Job Description
Job title
Associate Director – Children’s and Young People Services
Accountable to
Director of Care Services
Location
Based at the Hospice buildings in Pembury, Kent, or Five Ashes, East Sussex, with potential requirement to work at other locations within West Kent and East Sussex
Responsible for
Head of Children’s and Young People Service
Scope and Job Purpose
- As part of our hospice for everyone you will provide strong leadership in developing the Children’s and Young People (CYP) Service. You will be the strategic lead, liaising closely with our neighbouring children’s hospices providing seamless care for children and young people. Whilst reporting to the Director of Care Services you will work closely with the Directors of Quality Governance and Clinical Excellence in providing safe, effective, responsive personalised care for the children, young people and their families.
Key Responsibilities
- Be the strategic lead for the Children’s and Young People Service.
- Oversee the development of the Children’s Service including for those children of our adult patients and the children’s centre.
- Ensure the strong, provision of expert clinical leadership is available to the Children and Young People’s Service in line with organisational, local, and national strategies.
- Implement competencies within the team for all grades of staff.
- Embed a culture of learning and development within the team ensuring professional accountability and use of evidence-based care.
- Ensure the safeguarding of all children and young people accessing our services, responding to concerns in a timely manner and escalating in accordance with policy.
- Be the lead for mental health, autism and learning disability across the organisation.
- Lead on transition pathways in collaboration with our adult services. Ensuring service specifications and operating policies are in place.
- Provide direct line management for the Head of the Children’s Service and strong leadership to the whole team including volunteers.
- In partnership with the Head of Service, network with external palliative care services to participate in the advancement of the national strategy for paediatric palliative care, for example the managed clinical network.
- Be an active member of the Hospice Leadership Team.
- Work with the Directors of Quality Governance and Clinical Excellence to ensure that the professional development, education and workforce development are appropriate to facilitate the achievement of Hospice in the Weald’s clinical and organisational strategic objectives.
- Accountable for ensuring robust CYP service governance arrangements are in place. This includes, but is not limited to, the identification and management of risks relating to the Children’s Service; the timely review of incidents, complaints, adverse comments; ensuring clinical audits are undertaken in light of risk and to ensure compliance with policies, procedures and best practice guidance; ensuring policies and procedural documents are up to date and reflect best practice; and action plans and reporting into the governance structure.
- Chair the CYP Quality Governance Group and attend groups, committees and subcommittees as required.
- Ensure the performance management of the CYP service, acting to both identify relevant key performance indicators and ensure achievement of agreed measures, identifying actions to address any shortfalls.
- Represent children and young people with palliative care diagnoses and the registered nurses who work with this patient group professionally at local and national level, contributing to the strategic development of paediatric palliative care.
- Be part of the on-call rota for the Hospice Leadership Team.
- The post holder will report to the Director of Care Services and will directly line manage the Head of the Children’s Service.
- They will provide strong leadership to the Children’s Service team and be a link between children and adult services by being an integral part of the Hospice Leadership Team
- There will be close working with executive team in particular the Director of Clinical Excellence and the Director of Quality and Governance.
- An important aspect of this role is the communication and collaboration with other children’s palliative services locally and nationally with the aim of establishing this new service as part of the local care for children, young people, and their families.
- Working with the Director of Clinical Excellence, ensure that all clinical practices are evidence based and that care is personalised.
- Ensure the Service complies with meeting the relevant regulations and the requirements of CQC, working closely with the Director of Quality Governance ensuring that all practice within the service evidence how it meets regulatory requirements.
- Ensure that all documentation is contemporaneous and of good quality and enables the collection of activity and quality markers and other metrics as required.
- Ensure all staff within the CYP service undertake statutory and mandatory training as required by Hospice in the Weald and participate in additional required training and development activities.
- Take an active role in identifying gaps in knowledge and skills and how to address these.
- Take responsibility for setting own goals and achieving them.
- Maintain professionalism through adherence to recognised codes and guidelines and work within the boundaries of Hospice in the Weald policies.
- Maintain personal development through the Hospice Annual Review process, continuously updating and improving knowledge and skills and applying that knowledge.
- Engage in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and achieve the required level of competence.
- Recognise the growing need for 24/7 working patterns and flexibility.
- Demonstrate Our Values through day-to-day interactions between colleagues as well as patients and those important to them.
- Always strive for excellence.
- Any other duties that may be reasonably requested.
Person Specification
- NMC registered Child, Learning Disability or dual registered adult/ children’s nurse working at experienced band 7 or 8a.
- Have experience of working in children’s palliative care and or with children who have complex needs.
- Significant experience in leadership, service development and networking.
- Excellent communication skills.
- NMC registered.
- Educated to degree level in a relevant subject.
- MSc/ MA in relevant field or equivalent experience
- Mentorship/ teaching qualification or equivalent experience.
- Recent clinical practice.
- Leadership at band 7/8a grade or equivalent.
- Mentor/ preceptor.
- Working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
- Leading change management.
- Leading quality improvement.
- Networking locally, regionally and nationally.
- Evidence of effective leadership.
- Evidence of practice development and innovation in clinical practice or care delivery.
- Working effectively in a multidisciplinary team
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to negotiate and influence others.
- Ability to motivate and develop staff.
- The ability to promote equality, diversity and inclusion with fairness and respect.
- Good IT skills
- Evidence of experience in quality improvement skills.
- Insight into the current health policy and funding issues for children’s palliative care.
- Reflective.
- Enthusiastic and motivated.
- Willingness to work flexibly.
- Willingness to travel.
- Forward thinking and creative.
- Committed to striving for excellence.