Head of Patient Safety and Mortality

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust; Carlisle; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27‑day holiday scheme rising to 33

NHS Discounts

Salary Sacrifice schemes including le​

Vivup counselling

Job summary

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Head of Patient Safety and Mortality to lead the strategic development and continuous improvement of safety, mortality surveillance and organisational learning. The role requires senior clinical leadership to translate safety intelligence into measurable improvements and to drive a culture of safety across the Trust.

The post holder will lead PSIRF implementation, learning from deaths, incident management and safety learning

Qualifications

• First degree or equivalent experience.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development.
• Patient Safety Specialist (PSS) accreditation OR willingness to undertake training on appointment.
• Masters level or equivalent experience.
• Postgraduate qualification in patient safety, quality improvement, human factors or related field.
• Registered healthcare professional.

Responsibilities

• Lead patient safety and mortality systems across the Trust.
• Develop modern, intelligence-led safety systems and translate insights into improvements.
• Collaborate with QI to embed learning in improvement programmes.
• Work across governance and clinical teams to ensure alignment and shared learning.
• Provide expert advice on patient safety and challenge where needed.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical credibility

Analytical thinking

Communication

Strategic thinking

Cross-organisational collaboration

Change leadership

Education

First degree or equivalent

Ongoing professional development

PSS accreditation

Masters level or equivalent

Postgraduate qualification in patient safety

Registered healthcare professional

Job description

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Head of Patient Safety and Mortality

The closing date is 04 November 2026

The Head of Patient Safety and Mortality is a senior clinical leadership role responsible for the strategic development, delivery and continuous improvement of the Trust's patient safety, mortality and organisational learning systems. The post holder is accountable for ensuring that patient safety intelligence translates into measurable improvements in clinical outcomes, reduction in avoidable harm and sustained organisational learning

The post holder provides expert leadership for:

• Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)
• Learning from Deaths and mortality surveillance
• Incident management and safety learning systems
• Safety culture, human factors and just culture / being fair development

The role operates within a matrix leadership model across the organisation, in particular with the Senior Medical Directorate team, and the Corporate Nursing Team,. The individual will also work closely with other members of the Medical Directorate, Quality Governance and Legal Services Teams.

Main duties of the job

The post holder has leadership responsibility for patient safety and mortality systems. Corporate functions relating to risk management, complaints, legal services, patient experience and clinical effectiveness sit elsewhere within the Trust's governance framework.

The role works in close partnership with these and other relevant functions to ensure alignment, shared organisational learning and coordinated improvement, recognising that accountabilities may evolve over time.

The post holder will lead the development of a modern, intelligence-led safety system, ensuring that insights from safety events, mortality reviews and other relevant sources are translated into measurable and sustainable improvement.

The role will work in close partnership with the Quality Improvement (QI) function to ensure that learning is embedded into improvement programmes across clinical services.

The post holder will be expected to work flexibly across organisational structures, adapting to changes in governance and operating models while maintaining a clear focus on patient safety, mortality and learning.

The post holder will have the freedom to act autonomously and be responsible for providing expert advice on patient safety, with an ability to challenge where necessary, in order to bring about change, evidence and learning.

Due to the nature of the role, the post holder will be expected to deal with complex and often contentious, sensitive and/or emotional matters.

About us

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of 'safe, high quality care every time':

• Being a clinically led organisation
• Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust
• A positive patient experience every time
• A great place to work
• Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment.Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed. For further information visit theUK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligible vacancies.

Disclosure and Barring Service:

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.

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £21.50 + Administration cost of £6.50 = £28.00. Deducted from salary over following 4 months or one off payment.

Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £6.50 = £56.00. Deducted from salary over following 4 months or one off payment.

NCIC can offer successful future employees the following benefits:

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

NHS Discounts*

Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*

Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• First degree or equivalent experience
• Evidence of ongoing professional development
• Patient Safety Specialist (PSS) accreditation OR willingness to undertake training on appointment
• oQualified to Masters level or equivalent experience
• Postgraduate qualification in patient safety, quality improvement, human factors or related field
• Registered healthcare professional

Experience

• Significant senior clinical leadership experience in a complex healthcare organisation
• Experience of leading patient safety or clinical governance systems
• Experience of PSIRF implementation or equivalent safety frameworks
• Experience of mortality review processes and Learning from Deaths
• Experience of working at or influencing Board or senior executive level
• Demonstrable experience of leading change and service improvement
• Experience of multidisciplinary and matrix working
• Experience of delivering measurable improvement outcomes
• Experience of Board assurance and regulatory interaction (CQC, NHSR)

Knowledge

• In-depth knowledge of national patient safety policy and priorities
• Understanding of systems thinking, human factors and safety science
• Knowledge of mortality surveillance and review methodologies
• Strong understanding of quality improvement approaches
• Understanding of governance and regulatory frameworks

Skills and Aptitudes

• Highly developed leadership and influencing skills
• Strong clinical credibility
• Ability to analyse complex information and translate into actionable insight
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Ability to lead in complex and sensitive situations
• Strategic thinking with strong delivery focus
• Ability to work effectively across organisational boundaries

Other requirements

• Integrity and professionalism
• Resilience and sound judgement
• Collaborative and inclusive leadership style
• Commitment to patient-centred care and continuous improvement

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.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust