Job summary
- Main area
- Patient Safety
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 411-PRO-26-8355794
- Employer
- Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Alder Hey Children's Hospital
- Town
- Liverpool
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 06/11/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Patient Safety Incident Investigation Lead
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care and has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients’ homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust also provides inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs at our Sunflower House building newly relocated, and opened on the hospital site.
We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We’re also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year.
As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under-represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit.
You can expect a warm welcome at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, our staff are friendly and welcoming. We listen to each other and work together to embed our Trusts values and behaviours. At Alder Hey we appreciate our staff and reward them with an outstanding benefits package including:
- Great flexible working opportunities
- Lease car scheme and Home Electronics Scheme
- Generous annual leave and pension scheme
- Extensive staff health and well-being programmes
Job overview
The Patient Safety Incident Investigation Lead (PSII Lead) is a Trust-wide specialist lead role responsible for providing expert oversight of incidents requiring full investigation and for assuring the quality, consistency and effectiveness of all patient safety investigations delivered through the Trust’s annually agreed Patient Safety Incident Response Plan (PSIRP) and wider Quality Framework.
Main duties of the job
The role will set and promote high standards for patient safety investigation practice across the organisation, embed human factors principles, support organisational learning and improvement, and contribute to the ongoing development of the Trust’s patient safety response systems. At Alder Hey, the post holder will champion compassionate engagement with children, young people, families and staff, ensuring that investigations are inclusive, timely and focused on meaningful improvement.
The post holder will be expert in leading robust, evidence-based investigations using agreed frameworks to identify systems learning and support sustainable organisational improvement and measurable quality and safety actions.
The post holder will champion the use of quality improvement methodology to ensure that learning from investigations leads to measurable, sustainable improvements in patient safety, care quality and experience.
The post holder will work to achieve the Trust’s objective of a psychologically safe learning environment using restorative, just and learning principles.
The post holder will engage with patients, families, carers and significant others to ensure that investigations hear their voices and that findings and actions are agreed before completion.
The post holder will work collaboratively with subject matter experts to ensure the quality, credibility and impact of investigations.
Working for our organisation
Sponsorship - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will lead highly complex, sensitive and often contentious investigations with internal and external stakeholders, using credible evidence and agreed PSIRF methodologies to identify contributory factors, systems learning and sustainable actions that reduce risk and improve the quality and safety of care. A key purpose of the role is to ensure that learning from investigations is translated into measurable quality improvement, supporting services to move beyond recommendations to sustained changes in practice, outcomes and experience.
Please see attached full Job Description
Person specification
Education & Training
Essential criteria
- Educated to Masters level in a relevant (e.g. healthcare, patient safety, human factors, incident investigation) field or hold first degree in a relevant field or equivalent relevant experience.
- Additional specialist training in patient safety incident investigation or relevant field (e.g. Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch Level 2/3 patient safety investigation training or equivalent).
- Trained in Human Factors principles.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
- Professional registration with a relevant regulatory body where applicable (e.g. NMC, HCPC or equivalent).
Experience
Essential criteria
- Substantial experience in a senior clinical, quality, safety or governance role within healthcare services at Band 7 or above.
- Significant experience in a management or clinical leadership role
- Experience of quality governance relating to patient safety and clinical risk, including the review of Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs).
- Significant experience of providing professional support, coaching or supervision to staff involved in complex reviews, investigations or service improvement.
- Experience of investigating concerns or complaints raised by staff, patients or carers, and identifying and acting on associated learning.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of chairing multi-professional and multi-agency meetings.
- Experience of conducting serious incident investigations or Patient Safety Incident Investigations, and using best practice to inform service improvement and systems learning.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Detailed working knowledge of best practice relating to patient safety, quality governance and healthcare services, including awareness of relevant healthcare legislation and governance requirements, Health and Safety legislation, Information Governance requirements, the Data Protection Act, the Human Rights Act and equality and diversity issues.
- Working knowledge of Patient Safety Incident Investigation and/or other relevant investigation frameworks for Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs).
- Knowledge of safeguarding adults and children legislation, procedures and processes.
- Knowledge of quality improvement and investigation methodologies, including how QI approaches can be used to translate investigation learning into measurable and sustained improvements in practice, outcomes and experience.
- Keeps up to date with current research and legislation relating to patient safety, incident investigation, healthcare quality and broader clinical practice, including NICE guidance and relevant national patient safety publications.
Desirable criteria
- Understanding of current health and social care policy and its implications for Trust policy and practice.
- Knowledge of co-production with people who use services and carers.
Skills & Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a supportive, sensitive and empathic approach when engaging with those involved in, or affected by, tragic deaths, Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs) and near misses.
- Able to respond calmly and positively when faced with opposition and conflict, and to influence, innovate and improve.
- Able to interpret and synthesise large volumes of complex and sometimes conflicting information, exercise sound judgement, and present findings clearly and concisely for a range of audiences, including patients and families, staff, managers, Trust committees, commissioners and HM Coroner.
- Demonstrates responsiveness and resilience in leading change and delivering outcomes.
- Shows initiative, identifies opportunities and acts on them proactively.
Desirable criteria
- Ability to think strategically and make connections between different policies, procedures and programmes of work.
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 Balogh
- Job title
- Head of Quality & Compliance
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Liam Morgan,
Associate Director of Quality
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