Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to lead patient safety, quality assurance and improvement for an agreed portfolio, helping to improve outcomes, strengthen learning and ensure people receive safe, effective and high-quality care.

As Senior Patient Safety and Quality Lead, you will provide expert leadership across patient safety, clinical governance, quality assurance and improvement. You will work with providers and partners to identify and manage risks, respond to concerns and turn learning into sustainable improvement.

You will use intelligence from incidents, deaths, complaints, audits, performance information and lived experience to identify emerging risks, themes and variation, while supporting PSIRF and a just and learning culture.

Working across organisational boundaries, you will help embed quality, patient safety, outcomes and health equity within commissioning and service development, providing senior advice, assurance and challenge to improve outcomes for local populations.

Main duties of the job

• Lead the development and delivery of effective quality management, assurance and improvement arrangements across commissioned services, supporting the ICB to meet its statutory and regulatory responsibilities.
• Lead patient safety assurance for an agreed portfolio and supports PSIRF, ensuring risks and concerns are identified, escalated and used to drive learning and improvement.
• Monitor provider quality through risk-based reviews, quality intelligence, audits, site visits and themed deep dives, identifying deterioration and unwarranted variation.
• Triangulate intelligence from incidents, deaths, complaints, claims, performance data and lived experience to identify themes, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Work with Strategic Commissioning, Population Health and contracting colleagues to embed quality, patient safety, outcomes and health equity within commissioning and contractual arrangements.
• Provide expert quality and clinical governance advice, including reports, recommendations and assurance to senior leaders, committees and Boards.
• Build effective relationships with providers, regulators, safeguarding colleagues and system partners to manage quality concerns and deliver improvement.
• Lead staff, projects and improvement initiatives, promoting continuous learning, openness and a psychologically safe culture.

About us
We are committed to creating an inclusive organisation that promotes and values diversity. We know from experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger, more creative workplace that helps us to deliver the best services. We welcome applications which represent the rich diversity of our community; from people of all ages, disabled people, all genders, people from ethnic minority groups, LGBTQ+ people, people with diverse gender identity and expression, people from all religions and beliefs and other diverse characteristics, and we have processes in place to ensure that all applications are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.

Details
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time
Reference number: 461-ICB-6247TG
Closing date: 15 November 2026

Essential person specification

• Registered health or social care professional (NMC, HCPC, GMC, etc.)
• Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
• Extensive knowledge of specialist areas, acquired through post graduate diploma or equivalent experience or training plus further specialist knowledge or experience to master's level equivalent.
• Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development.
• Demonstrates good overall digital literacy, with the ability to confidently use computers and digital systems required for day-to-day work.
• Must have an understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy and appreciate the implications of this on engagement.
• A good understanding of the relationship between NHS organisations and wider system, regional and national organisations.
• Must be able to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups.
• Negotiate on difficult and controversial issues including performance and change.
• Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.
• Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options.
• Takes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number of courses of action.
• Strategic thinking - ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.
• Must be able to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others. Experience of managing and motivating a team and reviewing performance of the individuals.
• Budget Holder.
• Must be able to use initiative to decide relevant actions and make recommendations to Sponsor/ Manager, with the aim of improving deliverables and compliance to policies.
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues, working to tight and often changing timescales.
• Experience of identifying and interpreting National policy. Experience of researching best practice (globally, private and public sector), interpreting its relevance and processes/ practices which could be implemented successfully to achieve system reform (advising on policy implementation).
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills.
• Needs to have a thorough understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems.
• Used to working in a busy environment / Operating in a highly political and sensitive environment.
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change.
• Willing to engage with and learn from peers, other professionals and colleagues in the desire to provide or support the most appropriate interventions.
• Professional calm and efficient manner.
• Effective organizer, influencer and networker.
• Demonstrates a strong desire to improve performance and make a difference by focusing on goals.
• Completer/Finisher.

Desirable person specification

• Comprehensive experience of project principles techniques and tools such as Prince 2 and Managing Successful Projects.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board
Address: Floor 2, North Wing, 100 Temple Street, Bristol Gloucester, BS1 6AG, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://bnssg.icb.nhs.uk/

For questions about the job, contact:
Associate Director Patient Safety & Quality, Robert Mauler, robert.mauler@nhs.net

Apply through our website.