Director of Patient Safety and Quality GovernanceNHS

Job summary

We are seeking an experienced, credible and compassionate senior leader to join the Chief Nursing Officer's portfolio as Director of Patient Safety and Quality Governance.

This Band 9 role will lead the Trust's approach to patient safety, quality governance, assurance and organisational learning. You will provide leadership across patient safety and PSIRF, quality governance, regulatory assurance, risk management, mortality, health and safety, reducing restrictive practice and suicide prevention.

Working closely with the Chief Nursing Officer and Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, you will provide expert advice and assurance to the Board, Executive Team and senior leaders, ensuring learning and intelligence drive sustained improvements in the quality and safety of care.

We are looking for an influential and collaborative leader with significant experience in complex healthcare environments. You will be confident managing competing priorities, interpreting complex information and building strong relationships across organisational and system boundaries. The role includes providing senior cover for the Chief Nursing Officer and participation in the Trust Director on-call rota.

If you are passionate about patient safety, quality improvement and creating a just and learning culture, we would like to hear from you.

Please note:

• This role requires office attendance for two days per week.
• Applications may close early if the application cap is reached.

Interview date: 16 October 2026.

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the job

The Director of Patient Safety and Quality Governance will provide strategic leadership for the Trust's patient safety, quality governance and assurance arrangements. Reporting to the Chief Nursing Officer, the postholder will lead a portfolio including patient safety and PSIRF, quality governance, regulatory compliance, risk management, mortality and learning from deaths, health and safety, reducing restrictive practice, and suicide prevention.

Working closely with the Chief Nursing Officer, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer and Executive colleagues, you will ensure quality and safety intelligence is effectively analysed to identify risks, support organisational learning and drive improvements in the quality, safety and experience of care.

You will provide expert advice and assurance to the Board, Executive Team and senior governance forums, leading the Trust's approach to regulatory readiness and engagement with external partners and regulators. The role includes oversight of quality governance arrangements and ensuring learning from incidents, complaints, inquests, mortality reviews and external reviews is translated into meaningful improvement.

As a senior member of the Chief Nursing Officer's leadership team, you will build strong relationships across organisational and system boundaries, deputise for the Chief Nursing Officer in agreed areas, and participate in the Trust Director on-call rota.

Job description

Portfolio

The post holder will have strategic leadership responsibility for the following portfolio areas:

• Patient Safety and PSIRF
• Quality Governance and Ward-to-Board assurance
• CQC regulation, compliance and inspection readiness
• Quality planning and CNO contribution to quality reporting
• Health and Safety
• Risk management, including Ulysses and alignment with the Board Assurance Framework
• Nursing standards quality assurance, in partnership with the Deputy Chief Nursing Officer
• Reducing restrictive practice
• Mortality review governance and learning from deaths
• Suicide prevention strategy, governance and system leadership
• Clinical effectiveness, clinical audit and NICE compliance
• Duty of Candour and learning from harm
• External reviews, independent investigations and safeguarding review governance
• Quality intelligence, triangulation, dashboards and action tracking
• Quality governance training and capability development
• System quality governance and external stakeholder relationships

Key Responsibilities:

CommunicationandRelationships

• Tocommunicatewithawiderangeofstakeholders,involvinghighlycomplex,highly
• sensitiveandsometimeshighlycontentiousinformationandadvice.
• TodeveloprelationshipsinternallywithstaffandmanagersatalllevelsincludingExecutiveDirectors,Non-ExecutiveDirectorsandexternallywithawiderangeoforganisationsacrosstheICS,includingNHS Surrey/SussexastheTrust'sICB,andProviderCollaborativeandNHSE.
• Present clear written and verbal reports to the Board, Executive Team, senior governance forums and managers across the Trust, providing expert advice, assurance and escalation on clinical governance, quality and regulatory matters and ensuring that relevant information is disseminated appropriately.
• Act,asrequested,asaseniorrepresentativeoftheTrustworkingwithotherorganisations,bothstatutoryandnon-statutory
• Communicate highly complex, sensitive, contentious and confidential information clearly and appropriately to diverse internal and external audiences. Use advanced influencing, negotiation and mediation skills to secure timely cooperation, reconcile conflicting views and support responses to regulatory and organisational deadlines.

Analytical /Judgement

• Chairrelevantsub-groupsoftheTrust,providingstrongdirectionandleadership.
• Leadandparticipateininternalandexternalworkinggroups,servicesandinitiativestoprovideanalyticaladviceandexpertiseinrelationtoallqualityissues
• Provide senior quality governance oversight for services in significant quality concern, regulatory scrutiny, temporary closure, recovery or major transformation, ensuring that decisions are informed by patient safety, risk, workforce, safeguarding, estates, clinical model, health and safety and patient experience intelligence.
• Ensure that quality and safety risks arising from service change, closure, reopening or pathway redesign are clearly assessed, escalated and monitored through appropriate governance routes.

Please see the attached Job Description for full information.

About us

Join Sussex Partnership and you'll be part of an NHS Trust that allows you to thrive and, in turn, thrives because of you. We believe in the vibrancy of our fantastic people. And how that leads to even better support for the people who use our services.