Job summary
The Nursing & Patient Experience Lead will be a key support to the Deputy Chief Nurse, providing highly visible strong clinical leadership, support and guidance underpinned by sound clinical practice and knowledge.

Working collaboratively with the Associate Chief Nurses and the Patient Experience Lead, he Nursing & Patient Experience Lead will support the delivery of the Trust's overall objectives and service priorities, with a particular focus on clinical practice, patient engagement and patient experience. They will be accountable for delivering patient experience quality indicators and responsible for quality streams based on national good practice.

Main duties of the job
Play a key role in providing vision, inspirational professional leadership and direction for delivering high quality nursing in the field of patient experience. This will include national patient surveys, local audits, patient engagement activities and the Go for Gold accreditation framework. The post-holder will ensure real-time patient feedback is collected, timely responses and actions are taken and lessons learnt are shared with the relevant teams.

The post-holder will lead in patient and public involvement and the development, review and implementation of the Trust's Patient Experience Strategy in collaboration with the Trust Patient Experience Lead, taking the lead for specific work-streams, liaising with other key staff to ensure that patient safety, quality and experience objectives are delivered. They will be required to work a minimum of 0.2 WTE direct clinical work to allow for the provision of direct support for staff.

Provide high level support and specialised nursing advice and consultancy to all staff through direct care and discussion.

The role will develop and grow the concept of patient engagement and associated activities in compliance with PSIRF developing a network of patient engagement champions in the Trust and delivering.

Travel between Trust sites will be required to ensure a coordinated Trust approach.

About us
At the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH), we are committed to achieving the best staff experience in the NHS. In the 2023 NHS Staff Survey, we proudly:

• Scored above the national average for the People Promises: "We are recognised and rewarded," "We are always learning," "We work flexibly," "We are a team," and for staff engagement.
• Ranked #1 among all Trusts in North and Central London for all People Promises and themes.
• Ranked #1 among all Acute Specialist Trusts for "We work flexibly."

At RNOH, we're committed to being actively anti-discriminatory and actively inclusive. We recognise our brilliant people do brilliant work, and we offer rewarding careers, no matter what their background. We continue to strive to break down barriers to be the Trust where people come together because what they do matters, makes a difference and where they can thrive.

Joining our organisation means enjoying a wide range of staff benefits, including:

• 24/7 access to wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme.
• A Rewards & Recognition platform, offering opportunities to thank colleagues, send gifts, and access exclusive discounts.
• A dedicated Staff Wellbeing Hub, providing a space to relax and recharge away from the work environment.
• Salary sacrifice schemes for transport (season ticket loans, car and bike), electrical goods, and childcare

At RNOH, we are more than a workplace--we are committed to patients, to excellence and the wellbeing of our staff.

Job responsibilities
Corporate Responsibilities

• Provide vision and strategic leadership and support the Chief Nurse in the development and implementation of the patient experience strategy, related strategies which sit under this umbrella and relevant policies, monitoring their implementation and evaluating effectiveness
• Be a key member of the corporate nursing team working in collaboration with nursing, the patient safety team and other health care professionals to develop and ensure exceptional high-quality patient care across RNOH, to improve the experience of patients, including children young people, and their families.
• Work collaboratively across organisational boundaries with partner organisations across the whole ICS, with relevant colleagues and clinical experts in other organisations, to establish excellent and seamless pathways of care for patients.
• Develop and monitor evaluation of key performance and quality indicators to increase evidence of impact relating to patient experience.
• Provide comprehensive leadership to support the progression, development and positive reputation of the nursing and allied health professions, and of the Trust
• Enable people to exercise their rights and promote their equality and diversity
• Where required, manage the appraisals and personal development plans for team members and ensure that they meet the need for organisational contribution and effectiveness.
• Support and advise on budgetary management of the patient experience team, voluntary services
• Use sophisticated leadership techniques to challenge practice standards and influence constructive and positive change
• Work with colleagues within the Trust and with partners across health and social care to ensure that patient care services are developed and managed seamlessly, particularly when transferring care from one provider to another
• Ensures the development of enhanced working relationships and productive joint working with relevant patient groups, e.g. Healthwatch
• The role will look to improve our response and care to those effected by patient safety incidents. We intend to do this by providing support and guide families and carers. The role will provide leadership to unit level engagement leads who work with families supporting them if an investigation is required.
• Aspects of the role will include the development and presentation of anonymised case studies; developing and facilitating training programmes, learning tools, events, workshops and best practice guidance. Fundamentally, this will be in co-production with families wherever possible. This will enable all clinical services to learn and improve their communication and engagement with families and carers, whilst ensuring there is a suitable and supportive process for families to be involved in learning outcomes and improvement work across the Trust.
• Support the Trust to continue to achieve Duty of Candour compliance
• Work with the PALs and complaint team to support high quality complaint responses and learning to drive continuous quality improvement

Professional Leadership

• Provide strong clinical leadership, advice, support, and challenge which ensures that the professional standards achieved by nurses and allied health professionals meet the standards required.
• Be a positive role model, demonstrating behaviours in line with organisational and professional values and codes.
• Contribute to a culture that empowers staff to reach their full potential and achieve personal, service, and corporate objectives.
• Promote a patient and service-orientated culture across the organisation.
• Participate at regional and national levels on patient experience issues, developing networks and partnerships, sharing best practice, and integrating this knowledge within the Trust.
• Act as a representative on Trust wide or external groups as appropriate as requested by the Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Nurse
• Ensure the maintenance of professional standards of care in accordance with the NMC/HCPC Codes of Practice.
• Take every reasonable step to maintain and expand own knowledge, skills, and competence
• Ensure that successes within the Trust are recognised and publicised.
• Provide advice, support and direction to the Divisions and other senior managerial and professional colleagues on relevant matters, as required
• Accountable for ensuring that all direct line report staff work in accordance with their job descriptions, job banding and requirements and takes necessary action to ensure that, through the management and leadership structures, they are supported and developed accordingly
• Responsible for the formal and informal appraisal of direct line report staff and for ensuring that they are trained, supported and developed accordingly, personal development reviews are completed and recorded within required timescales and that staff have clear and agreed performance objectives that support the Directorate and Trust objectives
• Responsible for ensuring that direct report staff complete the personal development and review processes for their own teams of staff
• Secure physical and/or financial resources and establish strategies for their use
• Analysis of data and presentation of reports, using interpretation and comparison skills
• Use leadership and change management techniques to challenge practice standards and influence constructive and positive change using a range of improvement methodologies
• Act as an ambassador for the Trust and the corporate Chief Nurse Directorate, ensuring that self and others represent and practice to the highest professional standards at all times.

Clinical Quality & Patient Experience

• Support the Senior Matrons, Matron and clinical managers to ensure that the professional & operational function of the Trust delivers to the highest professional standards, by taking responsibility for quality/patient experience streams based on national good practice and local quality indicators
• Ensure that they, and others, work in the best interests of patients, service users and the wider organisation
• Work in accordance with the strategic direction, objectives and policies, protocols, procedures, and guidelines of the Trust
• Work to ensure the safety and well-being of patients, inclusive of children and young people and their families, service users and colleagues taking any necessary corrective action as appropriate to prevent any deterioration in service standards, or to the safety and welfare of patients and staff
• Contribute to the quality of complaint responses through quality reviews, providing feedback as required.
• Review and triangulate feedback, complaints and incidents for trends and themes and work with the Senior Matrons, Matrons and Divisional triumvirates to address any weaknesses.
• Support the PLACE assessment process ensuring that the annual assessments of the patient environment are undertaken in accordance with national requirements
• Develop positive working relationships with other clinicians and managers to ensure that the organisation is at the forefront of best professional practice and service delivery
• Be actively involved with the Operations Directorate and service lines to ensure that the needs of patients and service users are met reasonably, and their views and opinions are sought and used appropriately, particularly to inform improvements in practice and care.
• Support patient and public involvement and the development, review, and implementation of the Trusts Patient Experience Strategy, taking the lead for specific work-streams, liaising with other key staff to ensure that patient safety, quality, and experience objectives are delivered.
• Ensure that the needs of patients and service users are met to a high standard and their views and opinions are valued, sought, and used appropriately, particularly to inform improvements in practice and care
• Ensure that the Patient and Public Involvement Agenda is embedded within service development and redesign, with active promotion of the use of patient experts
• Lead the development of the role of the patient expert and the preparation and support required to equip patients and the public to be fully engaged and involved with service review/design
• Responsible for ensuring that a mechanism is in place for the Trust to hear and learn from patient feedback through a variety of triangulated sources, e.g. national and local surveys, ward visits, patient stories and that themes and trends can be identified and appropriate actions monitored, providing reports on progress to the Trust Board or relevant sub-committee
• Ensure patients and carers are engaged with reviewing the quality of services, e.g. as part of project groups, service redesign and 15 Steps Assurance visits
• Lead the development of the patient experience section of the Ward Dashboard and Trust Integrated Performance Repot, supporting the Associate Chief Nurses to review progress and identify themes and trends and supporting actions as appropriate
• Participate at ICS and national levels on patient experience issues, developing partnerships, raising the positive profile of the Trust by sharing best practice and integrating new knowledge within the Trust
• Work with the corporate and clinical operational groups to improve the ways information is sourced and used to evidence and improve care delivery and outcomes

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential

• Level 1 Registered Nurse or equivalent
• Registration relevant to branch of nursing/profession
• Evidence of degree level studies Diploma in Health Service Management or equivalent
• First level honours Degree or working towards.
• Diploma in Health Service Management or equivalent, significant post registration experience including a managerial level e.g. Band 7

Desirable

• Masters degree.

Occupational experience and abilities
Essential

• Experience of partnership working
• Experience of implementing change in clinical practice or service delivery to improve the quality of patient care
• Experience of co-production and collaborative work with patients
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the national policy context for nursing practice and development, including knowledge of the patient experience strategy, NHS Plan and National Service frameworks
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of Clinical Governance
• Evidence of negotiation skills, ability to motivate and influence
• Able to build collaborative networks and participate in multi-disciplinary teamwork
• Ability to problem solve with a strong solution-focused approach
• Evidence of effectively dealing with patient feedback and complaints
• Team building skills. Effective decision-making skills
• Evidence of Financial management skills and knowledge (effectively managing budgets, establishments and purchasing etc
• Knowledge of relevant organisational policies and procedures
• Track record of delivering required standards of care within areas of responsibility
• Experience of leading the care of patients

Desirable

• Skills in process redesign
• Experience of conducting research and critiquing clinical evidence
• Experience in implementing quality framework
• Experience of working with service user forums

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Personal organisation skills
• Forward thinking approach
• Enthusiasm and self-motivation
• Reliability and flexibility
• Recognises and values the contribution of others
• Assertiveness

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).