About this role
Job summary
We are looking for a highly motivated senior clinician, with expertise in quality and clinical audit, to lead the patient safety and audit programme at Weldmar Hospicecare an organisation providing a broad range of end of life and palliative care services across north, south and west Dorset.
As our Clinical Governance and Patient Safety Lead, you will play a pivotal role in helping Weldmar maintain and evidence its CQC standard of Outstanding. Working alongside our Clinical Leads team and our Director of Clinical Services, you will:
Oversee the clinical audit schedule and ensure continuous learning from all patient safety incident events. Lead, coach, and empower staff at all levels across our multidisciplinary teams (nurses, therapists, doctors, and advanced practitioners) to embrace an open, learning culture. Manage action plans for practice improvement, driving quality initiatives and innovation. Represent clinical governance at key internal groups and external networks.
This role involves working across our full range of services, both in the community and in our specialist Inpatient Unit. Weldmar has a strong local reputation and is committed to ensuring that the people we provide comfort and care for continue to receive an exceptional level of support. We also strive to influence and enhance best practice in end-of-life care with other service providers.
Main duties of the job
Working as a member of the clinical leadership, ensuring compliance with the policies, procedures and clinical standards of Weldmar Hospicecare. The Clinical Governance and Patient Safety Lead will be the professional lead for clinical governance and patient safety across all clinical services. They will oversee the clinical audit schedule and ensure learning from all patient safety events is embedded into practice. To assist the Director of Clinical Services in meeting Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirements, maintaining high-quality specialist palliative care for patients and those important to them.
Clinical Governance & Patient Safety Lead November 2026 To collaborate with service leads in the investigation of complaints, incidents and patient safety events reported via the Vantage incident reporting system and ensuring that lessons learnt, changes implemented and shared across clinical services. To undertake the role of Deputy Caldicott Guardian, responding to subject access requests and breaches of confidentiality if required.
About us
Weldmar Hospicecare provides specialist care for adults in Dorset who have a life limiting illness, and support for their loved ones. We are dedicated to fostering a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion across all aspects of our organisation.
We are a small charity and Unfortunately can not offer sponsorship to work in the UK. Please do not apply if you require Right to Work Sponsorship.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical Governance and Patient Safety Lead will:
Be an active member of the Clinical Leadership Team and Clinical Leadership Group. Support the Clinical Leads of the Inpatient Unit and Specialist Hospice at Home service, providing advice, guidance and promoting multidisciplinary working relationships across all clinical teams.
Develop strong professional links with the South West Hospices Quality Leads and other relevant external network, attending the meetings and contributing to the discussions on behalf of Weldmar Provide clinical expertise in the interpretation of quality, safety, audit and patient experience data to identify priorities for improvement.
Translate governance requirements, regulatory standards and patient safety objectives into effective governance frameworks and quality improvement initiatives.
Using clinical expertise and insights work with Clinical Assurance & Analytics Manager to support the development of governance reports, dashboards and evidence required for Clinical Governance Committees, the Board, commissioners and regulatory inspections.
Monitor quality and safety performance, identifying emerging risks, trends and areas of best practice. Ensure data and intelligence are used proactively to improve patient outcomes, reduce risk and support continuous improvement.
Ensure that all policies relating to safe clinical practice and care remain current, compliant and consistently implemented. Take appropriate action when actual or potential risks to quality and patient safety are identified.
Present governance and risk reports at the Clinical Governance Committee and other forums, deputising for the Director of Clinical Services as required.
Attend the Clinical Leadership Group, Medicines Management group and the Health & Safety group meetings. Provide service-related information as required, to the senior management team, the Board or external agencies as directed by the Director of Clinical Services.
Ensure service-related information and provision of accurate clinical data from the relevant clinical systems, such as SystmOne and Vantage.
Manage own time and work effectively to meet objectives and requirements of the role.
Innovation
Be a skilled, enthusiastic change agent, implementing any new approaches to care.
Motivate others to work differently and lead by example, demonstrating a willingness and appetite for innovation and change.
Work across professional boundaries using creative reasoning and problem-solving Extend the use of IPOS outcome measurement tool across all clinical services and ensure the data gathered is used effectively.
Utilise patient and public experience feedback to drive innovation and change.
Ability to lead projects, including project planning and budget management.
Education, Training, Research and Audit
Work collaboratively with the Learning & Development team to identify and meet education and development needs both within Weldmar and externally.
As an expert practitioner and role model, use every opportunity to coach, mentor, and promote excellence in local palliative care practice. Identify and lead the delivery of relevant clinical audit, to include developing, implementing and evaluating plans for improvement in all Weldmar clinical services.
Manage the central register for all clinical audits with the assistance of the Clinical Admin Manager Evidence participation in Continuous Professional Development Support and contribute to quantitative and qualitative data collection in order to provide evidence of productivity, outcomes and quality.
To write up and supply reviews and reports for external agencies as required.
Communication and Working Relationships
Establish and maintain excellent effective working relationships between the members of the clinical leads team, supporting each lead with the area of clinical governance and patient safety. Work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team and senior colleagues internally across all clinical areas to support and enable effective cross department working and provision of best practice.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Member of professional clinical body: Registered Nurse (NMC) Allied Health Professional (CAHPO), Paramedic (HCPC), Medical (GMC)
- Masters Level degree within a relevant field or willing to undertake.
- Understanding of the current issues in palliative care and the wider health and social
- care agenda.
- Understanding of policy and standards development
- Evidence of continuous professional development
- Expertise in clinical governance
Desirable
- An appropriate postgraduate qualification in specialist palliative, community care or
- end of life care
Experience
Essential
- Extensive experience of working autonomously at an advanced level within a healthcare environment delivering effective patient focused care.
- Extensive experience of leading quality improvement and clinical audit
- Experience of reviewing patient safety and risk reports
- Managing change and implementing new way of working
- Complaints and clinical investigations experience
- Service and/or practice improvement through audit and research.
Desirable
- Experience of overseeing CQC inspections and ensuring full compliance with standards and KLOEs.
Other Requirements
Essential
- An Enhanced plus barred list Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check: which will disclose any spent and unspent convictions and cautions (subject to filtering), as well as any relevant police information plus a check of the relevant Barred List/s. It may
- disclose other information that the police consider is relevant to the role and level of check applied for.
- Commitment to the values and ethos of Weldmar Hospicecare
- Act as an advocate and ambassador for the Charity
- Commitment to and understanding of equality and diversity and how this translates
- into good practice
- Understands and conforms to Weldmar Hospicecare infection prevention and health and safety policies and actively promotes best practice at all times.
- Commitment to own continued personal development
- Ability to travel which requires a full valid driving licence and business insurance (if applicable)
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Highly advanced communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to influence and motivate other professionals
- Excellent team working skills, including ability to work effectively with a diverse range of colleagues / individuals involved in palliative care service delivery and demonstrate positive outcomes for patients
- Ability to undertake clinical audit and recommend change to practice if appropriate
- Good IT skills and an ability to maximize the use of IT in the workplace including the use of new technologies
- Excellent time management, prioritisation and organisational ability, including good delegation skills
- Good analytical skills. Able to interpret and analyse complex data and findings.
- Presentation skills
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details
Employer name
Weldmar Hospicecare
Address
Herringston Road
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 2SL
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.weld-hospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)