University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group comprises Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital. With a budget of over £800 million and over 11,000 staff, we operate two hospitals, several community services, and serve a population of 900,000 people across Northamptonshire.
It is an exciting time to join us as we focus on our three priorities: to improve UHN as a place to receive care, to improve UHN as a place to work, and to meet our financial targets.
Our UHN 'Improving Together' strategy was approved by the Board in Summer 2024. We have had a successful first year implementing our ambitions around capability building, improvement coaching, building our culture for improvement, and developing our ward-based improvement offer.
With the support of our Boards, we have an exciting journey ahead, with opportunities for an experienced improvement professional to shape our efforts as we embed improvement into daily work across UHN and focus on our quality priorities.
This role, the Head of Quality Improvement, reports directly to the Director of Continuous Improvement. It plays a crucial role in embedding QI across UHN by creating and maintaining focus, enthusiasm, celebrating successes, sharing best practices, embedding improvement management systems, and fostering a culture where quality improvement is viewed as a core responsibility for all staff.
The Post Holder Will
1. Lead the strategic development and delivery of the 'Improving Together' strategy.
2. Develop a “QI Training Academy” to build sustainable capacity and capability for quality improvement and change.
3. Align with UHN's strategic direction, ensuring QI programmes meet objectives.
4. Collaborate with system partners, clinical, operational, and corporate managers to provide leadership, support, advice, and coaching for quality improvement.
5. Ensure infrastructure for QI provides internal reporting of progress in line with governance structures and protocols.
6. Promote a culture of continuous and quality improvement, establishing forums for best practice sharing, celebrating successes, and fostering a learning environment.
7. Lead QI initiatives with internal and external stakeholders, including Northamptonshire ICS, the East Midlands Improvement network, NHS England, patients, and the public.
The post holder will contribute to UHN's vision and values.
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group comprises Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust and Kettering General NHS Foundation Trust. Both hospitals operate as separate entities with their own boards but share an integrated executive team aligned on shared vision, mission, and values.
Our Values
* Compassion: We care about our patients and each other, showing kindness and empathy.
* Accountability: We take responsibility for our decisions and actions, learning from mistakes.
* Respect: We value diversity, inclusion, and listen to others.
* Integrity: We are honest, trustworthy, and committed to doing the right thing.
* Courage: We embrace challenges, speak up, and view failures as learning opportunities.
For further details or informal visits, contact:
Name: Cindy Odendaal
Job Title: EA to Director of Continuous Improvement
Email: Cindy.Odendaal@nhs.net
Telephone: 01536 493873
#J-18808-Ljbffr