Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Specific Roles and Responsibilities will agreed between the DHoN and HoN but will include the following:

Performance Management and Leadership

• To have  responsibility for the clinical governance agenda across the Directorate ensuring the services are delivering within their areas of responsibility and that nursing performance and quality of service delivery does not fall below expected levels and standards
• Provide leadership in Clinical Governance forums within the Directorate and be the Directorate representative at Trust Governance forums.
• To be a key player in leading the discharge agenda across the Directorate working closely with the multi-disciplinary team to ensure effective working, clear care pathways and protocols.
• Work with service and department managers, identifying any developmental needs whilst maintaining high quality standards of care. Ensure necessary support mechanisms are in place.

Clinical Leadership

• To ensure effective clinical practice and the highest of professional standards from the clinical and professional workforce.
• To lead a culture of professional accountability and responsibility to patients, ensuring that staff learn from complaints, near misses, clinical incidents and all forms of patient feedback. To ensure that any investigations are appropriately undertaken and that root cause analysis informs action plans which are properly implemented and monitored.
• To ensure that robust personal and clinical supervisory processes are in place and recorded appropriately. To ensure that appraisal systems reflect service and organisational priorities and individual learning and development needs of staff.
• To lead motivate and develop staff to achieve the highest levels of performance and to lead the development of improved productivity initiatives.
• Lead and continue to develop the service, establishing a culture which focuses on responsiveness, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency working, and high standards of performance and quality.
• Contribute and deliver the wider admissions avoidance and out-of-hospital care agenda.
• Play a key role in service transformation in inpatient areas and specialist services developing and leading effective partnership working across health and social care providers, GP practices, multidisciplinary teams, voluntary/third sector organisations and commissioners.
• Ensure that the patient experience is of the highest quality, inspiring patient and public confidence and that all patients are treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
• To deputise for the Head of Nursing as required.

Quality Assurance

• Ensure evidence-based practice is embedded in the practice of all staff and oversee the implementation of relevant national and local guidance and standards.
• Ensure senior clinicians maintain high professional standards through professional supervision and competency development, the GSTT appraisal process and clinical supervision to meet agreed core nursing and service objectives in line with CQC standards and requirements of professional registration bodies via the revalidation process.
• Ensure clinical governance & quality assurance systems and monitoring are in place in all service areas.
• Deliver a co-ordinated approach to quality, risk management, audit and positive performance management delivering a set of reports that includes a balanced scorecard which achieves reliable key performance indicator data, for managers, commissioners and clinicians.
• Ensure infection control standards across all areas meet national guidelines, and are monitored with effective action taken.
• Manage and respond to complaints and adverse incidents

Communications and Partnership Working

• Be responsible for delivering effective communications to all staff, stakeholders and colleagues.
• To create and facilitate effective networks and partnership, inside and outside the trust, include integrated working with other local and social health care providers, and independent providers in the development of clinical care pathways.
• To work closely with senior managerial and clinical colleagues to ensure joined up approach to care, development of whole system care pathway.
• Lead on meaningful involvement of patient and public at all levels of service provision, working closely with local groups e.g. carers groups, and engaging users in the change programme wherever possible.

Strategy and service improvement

• To participate in service improvement projects and programmes that contribute to the modernisation of patient services providing both professional and clinical advice as necessary.
• To take a clinical leadership role in the development, redesign and implementation of intermediate care pathways, in conjunction with clinical colleagues and the multidisciplinary team.
• Work in close partnership with appropriate Matrons, Clinical Leads and Service Managers to ensure all local, corporate and national initiatives and targets are met.
• Identify and take forward the specific contribution nursing can make to the development of the service

Education and training

• Support the development and implementation of education and training programmes within area of responsibility for nurses, ensuring effective use of education commissioning system.
• Be responsible for developing own skills and knowledge and contribute to the development of others.
• Work in collaboration with the Matrons, Sisters/ Charge Nurses to regulate training and development of all staff.

Professional standard and patient experience

Promote excellent standards in all departments through:

• Promotion of a nurturing environment for patients, relatives, visitors and staff through monitoring, measuring and actioning and evaluating.
• Advocating for patients at all times.
• Regular ward rounds and monitoring observations of care.
• Visible and accessible in clinical settings, contributing to patient care, e.g. clinical Fridays
• Ensuring patient feedback in the departments through the use of Comment Cards, displaying results and responding to adverse outcomes
• Driving the privacy and dignity challenge.
• Provide leadership on clinical supervision for nurses across the directorate
• Lead the implementation of the safety initiatives across the directorate
• To provide professional leadership on medicines management, protocols and PGDs across nursing teams.
• Provide leadership across the Directorate for key domains for CQC.

Please see attached Job description for full details