Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To ensure safe and effective clinical practice

·         As a visible designated healthcare professional leader set standards of care and professionalism and promote teamwork within a multi-professional environment, demonstrating critical analysis and decision-making skills, leading the delivery of a clinically excellent service, influencing and facilitating change within the ward/department and where appropriate the organisation.

·         Act as a change agent, developing clinically effective practice through the effective utilisation and integration of evidence-based practice, setting, implementing and monitoring evidence-based standards of care, policies, procedures and protocols.

·         Ensure a culture of continuous quality improvement using research, audit, patient feedback and reflection on practice by self and other members of the team.

·         Facilitate effective communication with the multi-professional team.

·         Continue to develop a just and fair no blame culture where staff are encouraged to report errors to improve quality of care to patients.

·         Assess the risks involved in the care of patients and ensure utilisation of practices and protocols to minimise those risks, including safe use of medical devices. To monitor the standards of care and take appropriate actions when standards fall below expected levels.

·         Promote a clean and safe environment for staff, patients and visitors by ensuring compliance with legislation, policies and protocols including health and safety, healthcare associated infection prevention, clinical governance, including risk management and incident reporting within PSIRF

·         Ensure a high standard of record keeping in accordance with Healthcare Professional standards, national legislation and local standards.

·         Report incidents and near misses promptly and appropriately and take effective action to minimise future risk.

To enhance the patient’s experience

·         Within a multidisciplinary team environment, develop a culture of person-centred care.

·         Be highly visible within the ward/department, communicating regularly with patients, relatives and/or carers; promoting a caring environment where equality and diversity issues are respected and patients are enabled to be partners in their care.

·         Identify opportunities to develop care and services by ensuring that there are effective systems in place to ascertain patient and carer experience/feedback and ensure complaints are managed in line with organisational policy, including the dissemination of learning points.

·         Ensure that everyone within sphere of care is treated with dignity and humanity, understanding individual needs, showing compassion and sensitivity, and provide care in a way that respects all people equally.

·         Critically appraise and synthesise the outcomes of relevant research, evaluations and audits and apply the information when seeking to improve practice.

·         Within sphere of care ensure effective and efficient patient journeys by planning, co-ordinating and monitoring the episodes of care including the smooth transition to other settings, promoting effective communication with interdisciplinary and interagency teams as required.

·         Co-ordinate and influence clinical decisions processes and monitor the quality of patient care provided through using expert clinical knowledge relevant to paediatrics, underpinned by theory and experience.

To manage and develop the performance of the team

·         Act as a positive role model, creating a supportive ethos to empower staff to contribute to the delivery of excellent person-centred care.

·         Maintain professional credibility. (Including participating in paediatric clinical work if required in times of Trust /departmental extremis.)

·         Lead by example, develop self and other staff, and influence the way care is given in a manner that is open and responds to individual needs.

·         Ensure healthcare professionals take responsibility for the care they provide and answer for their own judgments and actions and carry out those actions in a way that is agreed with their patients, and the families and carers of their patients, and in a way that meets the requirements of organisational policies and procedures, their professional bodies and the law.

·         Take all reasonable care of health and safety at work for self, team and others and to co-operate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.

·         Support and monitor audits throughout the care group, ensuring all rolling/core audits and action plans are completed and reviewed in a timely manner and identifying audits relevant to trust guidance and NICE compliance.

·         Support and maintain relevant policies, systems and databases that allow high quality care to be implemented across the organisation in line with the organisations governance structures and processes. This is to include the oversight of the Trust’s robust archiving system of all guidelines/ policies in the event of clinical claims or complaints.

·         To identify any gaps of non-compliance in paediatric standards of care and escalate appropriately.

·         To hold responsibility for the monitoring of actions as part of learning and improvement projects across the Care Group and Division.

·         To support the care group in the managing the risk register and actions required.

·         Identify, provide support and assist the Care Group and Governance team with the ongoing development of a proactive approach to risk management and robust governance in the organisation.

·         Provide advice to all clinicians on matters relating to patient safety and risk management.

·         To write key documents within the PSIRF framework. and to be responsible for the outcome reports following the PSIRF framework and monitoring compliance of action.

·         Contribute to the achievement of national standards (e.g. CQC standards) and preparation for internal and external assessment (e.g. NPSA, NHSLA, internal / external audit, Healthcare Commission, Peer Reviews etc).

·         To support with the coordination and responses of information for external inspections on behalf of the Care Group and the Division.

·         Be approachable and available to staff to support and debrief following a clinical incident, providing structured reflection to nurses, midwives and doctors to facilitate learning and promote and relevant changes in practice.

·         To ensure compliance to key governance issues such as DoC compliance and complaint response time frames

·         Prepare timely reports for Trust, Care Group and Divisional level committees as required. Report to the divisional management team any information or educational developments received from other external agencies.

To ensure effective contribution to the delivery of the organisation’s objectives

·         Network with peers across professional groups (internal and external)  promoting the exchange of knowledge, skills and resources.

·         To act up in the absence of the Matron with regards to quality matters. 

·         Attend professional forums and disseminate information.

·         Work in partnership with a range of clinicians and managers in the planning or development of own service promoting the involvement of patients/public.

·         Take a proactive approach to the redesign of clinical services, linked to organisational priorities and in support of improved outcomes.

·         Within clinical area ensure knowledge of the organisation’s quality and safety agenda.

·         Seek opportunities for personal and team development supporting the research agenda of the organisation

·         Develop and maintain a working knowledge of local, national and professional strategy and policy, ensuring that organisational goals are reflected in personal objectives and in ward/department development plans.

·         Demonstrate the ability to contribute to policy and strategy development at a departmental and organisational level and, where appropriate, national level.