Contact information
For further information about this role, please contact Gayle Rose (Head of Patient Safety and Risk) via:
Email: gayle.rose1@nhs.net
Telephone: 01924 546103
About the role
We are looking to appoint a Patient Safety Specialist to provide dynamic, senior leadership, visibility and expert support to the patient safety work in the organisation. You will support the development of a patient safety culture and safety systems and work in networks to share good practice and learn from each other.
You will lead, and may directly support, patient safety improvement activity and ensure that systems thinking, human factors understanding and just culture principles are embedded in all patient safety processes. You will promote patient safety thinking beyond why things go wrong in healthcare (Safety I), to examining why things routinely go right and how that can be maximised (Safety II). This includes ensuring that the Trust has effective processes in place that cross directorate or divisional structures and that these link effectively to national safety systems. This role includes supporting the Trust to ensure that the patient is at the centre of all patient safety activity.
Main duties
The Patient Safety Specialist will:
* Be an integral part of the Chief Nursing Officer’s team, showing leadership in relation to all elements of Patient Safety and to deputise for the Head of Patient Safety and Risk where required.
* Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, to ensure that there is a robust and coherent Patient Safety Strategy, convert that strategy into plans, objectives and deliverables for the organisation. To influence and motivate staff at all levels to ensure delivery of these plans and support the continued development of the patient safety culture.
* Develop and deliver education to increase Patient Safety understanding and capability across the organisation aligned to the National Patient Safety Strategy. Provide expert support and guidance to learning response leads/lead investigators in the completion of complex system-based investigations.
* Promote patient safety insight as an approach that incorporates understanding all sources of patient safety intelligence, including from incidents, risk assessments, investigations, mortality and morbidity reviews, inquests, clinical audits, patient experience, compliments and complaints, litigation, patient and staff surveys, in line with the measurement principles set out in the NHS Patient Safety Strategy.
Work in partnership with the Organisations Patient Experience team to recruit, manage, develop and support the patient safety partners in accordance with the Patient Safety Partner Framework.
* Oversee and support patient safety improvement, ensuring that systems thinking, human factors understanding and just culture principles are embedded in patient safety processes.
* Support the effective collation, analysis and presentation of qualitative and quantitative patient safety data and provide regular and tailored reports to all relevant committees, the organisations Board and external agencies as required, integrating these data sources to give a comprehensive and patient-centred picture of patient’s safety challenges, improvement opportunities and achievements.
* Lead on system-based investigations when appropriate and as agreed with the Director of Nursing & Quality and the Head of Patient Safety and Risk.
* Provide sound advice in respect of professional and practice issues, e.g. alleged misconduct, clinical practice outside the norm, patient safety incident investigations, complaints etc.
* Lead work with senior leaders to develop, implement and evaluate Trust wide processes to ensure that learning from incidents is shared widely and changes to practice are embedded to enhance patient safety.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details.
Essential person specification requirements
Qualifications:
* Current professional registration e.g. RN, RMN, HCPC etc
* Educated to Master’s Level in a related subject or equivalent experience working at a senior level
* Post basic clinical qualification in relevant area that has recently enhanced clinical practice
Experience:
* Experience of working in a patient safety-related role with an understanding of the principles that underpin approaches to improving patient safety in health systems
* Experience and knowledge of the components of clinical governance, incident response, risk management and assurance function; current NHS national policies, standards, requirements and directions that relate to measuring and improving the quality and safety of patient care
* Experience of working across professional and organisational boundaries
* Experience of developing & delivering training programmes
* Experience in project/change management in a healthcare environment and driving improvement for the safety of patients
Skills and Abilities:
* Ability to interpret complex information (including patient safety incident data, administrative data, mortality data) that may conflict and where expert opinion may differ
* Demonstrate the ability to effectively use Microsoft Office applications and the use of electronic data systems (e.g. Datix/Radar)
* Ability to develop and communicate a vision, and convert that into plans, objectives and deliverables working to tight and often changing deadlines
* Deliver high level reports of findings from data analysis
* Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
* Ability to work collaboratively with others across organisational and professional boundaries
* Excellent communication skills; Providing and receiving highly complex and sensitive information, ability to present to groups
* Ability to design and deliver group training
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details.
Be part of MY team
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Application guidance:
We understand that more applicants are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.
Our benefits
* Access to the NHS pension plan
* Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
* Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
* Extensive benefits and support, including:
* Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
* Home electronics scheme
* Cycle to work scheme - subject to eligibility criteria
* Car lease salary sacrifice scheme - subject to eligibility criteria
* Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
* Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
* Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
* Career progression, training and support
Skilled worker sponsorship
You can find out more about skilled worker and health and care visas on our careers site .