Head of Quality, Safety & Service Improvement Co. Mayo Ref -

At Western Care we aim to provide the most appropriate care, in the most appropriate setting for the people we support. And right now, we are looking to grow and support our team across County Mayo.

Why not be part of a progressive team, that's delivering for its community.

Western Care - Supporting People To Live Their Lives.

Head of Quality, Safety & Service Improvement

Castlebar, Co. Mayo

• Permanent post - 35 hours per week
• Reference Number 2024-101
• Closing Date June 17th, 2024

Job Brief

The Head of Quality, Safety and Service Improvement (QSSI) will have overall accountability for the Safety and Service Improvement Management System, to ensure the safety of care for all people we support, and staff, and to continuously improve the quality of care that is delivered. They will provide strategic and clinical leadership where required and direction for staff within Western Care Association to meet the needs of changing health of the people supported by the Association

Main Duties

The ongoing development of the Quality, Safety and Service Improvement Team, development of an integrated quality and safety management system, in line with the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare, and all service-related regulatory requirements of Western Care Association across all areas of the Organisation.

Support an organisational culture that embraces positive risk taking within a person-centred and self-directed model of service in line with people we support's priorities, rights, will and preference. (full description below)

Eligibility Requirements

Qualification Details - Essential

• An academic award in Quality, Safety, Risk Management or Clinical Governance in Healthcare at level 8 (or higher) on the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) framework or equivalent

Or

• Be a registered nurse on the live Register of Nurses kept by Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

Or 

• Be registered in the Intellectual Disability Division of the Register of Nurses kept by NMBI/be registered in the Mental Health Division of the Register of Nurses kept RNID/RGN/RMHN qualification is desirable.
• Have the clinical and administrative capacity to properly discharge the functions of the role.
• Experience of working in a post that has involved safety, risk management, quality improvement and regulatory compliance.
• Experience of leading change at senior organisational level.

Note: Post holders must maintain annual registration with the relevant Professional regulator. Please note that appointment to and continuation in posts that require statutory registration is dependent upon the post holder maintaining annual registration in the professional register.

Qualification Details - Desirable

• Excellent IT Skills required
• Ability to analyse and interrogate data to present to Management and other relevant stakeholders
• Ability to present and lead training events
• Good community skills
• Clean Drivers Licence and use of vehicle for work

Other Requirements

• Reliability and a flexible approach essential for position
• Ability to conduct oneself in a professional manner throughout the course of one's duties
• Adherence to Western Care Association policies and procedures at all times
• Participate in the on-call system for senior management as required
• All applicants will be subject to Irish Garda Vetting & Reference checks
• All applicants from Countries outside the E.U. will be required to provide relevant work authorization to take up employment in Republic of Ireland. This must be submitted along with Application
• All applicants will be required to access Overseas Police Clearance if they have lived outside of the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland more than 6 months since the age of 18 years

Employment Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Pension and Life Insurance Scheme 
• Annual leave in excess of statutory entitlement
• Dedicated learning and development
• Flexible working opportunities
• Staff initiatives e.g. Employee Assistance Programme, Bike-to-Work Scheme
• Sick pay scheme

Salary Scale

Head of QSSI Pay Scale Grade VIII (Scale Range €74,944 to €91,847 per annum)

-this is based on full time working hours i.e. 35 per week

Health

Applicants must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to this post and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service

Application Details

• Please apply by current C.V.
• Further enquiries by contacting:  Dr Mary Boyd CEO - Email: or Tel:

JOB DESCRIPTION

The job description is set out as follows:

• Reporting Relationship
• Overview & Purpose of the Role
• Duties and Responsibilities
• Eligibility Requirements
• Working Relationships and Communication
• General

Reporting Relationship:

The post holder will report to the Chief Executive Officer.

Overview of the Role:

Western Care Association is seeking to appoint a Head of Quality, Safety and Service Improvement (QSSI) to lead the organisation in a challenging environment, steering its strategic development and implementing its progressive vision for people we support through a rights-based, integrated service delivery in the community. This position is offered on a full-time, permanent basis reporting to the Chief Executive Officer

Purpose of the Role :

The Head of Quality, Safety and Service Improvement (QSSI) will have overall accountability for the Safety and Service Improvement Management System, to ensure the safety of care for all people we support, and staff, and to continuously improve the quality of care that is delivered. They will provide strategic and clinical leadership where required and direction for staff within Western Care Association to meet the needs of changing health of the people supported by the Association.

The objectives of the role are to:

• Maintain quality and people we support safety as the highest priority for Western Care while meeting all necessary regulations and standards.
• Provide appropriate leadership, ensuring quality and safety is integrated within the work of Western Care.
• Establish and maintain rigorous and systematic oversight and monitoring of the quality and safety elements of the Western Care operational and strategic plans.
• Lead on and manage the development of the Quality, Risk and Safety function which supports managers in the task of delivering quality and safe services. This will include line management of Quality, Risk and Safety staff.
• lead on and manage the development of the Health, social and clinical service in response to the changing health care needs of the people we support in Western Care.
• Identify and support Quality Improvement priorities for Western Care
• Support large operational change process for staff teams.

Key Working Relationships

Head of Services, Head of Finance, Head of Human Resources, Service Managers, Social Care Workers and Social Care Assistants.

In addition to the above, the role forms part of the management structure and the post holder will participate as a team member with their peer group by way of a regular meeting process and ongoing collaborative work.

Department/Location

The role will be based in the Head Office building at John Moore Rd, Castlebar, Co. Mayo with some travel to other locations in accordance with service and business needs.

Authority Levels

Responsibility for the management and effectiveness of the Quality, Safety and Service Improvement Team and Health and Social Care services.

Duties and Responsibilities :

The ongoing development of the Quality, Safety and Service Improvement Team, development of an integrated quality and safety management system, in line with the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare, and all service-related regulatory requirements of Western Care Association across all areas of the Organisation.

Support an organisational culture that embraces positive risk taking within a person-centred and self-directed model of service in line with people we support's priorities, rights, will and preference.

Ensure the overarching Quality, Safety and Service Improvement Management System is in line with best practice incorporating:

• Organisational culture development, support, and monitoring
• Implementation of an effective organisational policy and procedure management system to support staff of Western Care Association
• Quality, safety and compliance strategy development and implementation
• Oversight of safety and risk processes
• Support organisational learning from quality assurance process.
• Utilisation of regulatory frameworks to embed quality of care and demonstrate compliance.
• Empower and support local ownership and corporate accountability of the quality and safety of care and support.
• Coordination of an organisational audit program while supporting staff to undertake ongoing audits.
• Supporting Senior and Line Managers to meet their regulatory requirements, including correspondence with HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies. 
• Maintaining a centralised register of HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory inspections and reports, with a focus on ensuring all actions are completed within the relevant timeframes and learning opportunities are communicated and acted upon.
• Supporting the development and implementation of quality improvements and initiatives to continuously improve the quality of service provided to people we support.
• Identification of appropriate education and training for staff to support their involvement in quality and compliance processes, in partnership with other relevant stakeholders.
• Providing support and reports to relevant committees as required.
• Provide assurance to the Senior Management Team and the Board in relation to all organisational aspects of quality, service user safety and regulatory compliance.
• Provide direction for the development and advancement of services which results in the delivery of effective, efficient, cost-effective, quality assured and client centred care.
• Provide appropriate leadership, ensuring quality and people we support safety is integrated within the work of Western Care Association.
• To engage with people, we support and appropriate others as required. 

 Culture and Strategy

• Determine and analyse, the culture of safety and quality/compliance survey within the organisation to support an effective improvement strategy in relation to people we support and staff safety, engagement, and continuous quality improvement.
• Provide input to the organisational strategy to ensure the quality and safety agenda is forefront in the delivery of services, and to enhance the culture of the organisation.
• Develop an annual Quality and Safety Management programme defining key structures, activities and outcomes linked to organisational strategy on an annual basis.

Governance

• Develop and support the key governance structures responsible for the oversight of quality and safety, including but not limited to the Quality and Safety Committee and any relevant committees as required.
• Develop and support the governance structure responsible for the oversight of safe effective Health and Social care provided to people we support within Western Care Association.
• The post holder is responsible for providing advice and support to all managers/staff in relation to quality and safety models and methods to ensure the organisation's achievement and performance with the internal and external requirements. 

Policies and Procedures

• Maintain a centralised register and / or repository of Western Care Association policies and procedures.
• Monitor the development, review and approval of policies and procedures to ensure it is in line with the Western Care Association related policy and procedure process.
• Ensure there is an approved template for the development of policies and procedures and that this is available to all relevant staff.
• Provide support to Senior and frontline Managers and other relevant staff on the development, review, approval and communication of policies and procedures.
• Monitor the review dates of policies and procedures and ensure relevant Senior and frontline Managers are aware when policies and procedures are due for review.
• Collate and prepare data relating to the status of policies and procedures for analysis and oversight by the Management Teams and policy holders.
• Play a lead role and consult as necessary with other personnel in the formulation of policies and the selection, introduction and development of information and other systems for the Health & Social Care services.

Audit Management

• Develop a programme of audit for Western Care Association. This should address all relevant clinical and non-clinical aspects of the service.
• Support with the implementation of Audit Programmes as required. This may include communication of the schedule of audits; liaising with auditors; ensuring audits are undertaken as per the Audit Schedule; supporting auditors to collate findings; ensuring audit findings are closed out; and ensuring the audit is closed out.
• Provide support to the Auditors to undertake audit. This may include support to plan the audit, and/or support to identify and document relevant actions or quality improvement plans arising from the audit.
• Proactively monitor all identified actions / quality improvement plans to ensure they are acted upon by the relevant senior or frontline Managers.
• Maintain a centralised register of the status of audits undertaken and corresponding findings.
• On a regular basis, prepare a summary of the implementation of the audit schedule, and corresponding QIPs, for review and analysis by the Management Teams.

Regulatory Compliance

• Develop and implement a programme to assist with the process of compliance preparedness required in relation to regulations and standards.
• Support Senior and frontline Managers in understanding the legislation and standards that are applicable to their service, the assessment process undertaken by HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies, and their obligations to communicate with / report to same.
• Support Senior and frontline Managers in understanding their requirement to report notifiable events to HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies in line with legislative requirements.
• Ensure all Line Managers are familiar with the process for reporting notifiable events to HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies, and the process for following up such incidents internally, in line with the Western Care Association policy and procedure.
• Support Senior and frontline Managers to proactively evaluate their compliance with HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies standards in advance of inspection, and to identify and implement any relevant quality improvement plans.
• Support Senior and frontline Managers in preparing and responding to HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies.
• Stay up to date with best practice developments from HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies, and other relevant health bodies (e.g., Department of Health, list not exhaustive). Communicate significant developments and best practice updates within the organisation.
• Support in any mechanisms to assist services in improving performance with the compliance requirements of regulatory standards and internal standards and policies relating to quality, safety, and compliance.
• Maintain a centralised register of HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies inspection and reports, with a focus on any actions to be followed up by Senior and frontline Managers. Actively monitor the register to ensure all actions are implemented and reports completed as per required timeframes.
• Oversee the provision of defined outcome measurements which determine the ongoing level of safety, risk, and quality of care, inclusive of complaints incident and risk management, in partnership with the line management structure.
• Analyse and summarise performance improvement data and report on findings and outcomes to the Executive Management team.

Quality Improvement Plans

• Support Line Managers to identify areas for quality improvement. This may arise from internal audit, HIQA, the HSE and other regulatory bodies inspection reports, incident reports, proactive identification of areas for improvement, etc.
• Support Line Managers to apply standard methodology to quality improvement initiatives.
• Lead on the communication of Quality Initiatives across Western Care Association to enable departments to learn from the quality initiatives of each other.

Safety and Risk Management

• Ensure there is a robust system in place to manage all incidents and complaints received in line with best practice and policy.
• Ensure effective System Identification Analysis is undertaken on high-risk incidents and that the results are used to drive improvement.
• Ensure a robust risk management process that identifies incidents and risks and manages these risks to minimise impacts to people we support and staff and minimise the opportunity for reoccurrence of errors.
• Lead on the development, review and management of the local and corporate risk register for Western Care Association
• Accountability for the implementation of the organisations Health and Safety Programme in line with Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and associated Statutory Instruments.
• Integrate organisational incident management data as part of staff training.

Complaints Management

• Oversee the implementation of the complaint's management process for people we support and families, in a manner that is accessible to them, e.g. poster displays, notices etc.
• Ensure all complaints are logged in a centralised data base and relevant reporting to the HSE is completed as required.
• Collate and prepare data relating to closed complaints for analysis and interrogation with the objective of identifying areas for improvement.

Best Practice and Quality Improvement

• Establish a clear framework for the management and control of processes throughout the organisation which promotes practice and corporate governance, through effective document control.
• Coordinate and embed internal quality audit to evaluate compliance and adherence to processes.
• The post holder is responsible for the development and oversight of targeted improvement initiatives with the relevant managers which will result in the delivery of better and safer quality services.
• To identify and consult with relevant stakeholders on the development of training programmes required and the educations staff to assist compliance and continuous quality improvement.

The post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post, which may be assigned to them from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office. This job description will be subject to review in the light of changing circumstances, this is a guide to the general range of duties assigned to the post holder. It is not intended to be exhaustive but should be regarded as providing guideline within which individuals work. neither definitive nor restrictive and is subject to periodic review with the employee concerned .

Eligibility Requirements

Qualification Details - Essential

• An academic award in Quality, Safety, Risk Management or Clinical Governance in Healthcare at level 8 (or higher) on the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) framework or equivalent

Or

• Be a registered nurse on the live Register of Nurses kept by Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

Or 

• Be registered in the Intellectual Disability Division of the Register of Nurses kept by NMBI/be registered in the Mental Health Division of the Register of Nurses kept RNID/RGN/RMHN qualification is desirable.
• Have the clinical and administrative capacity to properly discharge the functions of the role.
• Experience of working in a post that has involved safety, risk management, quality improvement and regulatory compliance.
• Experience of leading change at senior organisational level.

Note: Post holders must maintain annual registration with the relevant Professional regulator. Please note that appointment to and continuation in posts that require statutory registration is dependent upon the post holder maintaining annual registration in the professional register.

Qualification Details - Desirable

• Excellent IT Skills required
• Ability to analyse and interrogate data to present to Management and other relevant stakeholders
• Ability to present and lead training events
• Good community skills
• Clean Drivers Licence and use of vehicle for work

Other Requirements

• Reliability and a flexible approach essential for position
• Ability to conduct oneself in a professional manner throughout the course of one's duties
• Adherence to Western Care Association policies and procedures at all times
• Participate in the on-call system for senior management as required

Key Competencies

• Management experience at a senior level in a healthcare setting for a minimum of three years'
• Excellent understanding of clinical governance, service planning, service provision and resource management 
• Robust understanding Regulation and HIQA framework
• Experience of working in a post that has involved safety, risk management, quality improvement and regulatory compliance
• Experience of working in a senior managerial healthcare position
• Experience of leading change at a senior organisational level

Career Development

All employees of Western Care Association will be afforded Training and Development opportunities in regard to Career Development.

In addition, there will be substantial training in legislative, Health & Safety and other job-related training provided on an on-going basis.

Working Relationships and Communication:

• Understand and operate all relevant local and organisational procedure, directives and general information made available through the line manager.
• Develop and contribute to good working relationships in the Organisation and with all other relevant personnel.
• Report to and appraise line manager or designate of all work-related issues and difficulties.
• Follow the Association's Grievance and Disciplinary Procedure, available in the Association's Staff Handbook.
• Maintain strict confidentiality relating to matters regarding personnel and services.
• Attend and actively participate in staff meetings as required.
• Actively participate in supervisory support as per Organisation Procedure.

General:

• Promote a positive image and name of the Association in the wider community.
• Be accountable and responsible for input into service planning and delivery, together with job performance as per role within the Association.
• Promote dignity at work and show respect to people we support, colleagues and stakeholders in the course of duty. 
• Act in a confidential manner when dealing with personal information relating to people we support, families and staff.
• Attend staff training events as required and implement learning in the workplace.
• perform any other appropriate duties as requested by the person in charge.

Conditions:

The Association's Policies and Procedures form an integral part of the contract of employment. These are available on the staff intranet.

• To engage with and use the technology systems and packages provided by the Association to support day to day work and future planning needs.
• You will receive support and supervision from your Team Leader regarding your day to day work through the Supervisory Support Process in place in the Association.
• Clean Drivers License and Car is essential .