services through two divisions, Same Day Care (SDC) and TalkPlus.
SDC provides services through the Integrated Urgent Care (IUC) contract which covers the in Hours Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) and Out of Hours (OOH) provision for North Hampshire, North East Hampshire and Farnham (NEHF) and Surrey Heath places which are part of the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ICB and Frimley ICB respectively. We also provide Urgent Treatment Centres at the front doors of both Basingstoke and Frimley Park Hospital whilst also holding some smaller contacts supporting Community Hospitals OOH and Flu response. Finally, SDC has a virtual care arm supporting patients at home.
TalkPlus provides NHS Talking Therapies, supporting people with common mental health problems in Northeast Hampshire and Farnham place. TalkPlus offers a range of treatments to people who are experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety, low mood, depression, panic, phobias or OCD. TalkPlus has care pathways to provide timely treatment for perinatal and military veteran referrals.
NHUC is a Disability Confident registered organisation and is proud to support the Armed Forces community as a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant.
Job responsibilities
Role Summary
* Ensure systems and processes are in place to maintain and improve patient safety & provide a rigorous approach to all aspects of clinical governance.
* Lead and enhance the organisation's commitment to delivering high quality, safe care across all services.
* Ensure that NHUC's quality and safety assurance systems and processes are robust and that they are adequately monitored, acting on risks related to safety, quality and patient experience issues.
* Oversee the clinical governance framework, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and implementing quality improvement initiatives.
* Oversee the CQC preparedness process, linking in with all leads/directors for the services across NHUC.
* Work collaboratively across teams to promote a culture of safety and continuous improvement, aligning with the organisation and strategic objectives across the whole of the organisation.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
* Provision of inspirational leadership to the clinical and non-registered clinical workforce for Same Day Care.
* Act as the safeguarding lead for Same Day Care and support to the Clinical Director on strategic/organisational safeguarding.
* Lead on patient safety within NHUC including the delivery of all elements of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.
* Support the workforce with Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) across all NHUC sites via IPC site inspections and audits.
* Lead the Clinical Governance team, ensuring robust and effective systems and processes are in place for complaints & incident management and quality reporting.
* Provide regular updates to management meetings and at the Clinical Governance Committee (CGC) meetings on Clinical Governance, Patient Safety, Quality related matters.
* Development and delivery of the clinical audit programme.
* Support the Medicines Management Team in delivery of safe, effective and responsive plans for continued patient care across any of NHUC Clinical areas.
* Support NHUC and the Controlled Drugs (CD) Lead ensuring any related policies are up to date and compliant with regulatorystandards.
* Implementation of national frameworks and policies, including compliance and regulation.
* Support NHUC as a lead for CQC in support of the CQC Preparedness.
* Work closely with the Director of Operations, Medical Director, Clinical Director and Clinical Leads to facilitate patient safety and clinical governance in all clinical areas of NHUC.
* Provide high quality clinical & leadership expertise to Same Day Care Management Executive Committee, NHUC's Clinical Governance Committee and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
* To be part of the Director on-call team.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
* Toprovide effective leadership and management to staff which promotes the highest performance standards both individually and as a team, The Post Holder will be expected to:
* Provide service-level leadership for Same Day Care with the Clinical Lead and Director of Operations, promoting an effective team ethos in line with NHUC's values.
* Lead the Clinical Governance Team (Clinical Governance Lead GP, Operations Team Clinical Governance Lead and Business Support).
* Linemanagement of the clinical and non-registered team members within the Governance Team.
* Ensure management of staff is consistent with HR policies to the achievement of equality, equity and optimum performance.
* Provide clear and effective two-way communication within the SLT to support Clinical Governance, Patient Safety and Quality.
* Support the development of strategic and operational business plans.
* Represent SDC & NHUC at local, regional and national levels as required.
* Support the delivery of NHUC's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Pledge.
* Member of Management Executive and Clinical Governance Committee.
* Participate in relevant local and regional safeguarding forums at board and sub board level and provide reports as required.
* Ensure that learning from safeguarding incidents from outside and inside the organisation is disseminated and shared, ensuring that all actions have been implemented.
* Ensure that relevant safeguarding strategies are developed and implemented across Same Day Care, ensuring compliance and adherence to all legal regulatory and statutory requirements.
* Support NHUC's Safeguarding Leads in ensuring that NHUC meets its responsibilities in safeguarding children, vulnerable adults and the wider workforce in line with National Policy requirements.
* Collaborate with the HIOW and Surrey Safeguarding Teams to ensure that they remain current in practice.
* Ensure there are effective local arrangements in place across Same Day Care for safeguarding adults and children, and staff are competent to recognise those at risk, escalating as per safeguarding policy.
* Monitor compliance of best practice, supporting the production of quarterly reports to the ICB, Clinical Governance Committee and an Annual Safeguarding report to the Board.
* Maintain a mechanism whereby all staff employed by NHUC receive feedback from national and local incidents.
* Ensure all Same Day Care staff have the appropriate training and remain compliant whilst employed by NHUC.
* Lead the Infection, Prevention and Control agenda for Same Day Care.
* Lead the delivery of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework for Same Day Care, providing expertise as a trained learning response practitioner and ensuring the services Patient Safety Incident Response Plan is maintained and updated.
* Ensure robust & effective systems for Same Day Care incident management are in place, including learning and delivery of action plans.
* Develop and maintain up-to-date knowledge on the national patient safety agenda to inform best practice arrangements at a local level.
* Ensure that learning from incidents is disseminated in an effective way, providing assurance to NHUC and the ICB that lessons are learnt, and practice has improved.
* To work alongside the senior clinical team to integrate evidence with clinical expertise to provide safe and effective care to the patient population.
* To develop a clinical audit programme that is relevant to the service, working with internal and external requirements and demands.
* To sit on the Clinical Guardian Panel Reviews and complete appropriate follow up actions.
* To ensure compliance to relevant NICE guidance, incorporating them into the clinical audit cycle as appropriate.
* To ensure the dissemination of relevant guidelines and alerts.
Clinical Knowledge
* The post holder will be able to deliver a ward-to-board role, ensuring registration is maintained and competence in the clinical field in order to deliver senior clinical leadership.
* The post holder will be a registered healthcare professional.
* The post holder will continue to maintain a minimum safe practice supported by NHUC.
* The post holder will support the Medicines Management Meetings.
* In collaboration with the Medical Director and Clinical Lead SDC to take a key leadership role in the safe effective management of medicines within the organisation.
* To support on Non-Medical Prescribing and provide regular audits and assurance of NMP to the board level and Governance Committee.
* To oversee clinical and operational audit within medicines management team.
* To lead the Controlled Drugs agenda and maintain compliance with HMO licence requirements.
Clinical Governance
* Lead the Clinical Governance Team (Clinical Governance Lead GP, Operations Team Clinical Governance Lead and Business Support).
* Be responsible for the delivery of timely, clear and insightful quality reporting relating to Same Day Care.
* Maintain oversight of all Same Day Care clinical risk and manage pertinent clinical risks, working with NHUC's Director of Strategy & OD to ensure clinical risks are clearly articulated and mitigated in line with Management Executive direction.
* Responsible for ensuring that the incident and complaints management processes are in line with NHUC policy and that investigations & responses are carried out to the required standards and timelines.
* Attend NHUC's Clinical Governance Committee, delivering briefings to the committee on all elements of clinical governance as required, identifying key themes/trends, triangulating with performance data and providing in depth analysis.
Equality and Diversity
* Support the organisational delivery of NHUC's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Pledge.
Person Specification
Experience
* Extensive post registration experience working effectively in a relevant multi-professional environment preferably in primary care, urgent care or community setting.
* Evidence of contributing to strategy.
* Evidence of patient experience management and developing robust learning plans.
* Evidence of relevant evidence-based practice.
* Ability to demonstrate key values and skills in line with NHUC's framework.
* Experience of incident management.
* Experience of complaints management.
Qualifications
* Registered healthcare professional.
* Proven Leadership skills.
* Evidence of relevant professional development.
* PG Certificate in Adult Education or other teaching qualification.
* Mentorship/Coaching Qualification.
* Leadership Qualification/Courses.
Knowledge, Communications, Interpersonal and Personal Skills
* Proficient in using standard office software (e.g., Microsoft Office, email) with eagerness to learn any role-specific systems or platforms.
* Demonstrates ability to lead, motivate, or supervise others. Supports performance management and contributes to team development.
* Flexible in approach to the needs of the service and responsive to change.
* Understands and supports principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.
* Self‑motivated, able to work independently, organising and prioritising own workload to changing and often tight deadlines.
* Works effectively as part of a team, supports colleagues, and contributes to shared goals.
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Ability to work collaboratively, manage time effectively, and maintain professionalism.
* Ability to build effective working relationships, demonstrate professionalism, and maintain confidentiality. Shows initiative, reliability, and adaptability.
* Demonstrates personal credibility and adopts a style that encourages an honest and open culture.
* Good knowledge of Patient safety, Audit, PSIRF, ICP.
* Can demonstrate good presentation and report writing skills.
* Currently up to date with all professional qualifications and Safeguarding level 3 in both Adults and Children.
* Demonstrate ability to manage complex or difficult situations in a clinical and management role.
* Demonstrate the ability to deliver in a pressurised environment.
* Participation in the on‑call rota.
* Ability to travel and work at any other NHUC site as required.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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