Patient Safety Partners recruitment pack

Summary – We’re recruiting Patient Safety Partners

We are seeking motivated and interested individuals who want to help influence and improve safety in health and social care. The Patient Safety Partner role has been developed by NHS England.

Patient Safety Partner’s will be remunerated for their work and receive a payment of £75 for a half day and £150 for a full day for their involvement and input.

Please take a look through our recruitment pack which outlines what the role involves. After reading through the pack, if you have any questions or would like further information, please get in touch using the contact details below.

Get in touch

For more information or if you have any queries, contact Karen Flitton by:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07502 533 781

Welcome

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Patient Safety Partner within Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System.

In June 2021, the new ‘Framework for Involving Patients in Patient Safety’ was published by NHS England. This framework sets out approaches and standards that help to make a positive difference to how patient safety is viewed and managed in the NHS.

A key part of the framework introduces Patient Safety Partners; empowering patients and their carers to be involved in their own safety, as well as being partners alongside staff in improving patient safety in NHS organisations.

More about the Mid and South Essex ICS

What do we do?

The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (MSE ICS) provides health and care to 1.2 million residents across the region.

Who is involved?

Our partners deliver a range of health and care services across mid and south Essex, including hospital, mental health, social care, community and voluntary services.

Our communities

Health and care organisations work together across larger areas, or places, where large parts of the NHS budget are spent. In mid and south Essex our places cover Basildon and Brentwood, mid Essex, south east Essex and Thurrock.

Our plans to create healthier communities

The commitment to reduce health inequalities is at the core of our ICS structure and ways of working.

Which part of the NHS is seeking Patient Safety Partners?

We are seeking six Patient Safety Partners to work with us across three areas of our health and care system and take part in patient safety related areas of work.

Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board

Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board is the local NHS organisation that plans and oversees how NHS money is spent and makes sure health services work well and are of high quality. Their role is to join up health and care services, improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is a group of hospitals across central and south Essex which provide a huge range of clinical services and care for a population of over 1.2 million. The hospitals include Southend Hospital, Basildon Hospital and Broomfield Hospital.

Provide Community Interest Company

Provide delivers a broad range of health and social care services, predominantly in mid Essex (Chelmsford and surrounding areas). They run community hospitals, community clinics, nursing homes and other services in the community and within people’s homes.

What work would you be involved in?

The following are examples of work you would be involved with:

• Membership of Quality and Safety Committees.
• Review and analysis of safety related information.
• Involvement in patient safety-related projects.
• Participation in investigation oversight groups.

The roles attract an involvement payment at certain meetings and reimbursement for reasonable expenses.

The main role of the patient safety partner is to ensure that the patient voice is heard within organisations, with the core purpose of improving safety and quality.

The role is for a 18-month fixed period with an option to extend.

What are we looking for?

Skills and Experience

Candidates will need to demonstrate a genuine commitment to developing and improving the safety of health services along with an understanding of patient safety. The ideal candidate will have personal or lived experience relating to local NHS healthcare services.

As an advocate of patient safety, there is a requirement that candidates will have the confidence to communicate well verbally with senior leaders over strategic issues and provide a patient carer or lay perspective. They will be willing to challenge as a ‘critical friend’.

Time Commitment

The time commitment for each Patient Safety Partner will be dependent on the areas of work that they are involved with and can be considered during our discussions. We aim to be as flexible as possible.

Meetings format

The successful Patient Safety Partners will be required to attend a number of meetings, some of these may be face to face while others will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams.

Diversity and equality of opportunity

All partners within the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System value and promote diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity for all. To help us to understand if we are achieving this, we ask you to fill out an equal opportunity monitoring form as part of the application process. In addition, please let us know if you have any support needs so that we can understand how we can assist you to participate fully.

We particularly welcome applications from:

• People living in areas of mid and south Essex that could be seen as disadvantaged that are most impacted by the rise in cost of living.
• People with protected characteristics as listed in the Equality Act (2010). These are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation pregnancy and maternity race.

How we will support you?

Training and support

The successful candidate will:

• be fully supported in their role and will be provided with ongoing supervision and support. Supported to develop within your role in specific areas such as decision making. We will ensure that your views and feedback are heard and responded to.
• need to be willing to receive training in patient safety and attend other mandatory training sessions relevant to the role. A range of learning and development opportunities will also be available to Patient Safety Partners.

How will we pay you?

Expenses and remuneration

Patient Safety Partners will be paid in line with the national involvement payments developed by NHS England. This includes involvement payments of £150 per day or £75 per half day.

For other working groups including policy development, reasonable out-of-pocket expenses are covered.

Each Patient Safety Partner’s remit will include a mix of formal committees and working groups or project work. The details will be agreed with each Patient Safety Partner, and it is anticipated that the role will evolve over time.

Involvement payments are seen by HMRC, the Job Centre and insurance companies as income. So this has implications for interested candidates as Patient Safety Partners may have to pay tax or declare income that can affect their benefit or insurance pay-outs. Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System and it partners have a responsibility to advise successful candidates that they should declare the income to HMRC, their insurance company or the job centre, as appropriate.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for the Patient Safety Partner role, would like to discuss further or require help with the application process then please contact Karen Flitton on 07816 600 860 or via [email protected].

Please complete the application form carefully, we will rely on the information you provide in the application form to assess whether you have the skills and experience required for this role.

Please send completed expression of interest forms via email to [email protected] or by posting it to:

Karen Flitton
Patient Safety Specialist (System)
Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board
Phoenix House
Christopher Martin Road
Basildon
Essex
SS14 3HG

Please mark the envelope ‘Private and Confidential’

Application Process

• All applications received will be shortlisted by a panel.
• Applications will be assessed against the skills and experience required. Selection will be made on the basis of the content of the application form.
• Informal interviews will be arranged for successful applicants.
• Please note that two references will be taken up for successful applicants before starting in the role.
• All applications will receive a successful or unsuccessful notification. The successful notifications will include information about next steps.

Additional information

• We would not expect individual applicants to have all capabilities and skills.
• A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check may be required for this role.
• Successful candidates are not entering into an employment contract.

Job description

Job title: Patient Safety Partner
Reports to: Patient Safety Specialist
Responsible to: Director of Nursing – Patient Safety
Base/Department: To be decided

Role description/ summary

The Mid & South Essex patient safety partner (PSP) will be actively involved in the design of safer healthcare at all levels across a range of local health and care organisations. Your main role will be to work with us to ensure that we prioritise the safety requirements of our patients, thereby maximising the things that go right and minimising the things that go wrong for people receiving our services.

This involves attendance at meetings to support and review safety issues providing appropriate challenge to ensure system wide learning, contributing to the development and implementation of processes and equitable patient outcomes. The PSP should ensure that any committee/group of which they are a member considers and prioritises the service user, patient, carer, and family perspective and champions a diversity of views. Meetings may require face to face attendance or be held online, the PSP must be comfortable with either approach.

Skills and Experience

• An understanding of and broad interest in patient safety.
• Ability to communicate well in writing and read comprehensive reports.
• Ability to understand and evaluate a range of information and evidence.
• Confidence to communicate well verbally with senior leaders about strategic issues, as an advocate for patient safety.
• Ability to provide a patient, carer, or lay perspective and to put forward views on behalf of the wider community/groups of patients (not own opinion only).
• Experience of championing health improvements; able to be a critical friend.
• Interaction with multiple stakeholders at senior management level.
• Experience of interactions with health and care services or organisations.
• Sound judgement and an ability to be objective.
• Personal integrity and commitment to openness, inclusiveness, and high standards.

Training

The PSP will be given training in patient safety and incidents. This will be through a blended approach with a combination of e-learning, virtual webinars, and face to face facilitation. Where possible and appropriate this training will be with multi professional teams. Mandatory training will also be required, including following:

• Information Governance
• Equality and Diversity
• Safeguarding Level 1
• Confidentiality
• Conflicts of Interest.
• Patient Safety

Planning and organisation

• Ability to plan time to prepare for meetings and undertake any other activities required as part of the role.
• Self-sufficient in being organised, requiring minimal help from staff to remember meetings, ensure papers are read.
• To attend PSP support meetings and training events.

Personal

• Adhere to the principles of the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) values and organisational codes of practice, including policies and procedures
• Demonstrate professional etiquette at all times when representing the patient voice on behalf of Mid and South ICS
• Adhere to the Nolan Principles, these include selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership
• Reflect sensitivity and empathy when receiving lived experience information supporting the privacy and dignity of the patient/ family member sharing the dialogue
• Inform their Patient Safety Specialist if unable to attend meetings or undertake any other identified activities.
• Work with fellow PSPs to develop a network of expertise across the ICS.

Support to colleagues

• Support and guide new PSPs where required.
• Take part in PSP networks to receive peer support and share learning.

Communication

• Report any safety incidents to your Patient Safety Specialist.
• Ensure that patient confidentiality is always maintained.

Infection control

• Adhere to the principles of hand hygiene when on NHS premises.
• Ensure that visitors and staff adhere to the principles of hand hygiene and direct them to hand washing facilities where necessary.

Equality and diversity

• Understand individual patients’ needs, consideration for cultural and religious requirements.
• Act in accordance with Mid & South Essex ICS policy and procedures.

Health and Safety

• Report any environmental factors that may contravene health and safety requirements.
• Ensure that you follow organisational policies and procedures.
• Attend induction and mandatory training as required for the role.

Application forms

Patient Safety job description (pdf, 163kb)

Patient Safety Partner expression of interest form (docx, 55kb)

Patient Safety Partner equality and diversity form (docx, 60kb)