These are exciting times at Sheffield Children's.

We have an ambitious five-year strategy to provide outstanding patient care, be a brilliant place to work and become a leader in children's health. We are a trust that consistently surpasses national performance targets and in our most recent inspection of our quality and leadership we were rated 'Good' by the CQC (July 2019). Most of all, we are a trust that puts patients, their families and our people at the heart of everything we do.

The Head of Corporate Governance role is based at the centre of the organisation. Working with our recently appointed Chief Executive and Chief Nurse, you will help to drive our assurance systems and processes across the organisation.

You will manage our operational approach towards CQC, working with teams across the Trust to ensure we are well led and striving for outstanding in all domains. You will also be responsible for our Board Assurance Framework and deputise at key meetings for the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs.

As important as someone with all the skills and competencies we are also looking for someone who lives out our values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence. In return we offer a mix of hybrid working and the opportunity to grow and shape this role and our future as an integrated children's trust within an exciting and fast moving health system.

Main duties of the job

This role will sit under the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs within the People and Organisational Development care group within a small and friendly team working alongside executive colleagues, and supporting the entire corporate governance framework across the Trust.

The post holder will support the Chief Executive, Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Corporate Affairs, together with colleagues from across clinical and non-clinical services, to ensure the Trust has effective frameworks in place, to provide and promote assurance of compliance with regulatory requirements set out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The post-holder will also support the corporate assurance function of the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs through management and maintenance of the Board Assurance Framework and ensuring its readiness for presentation to corporate meetings and in support of the Annual Governance Statement.

They will act as deputy for the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs in the trust secretary role, and at other corporate meetings, supporting various governance processes and wider management of the team.

About us

Sheffield Children's is one of three independent, specialist paediatric hospitals in the country, providing dedicated healthcare for children and young people across community, mental health and acute specialist settings.

We have three overarching aims that set the direction for the Trust in our vision to create a healthier future for children and young people.

• Outstanding patient care
• Brilliant place to work
• Leader in children's health

Our commitment to rewarding colleagues is demonstrated through our brilliant reward and benefits offer including generous annual leave entitlement and pension scheme and access to salary sacrifice schemes such as cycle to work and lease cars.

We are committed to supporting colleagues from different heritages and lifestyles while at work. This is supported through the offer we have in place for flexible working and the three equality network groups we have in place. Colleagues are encouraged to join these groups and request flexible working.

Within the next few years we have plans to go even further, building a new helipad and upgraded emergency department on our Hospital site, as well as delivering the first National Centre for Child Health Technology on the Olympic Legacy Park which will build on our reputation as a leader in research. You will join at a time we will be delivering on these projects and working towards the celebrations of our 150th year.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Specifically, the Head of Corporate Governance will:

• Be an expert in compliance and regulation with respect to CQC standards, methodology and practice and through effective application of this knowledge assist the Chief Executive, Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Corporate Affairs to support the organisation in meeting its strategic aims and safety goals.
• Support the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs in leading and continuously improving the Trusts compliance framework relating to the CQC.
• Work alongside the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs to develop and lead the Trusts strategic approach to CQC compliance and preparedness working with divisional and corporate leads to embed this in core business.
• Ensure that effective systems and processes are in place across the organisation to maintain the Trusts CQC registration without conditions. This will include identifying and working with services to complete variations to registration which may be required to reflect the changing regulated activities and locations of the Trust.
• With direction from the Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Corporate Affairs, implement effective CQC compliance monitoring processes and oversight frameworks across the organisation, including clinical divisions and corporate services, in order to be able to reliably demonstrate compliance with CQC standards and to provide evidence and oversight of improvement progress as required.
• Continuously review services to ensure that they meet the CQC standards safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. This will require the post holder to autonomously undertake extensive reading and research, to identify and assess risks to compliance based on horizon scanning of inspection reports and key national publications, and to implement effective solutions and on-going monitoring to achieve compliance locally.
• Support the Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Corporate Affairs to contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and review of key trust strategies and quality governance frameworks, in line with Trust objectives and priorities, changing legislation and regulations, and to ensure they support continuous improvement, the delivery of high standards of care and the Trusts vision and values.
• Directly assist the Chief Executive, Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Corporate Affairs in leading the Trusts inspection readiness preparations, ensuring that the Trust is prepared for inspection and risks to compliance are identified and documented. This will include logistical arrangements with regards to inspection, supporting staff and ensuring an effective communication strategy is in place, and working in clinical areas to support readiness assessments and preparations.
• Work with clinical divisions and corporate services to ensure awareness and readiness for inspection. This will include working with services on understanding of the CQC standards and articulating the improvement journey.
• In liaison with the Chief Executive, Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Corporate Affairs, ensure that any CQC announced or unannounced visit has been notified and coordinated in line with the relevant policy.
• Ensure effective processes are in place to capture feedback and learning from the inspection process and this is used to improve the Trusts approach.
• Participate as a core team member in any CQC regulatory inspection, to support development of responses, and tracking the commitments to completion.
• Work with the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs to embed an effective framework for monitoring progress against inspection outcomes and improvement requirements. This includes working with divisional and service leads to develop and implement robust action plans, ensure robust oversight of progress against agreed plans and providing clear and accurate updates on progress to the Executive Team, Trust Board and committees as required. This will include leading follow up visits to clinical areas to assess sustainability and to ensure changes have been embedded.
• Under direction from the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs, lead and coordinate the Trusts participation in consultations regarding changes in regulatory activities.
• Coordinate the infrastructure to support and replicate CQC compliance requirements internally through the collation, scrutiny and analysis of background and supporting information to inform inspection, in addition to a go and see approach.
• In partnership with stakeholders, lead the development of a methodology for risk assessment, inspections, and rating of services to inform an assessment of their performance (self-assessment).
• Develop and maintain a timetable to ensure compliance is reviewed and challenged to provide assurance of compliance to Board and committees.
• To develop key performance indicators on which the effectiveness of policies and systems for compliance and regulation can be determined so that progress can be measured over time, reported to relevant operational and assurance forums, and provide assurance to the Executive Team and Trust Board.
• Build highly effective relationships with managers and directors to foster a culture of collaborative working regarding compliance.
• Provide advice, support and training to executive, clinical and associate directors in the development and maintenance of robust governance processes and systems with respect to compliance.
• Where required, support healthcare professionals in the facilitation of changes to support improvements in patient care identified as a direct result of regulation and compliance activity.
• Maintain regular engagement and communicate effectively with the Trusts link inspectors and managers including responding to ad hoc queries, co-ordinating engagement meetings and provision of assurance.
• Effectively distil key risks and issues in a thematic way to illustrate the risks to which the strategy exposes the organisation and the impact of potential risks facing the business and ensure that these are fed into the annual business planning cycle for subsequent action. Regularly horizon scan to identify emergent threats and present risk registers to the relevant corporate body.
• Identify levels of risk relating to areas of responsibility and recommend whether control measures are adequate.
• Lead robust data analysis and interpretation to drive and monitor quality improvements and inform decision-making. This will include analysis of quarterly Insights data and reporting to Executive Team and Trust Board.
• Maintain links with national and local organisations on governance, share information and knowledge across the Trust to ensure quality improvement messages are cascaded appropriately.
• To support the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs in the development and co-ordination of the Board Assurance Framework considering the Boards key strategic risks and priorities, Corporate Risk Register, corporate governance structure and external agency inspections / accreditation.
• Draft information, including Board-level presentations, to assist peoples understanding of the Board Assurance Framework, how it links to the Corporate Risk Register and the key issues each risk poses for the Trust.
• Work with the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs to continually review and enhance corporate governance systems and processes.
• To support the continual review and development of the Trusts Corporate Governance systems and processes to ensure the effective operation of the Foundation Trusts corporate governance structures.
• Deputise for the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs in the role of trust secretary and at other corporate forums. Attend and appropriately advise the CEO/Chair on constitution and regulatory matters as required.
• The post holder will line manage staff and services as appropriate. This may include staff management responsibilities such as undertaking appraisals, managing sickness, performance and conduct issues and responsibility for the effective recruitment and deployment of staff.
• Maintain professional and courteous working relationships with staff and respect the equality and diversity of each and every person he/she comes into contact with in the course of his/her business.
• Undertake continuing professional development as agreed with the Associate Director of Corporate Affairs.

Inclusive Recruitment & Selection

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and accurate data capture is an important part of that to ensure we are supportive and representative. Our aim is to ensure that all applicants can see themselves in the available categories on our application form, but we recognise that some of our data capture fields are not inclusive. We have flagged this with our system provider to ask for change.

We offer encouragement and active support to applicants with additional needs, including those from ethnic minorities, with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. If you wish to adjust any aspect of the recruitment process or wish to find out more about our recruitment & selection processes, please get in touch with our Recruitment Manager: Catherine.Gilbert7@nhs.net

We are continually reviewing our recruitment & selection process to support the long-term aim of Sheffield Childrens being a champion of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. If you have any ideas for improvement, please get in touch with Catherine Gilbert at Catherine.Gilbert7@nhs.net

Trust Values

The Trust is committed to providing great quality patient care and keep children, young people and families at the heart of what we do by following our CARE values:

• Compassion leading by kindness and showing empathy, understanding and respect
• Accountability striving to do the right thing and owning responsibility
• Respect value differences, tackling inequality and fostering a culture of inclusion
• Excellence delivering a high-quality standard of care

Person Specification

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

425-23-5791231