Job vacancy: Clinical Safety Officer, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Job summary

Main area: Clinical Safety
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 8c
Contract: Fixed term: 18 months (FTC)
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 334-NCL-7046752-TA-A

Employer: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Maudsley
Town: London
Salary: £82,462 - £93,773 per annum inclusive of HCAS
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 18/06/2025 23:59

Clinical Safety Officer

NHS AfC: Band 8c

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Responsibilities:

Develop and own the Digital Clinical Risk Strategy and System on behalf of the Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) and the EPR programme.

Manage and deliver digital clinical safety activities across the EPR Programme, including decommissioning the current EPR and implementing a new one.

Develop, maintain, and refine systems and processes to identify and address patient safety risks associated with digital health applications and systems.

Review DCB0129 documents and communicate with the supplier’s Clinical Safety Officer (CSO).

Promote adherence to digital health applications implementation activities as defined in DCB0160 Standards.

Facilitate awareness of the NHS Digital Clinical Safety Strategy and curate a culture aligned with digital clinical safety.

Ensure the development and maintenance of clinical risk management records, a clinical risk management strategy and plan, hazard logs, clinical safety case, clinical safety case report, and incident management system post-Go Live.

Support the reporting, investigation, and resolution of clinical safety incidents linked to digital health solutions.

Work with the CCIO to ensure core digital clinical safety functions and processes are in place.

Act as the primary digital clinical safety lead and point of contact for the EPR programme.

Ensure that quality standards are maintained throughout, such that each digital clinical safety deliverable is fit for purpose and meets its documented requirement within DCB 0160 Digital Clinical Safety Standards and the EPR Programme scope.

Maintain, review, and update standardised documentation and sustainability for all digital clinical safety functions and processes.

Attend Trust patient safety and Digital Board meetings, providing updates and reports as needed.

Ensure the digital clinical safety operating model meets specified standards and business needs.

Communicate results, variances, and problems to the CCIO and the EPR programme team, offering solutions and options when problems arise.

Ensure relevant digital clinical safety initiatives are undertaken and reported, and that improvement activity is undertaken as part of the risk and safety assurance framework.

Analyse complex problems, develop practical solutions, and implement them using persuasive, motivational, and negotiating communication skills.

Project and Programme Management

Participate in programme and project meetings within the EPR Programme, chairing meetings when necessary, coordinating papers, and ensuring records of meetings, outcomes, and actions.

Ensure clinical IT system digital clinical safety artifacts are filed and accessible within the appropriate document libraries accompanying the EPR programme.

Monitor and report on the progress of the Digital Clinical Safety workstream, proactively reviewing progress and managing risks and issues.

Support individual project managers in identifying and mitigating clinical safety risks and issues.

Ensure all projects have clearly articulated clinical benefits, supporting service leads in demonstrating achievements to ensure the programme meets its objectives.

Manage and resolve any project risks or issues that arise.

Business Change: Provide digital clinical safety expertise to manage local change and controls effectively.

Business as Usual: Review supportive documentation for stabilisation, business as usual, and adoption of new systems, ensuring alignment with clinical safety needs.

Communication, Engagement, and Stakeholder Management

Work closely with the CCIO and represent them when necessary.

Provide support, advice, and information to the wider organisation to ensure understanding of responsibilities in relation to digital clinical safety.

Collaborate with colleagues across the trust on risk identification and management within the EPR Programme.

Motivate project clinical leads/champions to engage in digital clinical safety meetings and working sessions.

Ensure Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and reports are accurate, meaningful, and fit for use by Senior Managers across organisations.

Support end users in the clinical safety review of new or existing systems, working efficiently and empathetically.

Explain complex subjects in clear, concise terms to staff with varying knowledge levels.

Coordinate and motivate a multidisciplinary team, including clinicians, suppliers, IT experts, and contractors.

Drive the smooth transition and successful adoption of the digital clinical safety system and processes across teams and stakeholders.

Ensure effective working processes and relationships to meet performance and quality standards.

Demonstrate high-level communication skills, presenting complex and sensitive information to multidisciplinary teams.

Discuss sensitive and contentious information with staff of all levels, maintaining confidentiality, professionalism, and integrity.

Request information from multi-professional teams sensitively and diplomatically when faced with potential legal cases or poor clinical outcomes.

Ongoing Learning

Stay updated with new developments in digital clinical safety and patient safety to maintain subject matter expertise.

Provide analysis of digital clinical safety-related intelligence to support organisational learning and improvement.

Maintain clinical skills, active registration, and statutory and mandatory training.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Educated to master’s level qualification
Suitably qualified clinician

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Experience in process and policy development
Experience in clinical risk management
Is a Registered Practitioner with GMC or HCPC
Significant clinical experience in a secondary care setting
Knowledge of the DCB0160 and 0129 standards
Experience of system analysis, development, testing, release, upgrades and decommissioning
A thorough understanding of why and how errors occur in the development, deployment and subsequent use of EPR Systems
Strong Project Management skills, principles and practices

Desirable criteria

Experienced in Change implementation and challenging poor practices
Digital Clinical Safety Officer training
Excellent leadership skills/qualities
Experience in the design, development, or deployment of digital clinical systems
Experience of managing clinical safety and related governance processes
Experience writing and delivering reports and/or documentation

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

That all applications for this post will need to be made online
That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’