Quality and Improvement Director

Job description

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

Barts Health supports the Pregnancy Loss Pledge and commits to supporting their staff through the distress of miscarriage.

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

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.

Working for our organisation

The NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership is one of five pathology networks in London and one of 27 networks nationally.

Formed in 2021, the Pathology Partnership brought together the pathology services of three London NHS trusts: Barts Health NHS Trust, Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. This partnership, which is hosted by Barts Health, created a single NHS organisation that is entirely focused upon the provision of pathology. Its purpose is to provide patients and clinicians with a high-quality, cost-effective service that ensures the long-term sustainability of NHS pathology services in east and south east London and beyond.

The Partnership employs circa 850 staff with world-leading experts across local, regional and national laboratories located at seven hospital sites. The Partnership operates a hub and spoke model of service delivery, with the network's hub laboratory situated at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

Following a three-year transformation programme, the Partnership operates a single, shared Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS); a single, shared Quality Management System (QMS) and has a single UKAS accreditation for all services.

The Partnership carries out circa 100,000 tests a day, which is approximately 3 % of the national total. The 2025/26 total operating costs across the Partnership were circ. £126m.

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.

Person specification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant senior level experience of quality management in Pathology services
• Significant experience of delivering continuous quality improvement, ensuring consistently high standards of clinical safety and quality and working with regulators/accreditation bodies, e.g. UKAS and HTA
• Experience of managing regulatory compliance inspections

Skills

Essential criteria

• Able to build and lead teams and to work effectively as part of a team

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Detailed knowledge of UKAS, HTA, MHRA and other regulatory/accreditation requirements

Qualifications

Desirable criteria

• HCPC registration

Visa Sponsorship Information

This role is subject to UK immigration requirements. Where sponsorship is required, applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa in accordance with current UK Visas and Immigration rules, including any salary, qualification, and role-specific requirements applicable at the time of appointment. Candidates who require sponsorship will only be considered where the post is eligible and where all sponsorship criteria can be met. Evidence of the right to work in the UK will be required before appointment. Please note that for roles employed under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions, the High-Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is not included when calculating the basic salary for the purposes of sponsorship.

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 where staff treat one another with dignity and respect. We aim to create an equitable working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential.

As an Equal Opportunities Employer we actively support applications from individuals' who apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and will process your application as appropriate.

We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once a sufficient number of applications has been received and we regret that we are unable to provide notification if your application is unsuccessful.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to Barts Health NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Barts Health is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and to child protection. The Trust aims to ensure as far as is possible that anyone, paid or unpaid, who seeks to work in our organisation and who gains access to children, is safe to do so. As such, you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check as part of the recruitment process if appointed to a post with direct access to children or vulnerable adults.

Barts Health promotes active travel as part of its goal to reach Net Zero. Each site is accessible by public transport and the Trust has a cycle to work scheme and some sites have Brompton Hire Pods.

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