Head of Patient Safety

As Head of Patient Safety you will lead the development and delivery of aportfolio of purposefully designed innovation and implementation projects andprogrammes focused on maternity, neonatal and womens health. These initiativeswill be purpose built to achieve our impact goals (improving health and careservices, health outcomes, and economic outcomes) in theSouth West Peninsula.You will also be responsible for delivering the NHSEngland Patient Safety Commission.

Portfolio delivery will be achieved through management of a skilled anddiverse team. You will be responsible for managing a budget c. £1m.

Main duties of the job Success in this role is dependent on building deep and trusted relationships externally with potential funders, sponsors, and with our partners across the health and care system, supporting them to adapt and develop care pathways and workforce models to benefit from innovative technology and ways of working, and internally across our talented high-performing organisation.

About us Health Innovation South West is a place-based innovation organisationdedicated to tackling the health,care and economic challenges facing rural and coastalcommunities. We act as a catalyst and connector, working with partnersand anchor institutions to improve healthoutcomes, reduce inequalities and stimulate sustainable economicgrowth within our rural and coastal context.

Weve built aspecialist team of over60 people with deep expertise in building partnerships to deliver healthand economic impact through innovation. Were an independent company, governedby our NHS and university members, and licensed and commissioned by NHS Englandand the Office for Life Sciences.

Job responsibilities Key success factors

Portfolio development and delivery: proven ability to deliver multi-year,multi-organisational, complex projects and programmes with a focus onimpact.

Programme leadership: ability to shape and deliver strategic patient safety andimprovement portfolios.

Portfolio performance: achievement of patient safety, quality improvement andmaternity and neo natal and womens health specific portfolio objectives andrisk management.

Business Development: proven track record in securing investment for portfoliosof work.

Current knowledge of government strategy, policy and evidence-base requiredfor portfolio delivery.

Leading people: effective peoplemanager, with a proven ability to lead, motivate and develop others.

Influencing: collaborative and entrepreneurial, experienced inbuilding compelling narrative to influence and persuade stakeholders at alllevels; knowledge of effective account management approaches and refinedcommunication skills.

Delivering anenterprise-first approach: consistently demonstrating adynamic and proactive approach, with strong commercial flare and drive foreffective business development and customer satisfaction.

Adaptable: comfortable with ambiguity, with the ability to lookaround problems, adapt approaches and make hard choices to achieve goals.

Forward looking: maintaining awareness of relevant policy environment andoperating context, current evidence base and cutting edge thinking in order toanticipate change and develop portfolios accordingly.

Learning mind-set: a track record working on complex issues, embeddinglearning into practice and generating insight to inform approaches.

Passionate about delivering impact in the South West Peninsula.

Responsibilities

Delivery leadership: develop and lead delivery of a portfolio of work thatspans different stages of the innovation pipeline, from find and test throughto implementation of proven innovations, focused on improving outcomes withinmaternity, neonatal and womens health.To deliver the NationalPatient Safety Improvement Programmes which support a culture of safety,continuous learning and sustainable improvement across the healthcare system.

Subject Matter leadership: lead responsibility for Maternity, Neonatal and WomensHealth Portfolio and Patient Safety portfolio, including safety culture,incident response, learning systems and implementation into practice. Expertknowledge and ability to teach continuous quality improvement methodology toothers both within the organisation and to system partners. Maintain deepexpertise in current national safety standards, governance frameworks, andemerging approaches to patient safety. Act as a strategic advisor on safety andimprovement priorities to the Senior Management and Executive Teams. Provideauthoritative advice to Health Innovation South West colleagues, acting as avisible champion for the specialism, and proactively cultivate networks ofinfluence across clinical, operational, and policy domains. Identify and secureopportunities for collaboration, translating these into measurable outcomesthat enhance the organisations portfolio, reputation, and impact on carequality and safety.

Innovation and/orImplementation leadership: using deep knowledge ofquality improvement and patient safety across the innovation pathway, deployspecialist expertise to move safety and improvement innovations from earlystage impact testing and pilot support, through to scaling proven innovationand models across the geographical footprint, using Quality Improvement andadoption and spread methodologies. Apply specialist knowledge of patient safetysystems to accelerate adoption of evidence-based interventions. Leadinitiatives that embed safety improvement into clinical practice, workforcedevelopment and operational processes across health and caresystems.

Delivery leadership: as a results-focused leader, you will be responsible forachieving portfolio objectives and executing the annual business plan, focusingon the delivery of the maternity, neonatal and womens health portfolio, andpatient safety commission. By visibly demonstrating our values, contribute to apositive and inclusive culture to secure the continued success of HealthInnovation South West.

People management: line manage, develop and matrix manage a blended(permanent, fixed-term and associates) and diverse, team of staff to ensureeffective delivery of programme and portfolio aims.

Partnership and BusinessDevelopment: identify and secure thenecessary financial and stakeholder support to grow the portfolios of work.Develop strategic partnerships with national, regional and local NHS systems,commissioners and organisations, academic institutions and voluntary sectorpartners to deliver successful outcomes. Secure funding for new programmes andcontribute to national efforts to reduce harm and improve care outcomes throughimprovement and innovative programmes of work.

Account management: develop, manage and influence long-term relationshipswith partners, funders and commissioners to support portfolio delivery. Keyrelationships include Government bodies, all partners across Integrated CareSystems, academic collaborators and partners from industry (pharma, MedTechSMEs). Ensure alignment of priorities and sustained engagement to deliverimpact across the region.

Governance and oversight: ensure that projects, programmes and portfolios adhere toorganisational governance and processes, managing risks, and contributing toperformance oversight. Ensure robust governance of all programmes,embedding ethical, inclusive, and evidence-based practices. Oversee compliancewith national frameworks (e.g. NHS England Patient Safety Strategy, NICE, CQC,NRLS/LSMS systems) and contribute to policy development and serviceimprovement.

Network engagement: play a proactive role in the wider Health InnovationNetwork, engaging with national governance structures ensuring our work isaligned to national priorities, advising on how to shape and develop newnational programmes and portfolios such that they align with the needs of theSouth West.

External engagement: represent the organisation externally, acting as anambassador for the organisation at a local, regional and national level.Deputise for Portfolio Directors as necessary, ensuring the organisationsvoice is present in strategic discussions and sector-wide initiatives.

Internal Operations andcapability building: be an ambassador forimprovement and implementation methodology through leadership of internalinitiatives to improve operational efficiency and safety culture acrossprogrammes, using data-driven approaches and improvement science methodologies.Design and deliver training programmes to build organisational capability inpatient safety, human factors, and continuous improvement. Foster a culture oflearning, transparency, and excellence in care delivery.

Person Specification Experience and capabilities you'll develop in the role

• Delivering a portfolio of projects and programmes focused on finding, testing and evaluating innovation in a real world setting, with a focus on improving health and economic outcomes.
• Applying cutting-edge methodological approaches to facilitate the spread of innovative practice.
• Working as part of a national network to transform lives through healthcare innovation, at the forefront of implementing health and life science priorities set by Government.
• Building multi-partner collaborations that deliver impact across a large geography.
• Commercial knowledge and a track record of successfully winning funding and investment to support portfolio ambitions.
• Experience working in a consultancy organisation . click apply for full job details