Associate Director – Band 8d – Quality Improvement Medical Director’s Office – 20 Hours per week – PermanentApplications are invited from experienced, inspiring leaders for the post of Associate Director (Quality Improvement). This is a unique opportunity to lead the adoption of quality improvement science across an entire integrated health and care system, with the support of a partnership with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The West Suffolk health and care system is bringing together healthcare, local government and voluntary and community organisations to design and deliver integrated health, wellbeing and care services for our rural population of approximately 275,000 people. Over the last 3 years, the system integration has progressed to the point where the right way to continue our improvement journey is across organisational boundaries, with colleagues and service users from all settings training and working together towards shared improvement goals. To help us achieve this at pace and scale we have engaged with the IHI as our strategic partner. The right candidate will be an established leader from any specialist background, familiar with quality improvement tools and techniques and experienced in system working. They will have the ability to engage executive colleagues from health, local government and third sector organisations in a shared vision for using quality improvement science throughout clinical, care and corporate settings. The successful candidate will lead a small multidisciplinary team and will work with teams and leaders in all partners. They will bring energy and drive to the role and you will share our passion for innovation and excellence. This is a high-profile role which requires an outstanding individual. The post is offered as 5 programmed activities a week, or 0.6WTE for those individuals who are not doctors, reflecting the commitment the system is making to quality improvement. The successful candidate will have the flexibility to combine it with an ongoing clinical commitment or another role, e.g. leadership or education, should you wish to. We would also be delighted to explore ways to accommodate candidates who would like to move their clinical commitment into the West Suffolk system (acute, community, primary care, public health or mental health-based). About the TrustWest Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is a highly successful, award-winning and vibrant trust that provides a wide range of acute hospital and community services to a mainly rural population of over a quarter of a million people. With close links to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, and Cambridge University Medical School, our vision is to pursue quality and excellence for patients.Our staff are key to our success, and we regularly receive positive feedback in NHS staff surveys, regularly scoring in the top 20% of trusts nationally. In the NHS staff survey results for 2019, we emerged as an acute trust with one of the best performance engagement scores throughout the whole of England. 87% of staff would recommend the Trust for the treatment of a friend or relative and 77% would recommend the Trust as a place to work.Also, in 2019, the Trust was included in the CHKS top 40 hospitals. This is a rare opportunity to join an innovative and forward-thinking Alliance, as it works to piece together health and social care in new and innovative ways. We live by our Trust FIRST values:
- Focused on patients
- Integrated team working
- Respectful and courteous
- Staff-focused and supportive
- Two-way open communicationApplications from job seekers who require Tier 2 sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome. However, Non-EEA candidates who require Tier 2 sponsorship may not be shortlisted or appointed to a post if a suitably qualified, experienced and skilled EU/EEA candidate is available to take up the post, as the employing body is unlikely, in these circumstances, to satisfy the Resident Labour Market Test. The UK Border Agency requires employers to complete this test to show that no suitably qualified EEA or EU worker can fill this post. For further information please visit the UK Border Agency website. We are an equal opportunities employer, with a range of flexible working options.For posts that include “on call” duties successful candidates will need to complete an application form for access through the barriers from the car park office.The successful candidate for this post will be required to apply for a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Disclosure at Enhanced level.For Band 1 and Band 2 posts, the cost of the DBS Disclosure will be met by the Trust. However, any employees at Band 1 and Band 2 who leave the Trust within six months of commencing their post will have a £10 administration fee deducted from their final salary. For posts at Band 3 and above, the cost of the Disclosure will be met by the appointed employee and deducted in instalments from their salary over a period of three months. If the employee leaves the Trust within three months of commencing their post, any outstanding payments will be deducted from their final pay.All applicants should click on the link entitled “How will my application be processed?” prior to submitting their application form.The closing date for this vacancy may change if we receive a strong response. Please ensure that you apply for any post you are interested in as soon as possible
