National Clinical Lead (Ref: 241269)
National Hub for Reviewing and Learning from the deaths of Children and Young People
One year secondment until April 2026
2 sessions per week (0.2 WTE)
Edinburgh/Glasgow: Hybrid Working will apply for the foreseeable future
Healthcare Improvement Scotland supports healthcare providers to deliver high quality, evidence-based, safe, effective and person-centred care; and to provide public assurance about the quality and safety of that care. Visible, active clinical assurance is central to the success of our work and will support the delivery of clinically effective care to patients.
National Hub
A system has been established for reviewing and learning from the circumstances surrounding the death of all children and young people in Scotland, based on a National Hub. Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate lead the National Hub. The programme uses a multidisciplinary approach, focused on using evidence to deliver change, and ultimately aiming to reduce deaths and harm to children and young people.
Funding has been agreed to digitally connect National Records Scotland with the National Hub’s portal to streamline and enhance the current data systems.
The death of every child and young person in Scotland should be reviewed through a high quality and consistent review process. Reviews should be conducted on the deaths of all live born children up to the age of 18, or 26 for care leavers who are in receipt of aftercare or continuing care at the time of their death.
The National Hub Operates In The Context Of Existing Review Arrangements, Rather Than Replacing Or Duplicating Them. The Landscape Is Complex With a Range Of Processes Currently In Place, Including
* clinical reviews including Perinatal Mortality Review, Significant Adverse Events (SAEs) etc
* reviews of deaths of looked after children undertaken by the Care Inspectorate
* Learning Reviews (of which approximately half follow the death of a child), and
* fatal accident inquiry
The National Hub Aims To
* Ensure that the death of every child in Scotland is subject to a quality review
* Improve the experience and engagement with families and carers.
* Channel learning from current review processes across Scotland that could direct action to help reduce preventable deaths.
Purpose of post
The National Clinical Lead will provide clinical assurance, visible clinical leadership and improvement expertise and build the organisation’s clinical capability and capacity to improve the quality of health care and inform the content and aims of the National Hub.
The postholder will be accountable for maintaining close liaison with the HIS Strategic National Clinical Lead (Child Health), to ensure opportunities for strategic alignment, collaboration and learning are maximised.
Key Results Areas And Responsibilities
* To provide clinical advice, clinical guidance and clinical assurance to Healthcare Improvement Scotland in relation to the National Hub for reviewing and learning from the deaths of children and young people
* To provide clinical leadership to specific areas of work being undertaken using appropriate improvement methodologies
* To support quality assurance of submitted reviews and data produced from collated information and participate in project team discussions, advising on progress and direction
* Act as lead faculty at learning sessions and other relevant events, promoting this work through presentations, posters and workshops
* Provide support and advice to clinical teams by participating in planned meetings and act as an expert point of reference for teams facing challenges and barriers.
* Provide support and advice regarding Significant Adverse Event Reviews
* Represent the National Hub on UK-wide groups such as the Association of Child Death Review Professionals (ACDRP)
* Chair the National Hub Expert Advisory Group and Child Death Review Leads webinars
* Rotationally chair the Four Nations Group and share intelligence and outcomes of Four Nations Group with the National Hub Steering Group and Quality Assurance Directorate.
* Ensure alignment to other related programmes of work within Healthcare Improvement Scotland with learning from child death reviews, to inform a quality assurance and quality improvement work within HIS.
* Actively engage and provide advocacy with Scottish Government, Royal Colleges, NHS Boards and other clinical professional groups
* Engage with Scottish Government representatives to share and align the Four Nations Child Death Review Group learning outcomes with work across Scotland and inform future policy reviews.
Key Competencies And Skills
The post holder must be a registered medical practitioner with current GMC registration and be able to demonstrate the following key competencies and skills:
* Extensive knowledge of, and recent experience in, the field of child health
* Extensive knowledge of strategically managing services for children and young people
* Experience in providing strong clinical leadership at regional or national programme level
* Experience and knowledge of systems and structures of NHS Scotland
* Experience and advanced training in improvement science to drive reliable, sustainable improvement and promote spread and sustainability
* An interest and experience of using data to drive improvement
* Experience and knowledge of systems and organisational attributes to create the conditions for improvement
* Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the responsibility to liaise with key stakeholders including clinical colleagues, professional colleges etc.
* Ability to build strong collaborative working relationships
* Self-aware and authentic – understands and can articulate own strengths, motivations, patterns, needs and limitations. Able to engage in open and honest discussions of own performance and can use feedback constructively to improve performance
* Ability to critically analyse complex information
* Ability to manage and work to deadlines
The post holder will strategically align with the Strategic National Clinical Lead (Child Health) for HIS. They will report professionally to the Associate Medical Director, and operationally to the Head of Reviews, Quality Assurance and Regulation Directorate.
If you have any questions in relation to the role, please contact Sandra McDougall, Associate Director, at sandra.mcdougall1@nhs.scot or Phil Korsah, Associate Medical Director, at Philip.Korsah2@aapct.scot.nhs.uk.
Closing Date: Midnight on 22nd March
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