Head of Patient and Donor Safety

NHS Blood and Transplant; Park Central; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK healthcare organization is looking for a dedicated professional to lead patient and donor safety initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a Masters level qualification and extensive experience in safety management within healthcare settings. Responsibilities include overseeing national safety strategies and supporting a culture of safety across the organization. This role offers opportunities for professional development and a comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

27 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays

NHS pension scheme

Education and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in patient or donor safety related role required.
• Substantial experience of working at a senior level.
• Experience in regulatory inspections and safety investigations.

Responsibilities

• Lead on patient and donor safety initiatives.
• Support the development of patient safety culture.
• Provide leadership and oversight of the National Patient and Donor Safety Strategy.

Skills

Patient safety knowledge

Leadership

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Education

Masters level qualification

Clinical qualification and registration

Job description

Working within the nursing directorate as a member of the corporate team you will help save and improve lives, as you lead on patient and donor safety throughout NHSBT including the development of strategy, training and continuous improvement through learning responses for the further implementation and embedment of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.

NHSBT is responsible for organ and tissue donation and transplantation, blood donation and transfusion medicine, therapeutic apheresis and stem cell transplantation meaning there is a wide variety of services requiring differing approaches to ensure safety of service users.

You will be critical to driving transformation and improvements in patient and donor safety to ensure that NHSBT continues to deliver on its core values of Expert, Caring and Quality.Well look to you to bring leadership and focus through identification, innovative and problem-solving approaches to patient and donor safety ensuring that all opportunities to bring improvement are realised, learning optimised and evidenced, and that we maintain our excellent collaborative relationships with our partners in the wider NHS.

You will build relationships with internal and external stakeholders and, by providing passionate, and enthusiastic leadership, you will contribute to the excellence within the nursing and quality teams and our goal of saving and improving lives. You will lead the complaints team to deliver to policy, supporting improvements.

Main duties of the job

In this role you will lead on patient and donor safety in NHSBT. Your responsibilities will include:

• Supporting the development of a patient and donor safety culture and collaborating with wider networks to share good practice and learn from each other.
• Providing leadership and oversight of the National Patient and Donor Safety Strategy and related processes (incident management systems, national reporting databases, education and training, policies and procedures).
• Supporting the development and implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) in NHSBT including developing a Learning FrameworkLeading, and directly supporting, patient and donor safety improvement activity ensuring that systems thinking, human factors understanding and just culture principles are embedded in all patient and donor safety processes.
• Working collaboratively with the Nursing Leadership team and the quality specialists to ensure that patient and donor safety is appropriately prioritised and considered throughout NHSBT.
• Supporting NHSBT to ensure that patients and donors are at the centre of all patient and donor safety activityDeliver reports and support development of reports from teams- on the above for governance meetings
• Support the development and delivery of the CQC self assessment process.

About us

It takes all types of people to deliver the kind of service that saves and improves lives. At NHS Blood and Transplant, youll join a team of more than 6,000 people who are making a genuine difference to communities, families, friends, relatives and more across the UK. We play a unique and special role in the NHS by helping people do something extraordinary- donate blood, blood products, organs, tissues, or stem cells to save someone in need.

Our three core values are what set us apart. They guide and inspire everything we do.By being caring, expertly meeting the needs of our patients and our people, and accepting nothing less than the best quality, we can do extraordinary work and help our people to do something extraordinary in their career, too. Three small words, one big difference - Caring, Expert and Quality. Together we'll save and improve more lives than ever.

You will join us on our journey to create an inclusive workplace and aim to reflect the diverse communities we work with, and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

Job responsibilities

Please view the attached recruitment profile which is a summary of the detailed Job Description and Person Specification for the full personal attributes we require for the role. You will need to demonstrate these throughout the recruitment process.

What we offer:

• Education and development opportunities.
• NHSBT promotes flexible working opportunities where the role will allow.
• 27 days annual leave (pro rata for part-time) plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 29 days after 5 years service and to 33 days after 10 years.
• NHS pension scheme. The NHS Pension Scheme is a defined benefit scheme (not dependent on investment returns) Further details and outline of benefits can be found at: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pensions
• Weve fostered a culture of continuous learning where colleagues are well-led, engaged, and encouraged to grow. We support you in reaching your full potential, both in your current role and future career. Our Thrive program embodies our commitment to learning and development, offering a wide range of activities to support your personal and professional growth. Its open to everyone at NHSBT, ensuring you have the resources to succeed and shine in your role.

This vacancy will close at 23:59 on Thursday 9th October 2025. Interviews are anticipated to be held on Friday 17th October 2025 subject to confirmation. The assessment process for this role will likely consist of an interview with a presentation task and a Stakeholder Engagement session. Candidates can be supported to have an informal conversation if desired, for informal enquiries please contact Tara Dunn, Recruitment Lead, [e-mail]

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to Masters level or equivalent demonstrable knowledge and experience to Masters level (see Experience and Knowledge)
• Healthcare professional with a relevant clinical qualification and registration with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) or Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC), which must be maintained in the role

Experience

• Extensive experience in patient or donor safety related role, with an understanding of the principles that underpin approaches to improving safety in health systems
• Substantial experience of working at a senior level
• Experience of providing advice to colleagues on legislation, regulations and standards
• Experience of regulatory inspections and safety investigations
• Experience of training delivery and facilitating learning
• Experience of dealing with complex and/or sensitive information and unpredictable situations

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.