Job summary
- Main area
- 317 Midwifery Ante-Natal Services - RVI
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 18.75 hours per week
- Job ref
- 317-2025-21-21-DR
- Employer
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Town
- 317 02 Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Salary
- £26,530 - £29,114 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 27/05/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 11/06/2025
Employer heading
Failsafe Officer - Antenatal and Newborn Screening
Band 4
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
There are 6 NHS Antenatal and Newborn Screening programmes which aim to detect conditions that are present in either the mother or baby that could have adverse effect on health and wellbeing. Pregnant women and newborn babies are offered screening tests as an integral part of their care in pregnancy and postnatal period. Optimal screening programmes require effective team working across a number of professional groups, departments and organisations. Are you looking for a challenge working administratively within the screening team?
The role of the Failsafe Officer is to facilitate the implementation, monitoring and to maintain safe and quality assured National Antenatal and Newborn (ANNB) Screening programmes. The purpose is to carry out failsafe activities that ensure the screening national standards are met, reducing the risk of harm or missed screening for mothers and babies.
- Interview date: Wednesday 11 June 2025
- 18 hours 45 miutes/week
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
Main duties of the job
- Establish and effectively manage and maintain screening databases.
- Implement and maintain failsafe systems by ensuring the eligible population have an outcome recorded for each relevant screening programme. This will require the potholder to follow up where data is missing and to request repeat samples where required.
- Assist with activities aimed at maintaining and improving relevant key performance indicators for the Antenatal and Newborn screening programmes.
- Work closely with the multidisciplinary teams to ensure timely screening is offered.
- Entered relevant screening results into the patient electronic records.
Working for our organisation
Our staff oversee over 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
• Freeman Hospital
• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service
• Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• The post holder will provide support to the Antenatal & Newborn (ANNB) Screening Team who are responsible for the coordination of the six national antenatal and newborn screening programmes, in accordance with Department, Trust and National standards.
• Perform the daily monitoring and management of local and national screening failsafe systems (SMART4NIPE and Newborn Bloodspot Failsafe System), to ensure that national screening standards are met, and areas of concern identified, with remedial action taken in a timely manner.
• Maintain an accurate screening database and provide accurate statistical information.
• The postholder will carry out failsafe activities that ensure the screening loop is closed, thereby meeting national standards and most importantly reducing risk of harm or missed screening to mothers and babies for which The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust are responsible.
• Collation of data to inform the nationally required Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and annual data submissions is a key component of the role as is assistance with screening audits to inform service provision.
• The role also involves the collection and reporting of data for immunisations in pregnancy and for Hepatitis B for eligible babies.
• The post holder is accountable to the Antenatal and Newborn Screening Coordinator and will work closely with the ANNB Screening deputy.
• Ensure that Trust policy regarding Data Protection is adhered to.
• Provide administrative support when needed.
• Organise and prioritise the designated workload in relation to identified needs.
Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
Essential criteria
- Educated to A level standard or equivalent qualification/experience
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Previous Database experience
- Must be experienced in all aspects of Microsoft windows applications.
- Knowledge of medical terminology
- Knowledge of trust policy regarding Data Protection - Caldicott Guidelines, Data Protection Act
- Experience in transferring data from one medium to another
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience in a health care information environment
- Knowledge of eRecord and relevant healthcare information systems
- Knowledge of Antenatal and Newborn screening pathways
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- A range of IT skills to Diploma level or equivalent experience in database systems, office software and NHS information systems.
- Must possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills – able to communicate across a multi-disciplinary team (both verbal and written).
- Ability to prioritise tasks and demonstrate organisational and time management skills.
- Ability to be versatile to the role
- Ability to work without direct supervision and maintain professional standards
Desirable criteria
- • Ability to collate, analyse and present accurate data.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sharon Chilton
- Job title
- Deputy Antenatal and Newborn Screening Coordinator
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0191 2829547
- Additional information
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