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Job summary

Main area
Mortality / Learning from Deaths/ Quality
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Contract
Fixed term: 12 months (Fixer terms or secondment)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
164-7931649
Employer
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
City Hospital
Town
Nottingham
Salary
£57,528 - £64,750 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
18/06/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust logo

Lead Nurse for Learning from Deaths

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Job overview

The Lead Nurse for Learning from Deaths is a senior member of the Corporate Quality Team. The post holder will provide operational leadership and direction for the ‘Learning from Deaths’ Programme across the Trust with an aim of reducing avoidable hospital mortality. 

The role includes developing robust systems and processes for mortality reviews and learning across the Trust; developing systems and processes for supporting and feeding back to bereaved families and next of kin following mortality reviews and adverse events relating to patient death; and working with clinical teams to identify and develop quality improvement work / mortality reduction strategies across the Trust. 

Main duties of the job

  • Take a lead role in the oversight of the Trust’s incident response and learning processes, working with nominated experts to strengthen processes and structures for demonstrable learning and improvement. 

  • Interpretation of national policy and guidance relating to “Learning from Deaths” and translation into Trust policy and practice. 

  • Development of an annual mortality reduction strategy, in liaison with the Associate Medical Director for Patient Safety, which aligns with Trust Quality Strategy and priorities.   

 

 

Working for our organisation

With over 19,000 staff, we are one of the biggest employers in the city with a central role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our local population. We play a leading role in research, education and innovation.

Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team in order to deliver world class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!

We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • Planning and organisation of patient safety initiatives and quality improvement projects as identified as a result of incidents and mortality reviews   

  • Development and maintenance of processes to feedback the outcomes of mortality reviews to bereaved families and next of kin  

  •  Development of quality assurance processes around the quality of SJR reviews 

  • Representing the Trust at regional mortality meetings as required   

  • Working collaboratively across the region to develop cross-organisational learning from deaths and improvement initiatives across patient pathways   

  • Leading on the compiling of the quarterly Trust mortality Board report.  

  • Providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive, and contentious information, to staff, service users, carers and members of the public, and staff groups, and where there may be significant barriers to understanding and acceptance. 

  • Interpret appropriate data sets and provide accompanying analytical narrative for Trust Committees. 

  • Undertaking mortality structured judgement reviews (SJR) both level 1 and level 2 where issues have been identified in care delivery. Requiring expertise in order to interpret complex clinical information and make judgements about the appropriateness of care and treatment and identifying learning points to feed back to clinical teams.  

  •  Assisting with reviews into deaths of service users with a learning disability (LeDeR reviews) which can be highly complex, sensitive, contentious and require clinical interpretation   

  • Attending the Learning from Deaths and Dying Group and providing expertise and clinical judgement in discussions of issues with care.   

 

See attached Job Description

Person specification

Educaton / Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • • Registered Nurse Educated to degree level • Masters level qualification or equivalent experience • Strong evidence of continued professional development

Experience

Desirable criteria
  • • Experience of multi-agency working • Knowledge of corporate governance legislation and best practice • Experience of developing and delivering training programmes • Experience or demonstrable knowledge of quality improvement/ clinical audit methodologies

Experience

Essential criteria
  • · Significant post registration experience within a hospital environment with experience of staff management Experience of working in an acute care setting • Experience leading and coordinating incident investigations/case reviews (HR, complaints etc) • Experience of system-based analysis Expert knowledge of the national guidance and framework relating to the “Learning from Deaths” programme • Experience of project/ change management

Communication / Relationships

Essential criteria
  • Experience of leading difficult and/or emotive discussions with patients, families, staff or other individuals · Experience of working with collaboratively with patients/ services/ stakeholders to improve quality of service · Demonstrate negotiation and influencing skills and ability to develop and maintain constructive relationships at all levels in the organisation

Analytical and Judgement Skills

Essential criteria
  • Able to assimilate, analyse and present complex problems and data, identify necessary action, make recommendations and ensure actions are taken. • Demonstrate insight in the use of data to influence patient care and services.

Planning and organisation

Essential criteria
  • Ability to engage staff and work collaboratively. • Ability to prioritise own workload and coordinate activities of other colleagues in the team • Ability to work under tight deadlines and pressure whilst delivering high quality work.

Physical skills

Essential criteria
  • Skilled in the use of IT packages, systems and/or databases to fulfil role requirements

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Trust IDApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveDisability confident leaderArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Care Leaver CovenantNHS Rainbow badgeCareLeaver Covenantadded for NUH

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

Application numbers

Please submit your application form as soon as possible to avoid disappointment; we reserve the right to close vacancies prior to the published closing date if we receive a sufficient number of completed application forms.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Lorna Priestman
Job title
Associate Director for Quality & Patient Safety
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07812277216
Additional information

Please contact Lorna Priestman in the first instance for an informal discussion regarding the role.

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