Head of Quality and Patient Safety

Head of Quality & Patient Safety Post Status:
Permanent Department:
Quality and Patient Safety Directorate Location:
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9 Reports to:
Chief Executive Officer Key Working Relationships:
Chair of Clinical Governance & Chair of Clinical Effectiveness Key Direct Reports:
Patient Advisory & Liaison Service (PALS) Risk & Legal Manager Health & Safety Manager Quality & Standards Manager Clinical Governance & Audit Manager JCI Accreditation Manager Salary:
Appointment will be made on the Service Manager salary scale (€84,065 - €103,023) at a point in line with Government pay policy.
Hours of work:
Full-Time Closing Date:
Monday, November Position Summary:
The Head of Quality and Patient Safety will advance a patient quality assured safety program that promotes a culture of quality and safety and the elimination of avoidable harm.
Reporting to the CEO, and working closely with the Chair of Clinical Governance and Chair of Clinical Effectiveness, the post holder will lead on the development and delivery of complex system-wide patient quality and safety initiatives as prioritised.
They will collaborate with clinical and corporate leadership to design and implement innovative interventions which support Beaumont Hospital Quality and Patient Safety efforts.
The post holder will have a continuous focus on data-driven strategies for patient care, including improving patient experience, clinical outcomes, operational workflows, safety plan development and safety measures.
The post holder will also provide project management support to the CEO.
The role requires significant autonomy and works under limited supervision.
Main Duties & Responsibilities Partnership with Executive and Clinical Leaders Support in engaging executive and clinical leadership to foster a culture of quality and safe practices to reduce error and generally improve patient outcomes.
Actively contribute to goals and direction of performance improvement, quality assurance and patient safety plans.
Participation in design/optimisation/change so that patient quality and safety issues are examined and escalated as appropriate.
General Safety culture advancement.
Provide leadership, direction and support for a proactive patient safety program at Beaumont Hospital.
Collaborate with Clinical Directors to establish an organisation-wide patient quality and safety program and activities relevant to local needs.
Emphasise proactive harm prevention for patients, visitors and staff through development and implementation of programs, policies, and activities to maximise safety at all levels of the system.
Assess compliance with national patient quality and safety goals and monitor external reporting (such as hospital acquired infections and complications), and support the design and implementation of interventions to improve clinical and operational outcomes.
Support and encourage harm reporting throughout the organisation through a non-punitive and just event reporting system.
Process Improvement and Standardisation Oversee standardisation of event management reporting.
Work closely with all staff to improve data capture rates and reporting.
Work directly with all staff to review safety reports and design interventions and action plans based on results and level of risk.
Highlight themes around safety and develop organisation-wide strategy for mitigation.
Oversee the continued development of our incident reporting system to meet our objectives.
Standardise key performance metrics around patient safety for health system.
Ensure implementation of best practices, alerts, and updates to drive patient safety improvement.
Working closely with Risk Management to assess serious events and near misses.
Identify and monitor areas of organisational risk and low compliance as they relate to patient safety.
Liaise with Risk Management to understand risk related claims to ensure they are prevented.
Participate in select departmental morbidity & mortality reviews, patient safety rounds, safety huddles and root cause analysis action planning as appropriate.
Patient Safety Education Collaborate with service leadership and the Schools of Medicine and Nursing to design educational and training programs that increase patient safety awareness and safe practices among clinicians, staff, students and volunteers.
Patient and Family Engagement Collaborate with community leaders and quality assurance and patient advisory councils to identify opportunities for Patient and Family engagement in patient quality assurance and safety.
Other Performs duties in accordance with Beaumont Hospital values, policies, and procedures.
Other duties as assigned by the CEO Qualifications, Experience & Skills Qualification(s) Degree in a clinical area (physician, nursing, pharmacist or equivalent), with a Masters desirable.
Knowledge & Experience 5+ years of experience and formal education in patient safety and quality improvement or substantial prior experience leading complex clinical initiatives.
Knowledge of healthcare operations and data structures and the use of information system applications in the healthcare environment.
Knowledge and passion for patient safety science principles, theory, methods, quality standards and regulatory requirements.
Prior experience in an academic medical centre or teaching institution preferred.
Skills/Qualities Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with an ability to communicate effectively with staff throughout the organisation.
Ability to convey on key messages in large groups and one-on-one settings.
Ability to drive multiple projects and change initiatives with overlapping timeframes.
Strong quantitative and analytical abilities.
Knowledge of healthcare operations and data structures and the use of information system applications in the practicing of healthcare environment.
Ability to instil a rigorous approach to patient safety in every aspect of the organisation.
Demonstrated change leader mentality that introduces new perspectives to find the best solutions and understands how to evaluate effectiveness initiatives.
Ability to set priorities, develop action plans, monitor and report on progress.
Results-oriented with a focus on action.
Maintains high personal and team standards.
Successfully achieves goals and remains persistent through the obstacles.
Demonstrated analytical and data mining capabilities to synthesize outcome data into meaningful actions.
This job description is an outline of the post as it is currently perceived by the hospital.
The post holder will be expected to contribute fully to the determination of specific objectives.
This job description will therefore be subject to change in detail and emphasis in the light of that contribution and of future development which may come about as a result of the implementation of measures in the Department of Health Strategy, Health Service Executive and the Hospitals Corporate Strategy.
Informal Enquiries ONLY to:
Name:
Ms Anne Coyle Title:
Chief Executive Officer Email address:
Telephone:
018092101 Skills:
Acute Hospital Senior Management Quality Patient Safety Clinical Governance