KMPN Head of Quality Risk and Governance - Kent & Medway ICS Only

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; Ashford; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS Trust in Ashford is seeking a Head of Quality, Risk and Governance. This leadership role will oversee quality assurance and risk management across the Kent and Medway Pathology Network. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in quality governance and will lead teams in developing robust safety frameworks. This role offers a competitive benefits package and opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

At least 27 days of annual leave

Membership in the NHS Pension Scheme

Blue Light card eligibility

Qualifications

• Registered with HCPC/NMC/GMC.
• Masters’ Degree or equivalent in Biomedical Science, Quality Management Systems or healthcare management.
• Significant experience in quality and governance.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and oversight of quality and governance.
• Manage quality management teams with direct reports.
• Develop and lead a new function within the pathology network.

Skills

Leadership

Problem solving

Communication

Stakeholder management

Organizational skills

Education

Masters’ Degree or equivalent in Biomedical Science or Quality Management

Registered with HCPC/NMC/GMC

Tools

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Job description

Job overview

Please note this role is currently only being advertised to staff members who are currently working within the Kent and Medway ICs.

The Kent and Medway Pathology Network Head of Quality, Risk and Governance is a new role that will be responsible for the quality assurance, risk management, and governance within the new Kent and Medway Pathology Network (KMPN) joint venture. They will be held accountable by the network partner Trusts via a joint oversight and governance process. The postholder will support the broader network leadership team to develop a single oversight and reporting framework for the existing pathology laboratories, which currently operate under separate governance processes. This will ensure an effective joint system of quality governance is in place, which fully meets legislative and regulatory requirements. They will also represent health and safety in the network leadership team, ensuring oversight and escalation of health and safety risks, issues, and management.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide leadership and oversight of all aspects of the quality and governance agenda for the Network and will be responsible for ensuring that there is a robust integrated governance, safety and risk management infrastructure in place. They will manage the existing quality management teams, including three direct reports. This role provides an exciting opportunity for an experienced quality management professional to design and lead a new function across a maturing pathology network.

Working for our organisation

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust ranks among the top 10 NHS Trusts nationwide and was named the second-best Trust to work for in the South East in the 2023 and 2024 NHS Staff Survey.

We are a large acute hospital trust in south-east England, providing general hospital services and specialist care to around 600,000 residents in West Kent and East Sussex. With a dedicated and diverse team of over 8,000 staff we are proud to offer specialised cancer services to over two million people through the Kent Oncology Centre.

Fordcombe Hospital, near Tunbridge Wells, became part of the Trust in October 2024. Specialising in planned care, it offers two operating theatres, 28 inpatient and day‑care beds, diagnostic services (X‑ray, MRI, CT, and endoscopy), and consultation / treatment rooms.

Looking for flexible working?

We are a flexible working-friendly organisation. Whether it’s adjusting your hours or exploring other flexible arrangements, we want to work with you to find the best solution for you, our patients, and the Trust. Talk to us about how we can accommodate your working needs.

Joining us includes a comprehensive benefits package :

• At least 27 days of annual leave plus public / bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time staff).
• Membership in the NHS Pension Scheme, with a 20.6% employer contribution and life assurance benefits
• Blue Light card eligibility
• And more , additional benefits can be found in the benefits documents below

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We’ve provided all the details you need about this role in the job description and person specification. Please take a moment to review the criteria in the person specification and share specific examples in your application that demonstrate how you meet these requirements. Please also check your application for errors / omissions prior to submission.

Please note that appointment to this post will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check at Enhanced Level . (Enhanced level now includes regulated checks against vulnerable adults and children). If a role involves regulated activity and requires a DBS check with a barred list check, you cannot apply if you are on the barred list.

All successful applicants will be required to complete our corporate trust induction once a start date had been agreed.

Working for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust / NKPS you will be part of the Kent and Medway Pathology Network (South 8 Network - Kent and Medway Pathology Network is made up of seven laboratories across three pathology services in four acute Trusts. For more information on the network please see the attached document.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• HCPC / NMC / GMC registered
• Masters’ Degree or equivalent experience in Biomedical Science, Quality Management Systems or healthcare management
• Quality management or healthcare management qualification or equivalent experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience

Desirable criteria

• Health & Safety e.g. NEBOSH, IOSH

Experience

Essential criteria

• Advanced theoretical and practical experience in quality and governance with significant experience of working in a relevant senior role.
• Experience of developing and embedding quality standards
• Experience of providing professional management and overseeing staff development within a quality setting.
• Experience of regulatory and accreditation processes against required standards, dealing reactively with assessment and inspection findings.
• Experience in planning and organising external assessment and inspection visits organising and presenting to senior management.
• Experience of working in a variety of laboratory settings.
• Implementation of quality assurance programmes / initiatives.
• Understanding and use of different audit methods
• Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of risk and incident management, H&S and quality management
• Knowledge of Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) Knowledge of relevant current guidelines, standards and best practice.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working across multiple organisations covering multiple sites.
• Experience of serious incident investigation process and panel meetings.
• Experience of implementing health and safety legislation
• Experience of attending Duty of Candour meetings with patients
• Knowledge and experience of Project Management.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Effective leadership skills and the ability to motivate.
• Ability to lead and drive change
• Management across multiple sites
• Proven problem solving skills
• Written & verbal communication skills, including the ability to provide and receive highly complex and contentious information which can be understood by different audiences
• Influence and negotiate in potentially hostile / antagonistic situations where expert opinion may differ.
• Organisational skills to manage a busy workload, competing workstreams, a team and multiple stakeholders
• Evidence of recent innovation
• Good presentation skills, comfortable with presenting to large groups
• IT skills, able to use a variety of packages to analyse and present data and generate reports (e.g. document control systems, Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, etc)
• Experience of managing staff across several sites

Desirable criteria

• Coaching / mentoring skills
• Presenting skills