Patient Safety Partner Volunteer

NHS; Preston; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A prominent health organization is seeking a Patient Safety Partner Volunteer in Preston. This role invites individuals interested in enhancing patient safety to engage with staff across quality committees. Candidates should have a willingness to communicate effectively and possess an understanding of patient safety concepts. The commitment is 4-8 hours monthly, with responsibilities including attending meetings and providing patient perspectives to influence care improvements.

Benefits

Induction programme

Ongoing training and support

Responsibilities

• Attend quality committee meetings to represent patient safety.
• Support patient safety training for staff.
• Provide insights from patient perspectives.

Skills

Understanding of patient safety

Good verbal and written communication skills

Ability to digest complex information

Empathy skills

Time management

Job description

Patient Safety Partner Volunteer

The closing date is 10 February 2026

Do you have an interest in becoming involved in how we can develop our health and care services so that they are safer for our patients? Have you got a specialist interest in patient safety? Are you or have you ever been a patient, carer, or family member of someone who has used any health and care service and want an opportunity to make a difference? Have you got between 4-8 hrs a month to spare?

We are actively recruiting a Patient Safety Partner (PSP) to attend some of our patient safety meetings to represent the patients/families voice and to provide a questioning approach to develop a safer organisation.

The PSP is a new and evolving fixed term role of 12 months developed by the ICB (based on guidance by NHS England) to help improve patient safety across health care in the UK. Here, at Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (LSC ICB), we are excited to welcome a PSP to work alongside our staff, patients, and families to influence and improve safety within our health services.

PSPs can be patients, carers, family members or other lay people (including NHS staff from another organisation). We are particularly keen to welcome to the team people who have not previously been involved in working in a healthcare setting before but who can bring valuable insight or can relate to a patient safety event and the effect this can have on patients or their families.

Main duties of the job

This is a great opportunity to share your interests, experiences, and skills to help develop the new PSP role and be a part of the team here at LSC ICB. Some examples of what you might be involved with include:

• Join safety boards and team meetings.
• Talk with patients and staff about safety and what matters to them.
• Support the patient safety training of staff.
• Be part of project teams working to improve safe care and our systems.
• Support the safety team when reviewing patient safety events.
• Help us understand what we do well and how we can do this more of the time.

We can offer you:

• Induction programme
• Ongoing training and support

About us

We are the LSCICB, formally established as a new statutory body on 1 July 2022, replacing the eight clinical commissioning groups across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Our role is to join up health and care services, improve people's health and wellbeing, and to make sure everyone has the same access to services and gets a positive experience from treatment. We also oversee how money and resource is utilised to ensure that funding is spent to ensure health services are effective, consistent and of high standard.

Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB is a complex organisation serving a population of over 1.8 million people.

We strive to be diverse, inclusive and a place where we can all be ourselves. We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Minority Ethnic, LGBT+, Disabled and Veterans who are under‑represented across the ICB.

Job responsibilities

As a Patient Safety Partner, you will join one or more governance committees concerned with patient safety, risk, and quality. In addition, you may be able to support delivering safety training. Whatever activity you undertake, your role will be to:

• Bring the voice and needs of patients, families, carers and the public into committees in a way that provides appropriate challenge and fosters learning and change.
• Consider complex issues affecting patient safety across the ICB footprint that directly inform relevant strategy and policy.
• Interact with other PSPs and staff in a large multi‑professional meeting format.
• Be prepared to put forward ideas of how PSPs can support the improvement of patient safety across all three organisations and work with staff to put these in place.

Other essential tasks:

• Receive and read meeting papers prior to attending (approx. half a day)
• Attend the Quality committee meeting monthly (approx. 2‑4hrs)
• Attend the System Quality group bi‑monthly (approx. 2hrs)
• Attend a pre‑meeting and post‑meeting de‑brief with the Associate Director of Patient safety (approx. 1hr)
• Maintain the strict confidentiality of the meeting, its members and content at all times both pre, during and post meetings.

As the role develops there will be the opportunity to get involved in other activities to support patient safety. Initially we are looking for someone for between 4 and 8 hrs a month.

What we are looking for

We are looking for a person who has the resilience to listen to complex and sometimes challenging information and make rational and objective decisions that will represent the needs and interests of patients, and ultimately improve the quality of patient care.

You will need to have the time to read through meeting papers in advance of the meetings and come ready with comments or questions that will aid the group to think through the patient perspective.

You will need to have an awareness of the range of experiences and perspectives that different people within our communities might have.

You will also have the confidence to sit alongside senior officers/Executives from across the ICB doctors and support staff and treat everyone as an equal partner in the decision‑making of the group. We would also expect that the person appointed would be confident to appropriately challenge and question the group members around patient safety.

What Skills, Knowledge and Experience are helpful in this role?

• Understanding of and a broad interest in patient safety
• Able to communicate well in writing and comprehend complex reports.
• Able to understand and evaluate a range of information and evidence.
• Confidence to communicate well verbally with people at all levels of the organisation about strategic issues, as an advocate for patient safety.
• Empathy skills the ability to see things from both organisational and patient perspectives.
• An ability to remain objective where necessary.
• Ability to plan time to prepare for meetings and attend them.

Person Specification

Skills

• Able to review, digest and comprehend a range of information and opinions
• Experience of putting forward views on behalf of wider community/patients
• Good verbal and written communication skills and ability to confidently speak in large groups

Lived experience

• Lived experience of using NHS healthcare services

Knowledge

• Understanding of and a broad interest in patient safety

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 the submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Depending on experience. Reasonable expenses.