Patient Safety Learning and Improvement Lead

NHS; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Patient Safety Learning and Improvement Lead to drive systems-based learning and improvement across the Trust. You will lead investigations, translate insights into actions and support compassionate learning for safer patient care.

The role requires senior patient safety expertise, strong communication across clinical teams, and the ability to promote a just culture and psychological safety while working autonomously and developing others.

Qualifications

• Master's level education or equivalent with senior leadership experience.
• Formal qualification in management/leadership and quality improvement.
• Formal patient safety syllabus training or willingness to obtain.
• Clinical registration with GMC/NMC/AHP or equivalent.
• Experience leading patient safety and learning responses in NHS settings.

Responsibilities

• Lead patient safety learning, investigation and assurance activities.
• Translate insights into measurable safety actions and improvements.
• Collaborate with internal/external stakeholders to reduce risk and improve care.
• Develop education/training programs on patient safety and just culture.

Skills

Leadership

Systems thinking

Patient safety

Change management

Education and training

Education

Masters degree or equivalent

Post-graduate management/leadership qualification

Level 3 or 4 patient safety syllabus training

Quality improvement qualification

Clinical registration (GMC, NMC, AHP)

NHS leadership qualification

Human Factors qualification

Post-graduate patient safety or human factors qualification

Job description

Go back Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Patient Safety Learning and Improvement Lead

The closing date is 21 September 2026

A fantastic and exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated, experienced and enthusiastic individual to join the Quality and Safety Team at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as our Patient Safety Learning and Improvement Lead.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in improving patient safety across the organisation by supporting the delivery of high-quality, systems-based learning responses and translating insight into sustainable improvement. The ideal candidate must have a flexible proactive attitude as they will work alongside clinical teams across organisational and professional boundaries to support the delivery of high-quality patient centered care.

The successful candidate will be an experienced patient safety professional with a strong understanding of systems thinking, human factors and quality improvement. You will be an excellent communicator, capable of building effective relationships across organisational and professional boundaries, and confident in working autonomously while supporting and developing others. Previous experience within a healthcare setting and experience of leading patient safety learning responses are essential.

Main duties of the job

The role will support the Associate Director of Quality and Safety in providing Trust-wide leadership and oversight of patient safety learning, improvement and assurance. You will lead high-quality patient safety investigations and reviews, ensuring they are compassionate, evidence-based, and focused on learning rather than blame. You will work collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to understand how care is delivered, identify contributory factors and support the development of meaningful, measurable actions that reduce risk and improve care.

About us

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group - a formal partnership between Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be designated Trust Patient Safety Specialist, sharing the responsibility with the other designated Patient Safety Specialists. You will be a highly visible and accessible leader, providing expert advice and guidance on patient safety, safety culture and improvement. You will support delivery of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy and help strengthen partnerships locally, regionally and nationally. A flexible approach is needed to manage the changing picture of healthcare patient safety in line with the national agenda.

The post holder will contribute to the development and delivery of patient safety education and training across the Trust, promoting systems thinking, human factors, psychological safety and just culture principles to help build organisational capability for learning and improvement.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to master's level (in a relevant discipline) or equivalent level, or equivalent experience of working at a senior level.
• Post-graduate management, leadership or specialist qualification or previous experience.
• Level 3 or 4 patient safety syllabus training, or equivalent (or willingness to work towards)
• Quality improvement qualification or equivalent experience.
• Clinical experience and registration (GMC, NMC, AHP etc)
• Qualification in NHS leadership
• Qualification in Human Factors
• Post-graduate patient safety or human factors qualification, or willingness to work towards or previous experience

Experience

• Experience of leading patient safety learning responses in a large/complex organisation using systems learning approaches
• Experience of translating learning into measurable safety actions or improvement plans, working collaboratively with clinical, operational and improvement teams.
• Experience and knowledge of the components of quality governance, incident response, risk management and assurance function; current NHS national policies, standards, requirements and directions that relate to measuring and improving the quality and safety of patient care
• Experience in delivering improvement projects and change
• Experience of developing patient safety training

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.

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust