Clinical Governance Facilitator

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

An established healthcare provider in London is seeking a Governance Officer to elevate the quality and safety of patient care. The successful candidate will collaborate with clinical teams, manage day-to-day governance operations, and assist in complaint responses. Key qualifications include a higher-level degree in a relevant field and experience in clinical governance. This role supports organizational goals of excellence while fostering patient safety and quality care through effective governance practices.

Benefits

Employee development programs

Diversity and Inclusion initiatives

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Experience working in clinical governance or quality improvement within healthcare.
• Evidence of professional development in relevant fields.
• Experience responding to incidents and patient safety investigations.

Responsibilities

• Support governance meetings and manage divisional governance matters.
• Assist in the submission of investigation reports for clinical incidents.
• Compile reports and conduct data analysis for quality assurance.

Skills

Report writing

Communication

Data analysis

Patient safety

Education

Higher-level degree in patient safety, audit or risk management

Professional registration in a clinical area

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Access)

Job description

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 - the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional in the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here.

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the IC*S* in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job Overview

The post holder will work with the Clinical Governance Manager in meeting the requirements of the Trust Clinical Governance Agenda. In partnership with the Divisional Governance Manager/s working to ensure that patient safety, quality of care and patient experience are of the highest possible standard. The post holder will support the Governance Manager and Leads with the day-to-day management of divisional governance matters.

The post holder will contribute to the governance meetings throughout the Division, supporting agendas, collecting data and sharing information within the teams.

To be able to assess individual situations, some of which may be complex/sensitive. Differentiate between issues that can be resolved contemporaneously and those that warrant further investigation.

Main Duties of the Job

• Provide a resource to clinical teams and managers in the submission of investigation reports of Clinical Incidents.
• Provide an resource to clinical teams and managers in the submission of complaint responses.
• Support the Divisional Clinical Governance Manager and Leads in patient safety investigations, complaint responses, sharing learning and collection of information for governance projects.
• Support change and learning process through feedback and monitoring action plans to ensure the maximum benefit to patient care.

Working for our Organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

• Collate information and draft responses to patient queries from the Patients Advice and Liaison Service and the patient complaints team.
• Deputise as appropriate for the Clinical Governance Leads as required at internal meetings and events across the Trust.
• Maintaining the Divisional Governance Trackers to meet Trust deadlines, escalating concerns within a timely manner.
• Raise the profile of quality and governance across the Division.
• Point of contact for members of the team, acting as a resource to support the delivery Trust and National standards.
• Independently compile reports, data analysis and thematic reviews and audit of compliance as required within agreed parameters, with guidance of the Divisional Governance Manager and Leads when exceptional reporting requirements are identified.
• Use the Trust's risk management system (Ulysses).
• Management of a caseload of complaints, from initial contact from PALS/patient/carers, to liaising with and advising clinicians and senior managers. Support key staff to obtain statements, arrange interviews with key staff involved and coordinate the provision of investigation reports and complaints responses. This involves organising meetings and reviewing responses to ensure they cover all aspects of the original complaint, including statutory requirements.
• To format the responses to complaints/concerns into a high-quality written response/letter to be signed off firstly by the Divisional Governance Lead and final sign off by the Divisional Director of Nursing and Governance.
• To maintain and update the Divisional Risk Register.

Work Force

• Will be expected to work autonomously using own initiative in dealing with complaints and responses, guided by Trust policies and procedures.
• Act as a subject expert and contact for the clinical teams to guide completion of complaint responses and ensure all relevant teams are included for response through interpretation of policies in relation to complaint subject matter and a clear understanding of areas of responsibility of all the teams under Lewisham Medicine and Community.
• Support the Trust and Divisions Recruitment and Retention Strategy.
• To attend meetings relevant to the role and represent views of the Team.

• To contribute to the education, training and development of staff across Division on Governance Agenda as guided by Clinical Governance Manager.
• To ensure annual personal development plan in place and review with line manager.
• To remain current with professional practice and complete all mandatory training requirements in a timely manner.
• To maintain accurate record keeping and confidentiality whilst performing all tasks and duties.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Higher level degree and/or professional qualification in patient safety, audit or risk management
• A clinical background and professional registration
• Evidence of professional development

Experience

• Experience working in a clinical governance, patient safety or quality improvement related area within a healthcare setting
• Experience of using tools and measures for reporting compliance activity
• Experience in managing or responding to incidents and using

Desirable criteria (Experience)

• Experience of line Management

Skills & Knowledge

• Able to write and present reports in a variety of formats
• Can demonstrate computer literacy in Windows Office Suite of programmes specifically, Excel, Word and Access.
• Trained in patient safety incident investigation (human factors) and quality improvement methodologies

Desirable criteria (Skills)

• Awareness & understanding of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

To ensure fairness and manageable shortlisting processes, some vacancies may have an application cap. This means the vacancy will close once a set number of applications have been received even if this happens before the advertised closing date. We recommend applying as early as possible to avoid missing out. All applications received before the cap is reached will be considered equally and assessed against the person specification.

• Job Description & Person Specification (PDF, 952.2KB)
• Working at LGT (PDF, 4.2MB)
• Visa and Certificate of Sponsorship Information for Applicants (PDF, 3.8MB)
• Candidate Guidance on the use of AI (PDF, 3.8MB)