Job summary

Clinical audit fulfils a vital role within the NHS, it isthe tool that offers the greatest potential to assess the quality of careroutinely provided for NHS users and is a primary driver for improving thequality, safety and delivery of patient care.

The clinical audit team supports the development anddelivery of the Trusts Quality and Clinical Audit Strategies and champions anopen, honest and inclusive culture. We aim to support our colleagues inensuring that patients receive the best possible care and to drive continuousimprovement and innovation, leading to Improvements to both staff and patientexperience.

The post holder will work closely with staff atall levels across the Trust, including senior consultants, managers andgovernance teams to support the delivery of the clinical audit programme and toseek assurance that the Trust, is meeting its obligations with respect tonational clinical audit programmes and other external requirements. They willidentify opportunities for improvement within audit projects and internalprocesses and will work to support clinical teams and the clinical audit teamto implement those improvements.

Main duties of the job

- Work with Clinical Leads, Managers and Governance Teams tosupport the delivery of the Clinical Audit Programme and to ensure thatclinical audit/quality improvement projects are carried out effectively, andappropriate action plans are developed to improve the service.

- Promote a culture of continuous improvement by supportingclinical teams to improve the audit process and leading on improvement projectswithin the clinical audit team.

- Manage internal and external data collection platforms,ensuring accurate records of clinical audit activity are maintained.

- Review and production of audit reports with clinicalcolleagues to identify areas of concern, opportunities for improvement andareas of good practice.

- Presentation of clinical audit findings and the positionof the audit program to specialty and care group governance meetings.

- Develop procedures, templates, training materials andother documentation for use within the clinical audit team.

- Use initiative to resolve issues independently, whileescalating issues/ concerns to the line manager as appropriate.

- Support the application of the Trustsinformation governance policies .

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager

You must be able to produceALLcertificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented

From April 1 2024 we are unable to offer sponsorship for healthcare roles that do not meet the minimum salary, If you are in the UK on a VISA please ensure you have no restrictions that would prevent you from taking this post.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents

Job description

Job responsibilities

The successful candidate will:

Work closely with the Clinical Audit & Quality AssuranceLead to, coordinate the Trusts clinical audit programme as well as individualclinical audit projects, and develop close working relationships with staff atall levels across the Trust including clinical leads, managers and governance teams.

Manage internal and external data collection platforms andwork to ensure that that data is submitted within specified timeframes, thatclinical audit activity is appropriately recorded and it is undertaken inaccordance with external and internal requirements.

Work with complex data sets and structure data to enablefurther processing or submission to external platforms.

Positively impact the care patients receive through thecollection and processing of clinical data to produce and present impactfulreports that demonstrate the Trusts performance against specific policies orguidelines; Highlighting both areas of excellence, and where necessary,opportunity for improvement.

Work with the Clinical Audit & Quality Assurance Lead todrive innovation and contribute to the continuous improvement of the clinicalaudit service by highlighting potential improvements and supporting the team todevelop robust systems and processes. The successful candidate will supportwith change management and enhancing the capability of the clinical audit teamand the service it offers to the Trust.

Be fully supported in your professional development and havethe opportunity to help shape the future of quality within the Trust.

Receive direction, but will be expected tomanage their own workload, determine priorities, achieve deadlines and identifyfuture tasks and work needs.

Person Specification

Special Requirements

Essential

Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post

Qualifications

Essential

GCSE English and Mathematics or equivalent qualification. NVQ level 3/A-Levels or equivalent workbased experience.

Desirable

Evidence of recent/ongoing further education and training Evidence of clinical audit training / study NVQ level 4/Undergraduate Degree or equivalent workbased experience Evidence of training in data science or similar field

Experience

Essential

Significant experience of working in a quality assurance, regulatory audit, clinical governance or similar role

Desirable

Previous experience of working within a health care setting Experience working with data visualisation platforms to generate reports or dashboards Experience with quality improvement tools and of putting them into practice

Special Skills and Knowledge

Essential

Experience working with large data sets and structuring data in a useful way Good presentation skills, including the delivery of presentations in person and online via Teams or similar applications Able to produce concise reports that detail key findings and present data in an easy to understand and meaningful way Broad understanding of the NHS and the key determinants of health and health care policies Demonstrable understanding of the quality and patient safety agenda in healthcare Knowledge and understanding of Clinical Audit and Quality Improvement Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office software including Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Microsoft Teams. Basic knowledge of Excel or other data processing and visualisation tools and methods of structuring data. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Ability to effectively organise and prioritise own workload. Excellent interpersonal skills.

Desirable

Knowledge of the Data Protection Act Knowledge working with data visualisation platforms to generate reports or dashboards Proficient in the use of MS Access Knowledge of the Data Protection Act Knowledge of automation tools such as Microsoft Power Automate Knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint Good knowledge and understanding of Clinical Audit Advance knowledge of Excel or other data processing and visualisation tools and methods of structuring data.