East Midlands Ambulance Service

Vacancy - Two Deputy Freedom To Speak Up Guardian - AFC band 6

An exciting opportunity has arisen to get involved in the work of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian within East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians help protect patient safety and the quality of care and improve the experience of workers by ensuring that all workers are supported in speaking up and a positive culture of speaking up is fostered. Two substantive Deputy Freedom to Speak Up Guardian opportunities have been created to support the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian to hear and manage concerns, raise awareness, and build confidence in speaking up, and work with colleagues across the Trust to promote a safe working environment for all.

The two positions are full-time substantive roles and will work with the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian to provide confidential support and advice to individuals raising issues or concerns about anything that gets in the way of patient care or affects their working life, ensuring that there are no repercussions for the person who raised the concerns. The Deputy Freedom to Speak Up Guardian also works to raise the profile of Freedom to Speak Up across the Trust.

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Main duties of the job

Main duties of the job

• Act independently, impartially, and objectively, whilst working in partnership with individuals and groups throughout the organisation, including the senior leadership team, undertaking the role of Trust advisor on matters relating to raising serious concerns.
• Take a highly visible role in promoting the processes through which these concerns can be raised (including trust and confidence in the processes themselves).
• Seek guidance and support from and, where appropriate, escalate matters to the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian where appropriate.
• Support, and contribute to, the national Freedom to Speak Up Guardian network, comply with National Guardian Office guidance, and complete the on line National Guardians Office Education program and yearly refreshers, whilst supporting each other by providing peer-to-peer support and sharing.
• Spend the majority of their time with front line and corporate service teams listening to issues and encouraging the raising of concerns, promoting a culture of transparency and safety of all of our service users, staff and volunteers.
• Work closely with the Deputy Director for Clinical Quality (Freedom to Speak Up Guardian), Non-Executive Director lead for Speaking Up, and Chief Executive Officer to deliver the Freedom to Speak Up approach and respond to national guidance and requirements.

About us

About Us

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides emergency 999 and urgent services and serves a population of 4.8 million across the East Midlands (Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire), covering 6,425 square miles.

Our values underpin everything we do, including the way we deliver services and how we all work with others. By living these values and supporting others to do the same, we will help to make sure that EMAS is an organisation we can all be proud of.

Together with our staff and volunteers, we refreshed our values as part of the development of our five-year strategy. We have added compassion in recognition of the compassionate care that our staff deliver, and the need to maintain and improve the compassionate culture throughout the organisation. Competence, previously one of our values, remains an underpinning requirement of all our staff.

• Respect: Respect for our patients and each other.
• Integrity: Acting with integrity by doing the right thing for the right reasons.
• Contribution: Respecting and valuing everyone's contribution and encouraging innovation.
• Teamwork: Working together, supporting each other, and collaborating with other organisations.
• Compassion: Ensure that compassion is central to both the care we provide and how we treat one another.

Job description

Job responsibilities

EAST MIDLANDS AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST

Job Description

Job Title

Freedom To Speak Up

Deputy Guardian - Band 6 afc tbc

Accountability

Accountable to Director of Quality Improvement & Patient Safety and reports to Deputy Director of Clinical

Quality

Review Date

This job description is subject to

periodic revision following discussion with the post holder

The post holder will: -

• With the guidance of the FTSU Guardian, develop and implement a strategy for promoting and educating people on the No Wrong Door approach to increase accessibility and confidence in raising concerns.
• Undertake explorative work to understand and then break down barriers to raising concerns for vulnerable groups, utilizing the staff forum chairs and members to support this work as appropriate.
• To support the Guardian raising the profile of FTSU providing induction presentations to large
• groups of new starters and volunteers.
• Support the Guardian in ensuring information from concerns raised and barriers to speaking up

that are identified is triangulated with other intelligence on patient safety, service quality,

and staff experience and used to inform Organisational learning and development.

• Promote and contribute to the national FTSU agenda, embed learning identified into local policies, procedures, and practices.
• Manage FTSU communications through the Trusts communication teams, Workplace, social media,

and other platforms and working in partnership with colleagues across the Trust.

• Ensure information concerning barriers that colleagues may face to speaking up are discussed with the FTSUG and documented clearly.
• Operate independently, impartially, and objectively, whilst working in partnership with individuals and groups throughout the organisation, including their senior leadership team.
• To be the Trust lead in your area on liaising with divisional and corporate service managers to promote a just culture with close links to the Culture and wellbeing team.
• Provide support and guidance to staff wishing to raise a concern in a compassionate and safe environment.
• To liaise with the FTSU Guardian and escalate concerns on trends and themes as identified.
• Work with education teams, providing specialist advice and support in developing the skills and knowledge of staff in relation to promoting a positive culture of speaking up.
• Support, and contribute to, the national Freedom to Speak Up Guardian network, comply with National Guardian Office guidance, and support each other by providing peer-to-peer support and sharing learning.
• Seek guidance and support from and, where appropriate, escalate matters to, the FTSU Guardian.
• The FTSU DG will operate independently, impartially, and objectively, whilst working in partnership with individuals and teams, including the senior leadership teams, across the Trust.
• Ensure maintenance of the FTSU database in strictest confidence and maintain communications with the FTSU Guardian on any cases identified.

The duties and responsibilities described in this role may be subject to amendment in the light of the changing needs of the Trust. The post holder may be required to carry out additional tasks as required to meet business priorities.

3 EMAS commitments

The post holder will be required to demonstrate compassionate care in their role, adopting the Trust value and ambitions. Postholders will also be required to understand and work in accordance with the NHS constitution and put the patient and staff at the heart of their work.

Criteria

Job Description

Communication and Relationship skills

Provide and receive complex, sensitive or contentious/highly complex sensitive or contentious information barriers to understanding/Presenting complex, sensitive or contentious information to a large group. Communicates sensitive or contentious information including on employee relations issues, patient safety concerns, cultural or behavioural issues give presentations to staff e.g. at staff forums groups raising awareness of speaking up/ presenting analysis of Trust data , organisation boards on staff speaking up issues.

Knowledge, training and experience

Specialist knowledge across range of procedures underpinned by theory. Knowledge of freedom to speak up policy and procedures and legislation acquired through degree or equivalent plus further experience or training.

Analytical and Judgement skills

Complex factors or situations requiring analysis, interpretation, comparison of a range of options. Assess and analyse staff issues/ concerns decisions on multi stranded problems in non-routine situations e.g. acting as signpost to relevant processes including employee relations policies/ patient safety incident investigations and relevant support for staff concerned.

Planning and organisational skills

Plan and organise complex activities or programmes, requiring formulation, adjustment. Organise resolution meetings communications campaigns/ training programmes.

Physical Skills

Physical Skills obtained through practice. Driving skills, standard keyboard skills

Responsibility for patient care

Provides non-clinical advice, information to patients/clients/relatives. Provides advice on a range of issues including the complaints procedure, services through incidental contact

Responsibility for policy and service development implementation

Propose policy or service changes, impact beyond own area. Develops FTSU policies Implement FTSU strategies for organisation represent organisation in sector meetings. Recommend changes to policy based on analysis of FTSU cases.

Responsibility for financial and physical resources

Maintain stock control safe use of expensive equipment/purchase of some assets, supplies. Order printing, publications use of digital cameras, projectors/ purchase printing services.

Responsibility for human resources

Provide training in own discipline /Teach /deliver specialist training. Provide training on FTSU. Sign post staff to relevant employee relations policies.

Responsibility for information resources

Record personally generated information/Data entry, text processing, storage of data Occasional/regular requirement to develop or create reports, documents drawings responsible for maintaining one of more information systems, significant job responsibility. Records FTSU, staff engagement information create spreadsheets, adapt and develop data base/ training materials

Responsibility for research and development

Regularly undertake R & D activity. Devise surveys, run focus groups

Freedom to act

Broad Occupational Policies. Lead on FTSU activity for the organisation.

Physical effort

Combination of sitting, standing, walking. Light physical effort

Mental effort

Frequent concentration work pattern unpredictable. Concentration required for drafting reports, , providing FTSU advice, interruptions for urgent requests/ referrals

Emotional effort

Occasional distressing or emotional circumstances. Meets distressed/angry staff.

Working conditions

Occasional/Frequent use of road transportation. Distressed staff may display verbal aggression regular car user to attend face to face meetings

Person Specification

Competency based interview

Essential

• Experience and knowledge of FTSU

Desirable

• Working within the Ambulance Sector

Employer details

Employer name

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Address

Horizon Place (Vacancies will be Home Based)

Mellors Way

Nottinghamshire

NG86PY

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

335-A-1294