Job summary
- Main area
- Patient Safety
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 311-H661-24
- Employer
- Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Trust Headquarters
- Town
- Ashton-under-Lyne,
- Salary
- £43,742 - £50,056 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/07/2024 23:59
- Interview date
- 31/07/2024
Employer heading
Lead Investigator
NHS AfC: Band 7
About the Trust
We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.
Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.
Our ambition is to maximise people’s potential and we aim to promote an inclusive environment and improve the diversity of our workforce so our people truly represent the communities we serve.
All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.
If you come and work for us we will offer a range of benefits and opportunities, including:
- Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
- Flexible working opportunities to support your work/life balance
- Access to Continued Professional Development
- Involvement in improvement and research activities
- Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service
- Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel
If you are Kind, Fair, Ingenious and Determined then we want you to come and join our #PennineCarePeople
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Patient Safety Team for a Lead Investigator who will be responsible for the investigation of serious untoward incidents and complex complaints raised by our patients and carers.
The role will be for a 12 month fixed term contract.
Main duties of the job
The Lead Investigator will be responsible for the investigation of serious untoward incidents and complex complaints raised by our patients and carers and in doing so:
Be an expert in investigatory techniques and practice, leading on highly complex investigations and being a source of advice and support for colleagues.
Undertake investigations across our Trust (including those relating to death by suicide and homicide) in line with the applicable serious incident and complaint legislation, national frameworks and local policies and procedures.
Employ evidence-based approaches, including Root Cause Analysis and Human Factors principles, identifying and obtaining appropriate subject matter expertise to arrive at robust and conclusions.
Write precise reports in a manner appropriate for the applicable audience, presenting clear findings in an understandable and sensitive manner.
Ensure the ‘Being Open’, Duty of Candour and Just Culture principles and requirements are applied in all investigations, with service users, their carers / families, Trust staff and where appropriate, third parties being appropriately in the investigative process.
Develop and provide training for incident and complaint investigation for Trust staff.
Provide support to colleagues on investigation skills and techniques and how they apply in practice.
Working for our organisation
We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.
Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.
All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To plan, organise and undertake internal investigations, ensuring completion is in line with the Serious Incident and NHS complaint legislation, frameworks and internal policies and guidance.
- Work autonomously as a lead investigator using accepted investigation methodologies appropriate for the circumstances of any given case.
- Identify, obtain, critically evaluate and highly analyse complex, diverse and sometimes contradictory evidence from a wide range of sources in relation to the incident(s) or complaint(s) under investigation to determine any care and service delivery problems, contributory factors and root causes associated with the
cases. This may include highly complex, sensitive and contentious information. - Sensitively involve a wide range of staff, service users, family and carers to efficiently obtain any relevant information that they may possess via an appropriate method (for example, interviews, learning events or multidisciplinary reviews)
- Identify appropriate subject matter experts and obtain their input, providing clear and precise direction regarding the matters to be considered and the format of the response required.
- Lead investigatory teams, assigning tasks to ensure the timely completion of a cohesive investigation and production of an appropriate report.
- Liaise with other stakeholders, healthcare organisations and external bodies which may include contributing to, or leading, multi-agency investigations and representing our Trust at multi-agency meetings
- Remain impartial and objective at all times.
- Use highly developed analytical skills to identify the care and service delivery problems.
- Identify learning and formulate appropriate recommendations to facilitate implementation.
- Identify areas of good practice and highlight these for learning
- Produce clear, understandable investigation reports appropriate for the applicable audience(s).
- Feed back findings to staff, patients and their carers/families, internal forums and external stakeholders, ensuring this is done in manner appropriate for the recipients of the feedback.
- Ensure compliance with the Duty of Candour; keeping all relevant parties informed of progress throughout the investigation process by developing and adhering to a communication plan to encourage and support active engagement.
- Apply the principles of Just Culture and Being Open throughout all aspects of investigatory work.
- Supervise, support and oversee investigations completed by others, providing specialist knowledge regarding process and investigatory methods.
- Attend relevant and appropriate Trust meetings to provide learning points from investigations and develop Trust practices.
- Operate within our Trust’s quality and safety structures, escalating risks and safety issues appropriately.
- Manage any applicable budget attached any investigation, including procurement of external experts and/or investigators.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential criteria
- To be educated to degree level, or have equivalent experience, in relevant field of study / practice.
- Root Cause Analysis and / or other investigatory technique training with evidence of effective implementation.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
- Short courses and experience to Masters Degree leve
Desirable criteria
- Human Factors training with evidence of effective implementation.
- Quality Improvement training with evidence of effective implementation.
- Registered health care or Social Care professional
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant experience successfully undertaking highly complex investigations in a fair, just and compassionate manner
- Experience of employing different recognised investigatory techniques to suit the circumstances of any particular case
- Experience of leading an investigatory team and effectively assigning tasks to investigatory team members.
- Experience of working within a regulated context, ensuring compliance with applicable legislation and working within set timescales.
- Experience of effectively engaging with staff of all levels in an organisation, patients & carers / customers of diverse backgrounds and external stakeholders.
- Experience of undertaking highly complex analysis of multiple sources of information / data and presenting it in audience appropriate fashion
Desirable criteria
- Experience of developing and delivering training courses to staff of all levels in an organisation
- Experience of undertaking complex investigations in a healthcare and/or mental health service setting.
- Experience of undertaking investigations in which multiple concurrent processes are running (for example, Coroner, incident, human resources and patient complaint processes)
- Experience of developing investigatory processes within an organisation
- Budget management experience
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of different investigatory techniques and circumstances in which appropriate to employ.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of mental health service configuration, applicable national policy, guidelines and legislation.
- Specialist understanding of Patient Safety within the NHS, including applicable national policy, guidelines and legislation.
- Specialist understanding of NHS complaints procedure, including national policy, guidelines and legislation.
- A working knowledge of the Duty of Candour.
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- Ability to investigate highly complex situations in which serious or catastrophic harm may have been caused, with compassion, delivering evidenced based solutions and outcomes.
- Ability to establish self as respected investigator within an organisation and a source of advice and support for colleagues.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrable ability to effectively engage staff, service users, families and carers, communicating traumatic, upsetting and highly complex information in a sensitive, compassionate and professional manner.
- Ability to identify barriers to Facilitation skills to enable collaborative working with all parties in any given work circumstance. Training skills. Application Form Interview establishing a mutually held understanding of a situation and then overcome those barriers.
- Ability to manage and organise large volumes of information in different formats, complying with information governance legislation and standards.
- Highly literate, with proven ability to author reports in a clear, precise manner tailored to the applicable audience(s).
- Ability to constructively challenge practice, attitudes and cultures within an organisation.
- Ability to continuously act with compassion, openness and honesty in highly emotive and sensitive situations.
- Good IT skills, enabling efficient production of reports, materials and use of quality governance databases and reporting software, alongside completion of duties of post.
- Ability to organise workload and investigation processes against multiple time pressures and shifting priorities.
- Demonstrable professional curiosity in all situations, including when under pressure to complete task against challenging timescale .
Desirable criteria
- Facilitation skills to enable collaborative working with all parties in any given work circumstance.
- Training Skills
Work Related Circumstances
Essential criteria
- Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint in line with service needs
- Willing to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies
- Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sarah Leah
- Job title
- Head of Patient Safety (interim)
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07517574922
- Additional information
Ann-Marie Malley
Patient Safety Specialist
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