Deputy Chief Nurse

Clinical Leadership and Professional Practice

• Deputise for the Chief Nursing Officer, providing senior clinical leadership and representation across Liaison Care as required.
• Deliver visible, credible and compassionate professional leadership for nurses, social workers and allied clinical practitioners.
• Lead the development, implementation and monitoring of consistent clinical standards, professional expectations and evidence-based practice across all services.
• Facilitate clinical leadership forums, communities of practice and professional networks that promote collaboration, innovation, shared learning and high-quality clinical decision-making.
• Foster a culture of professional curiosity, reflective practice, restorative supervision, continuous learning and improvement.
• Support clinical leaders and practitioners through coaching, mentoring, supervision, professional development and capability-building activities.

Clinical Governance, Quality and Assurance

• Lead the design, implementation and continual enhancement of Liaison Care's clinical governance, quality and assurance framework.
• Provide senior leadership to the Clinical Governance and Quality Committee, ensuring effective oversight, reporting, assurance and escalation of key quality and safety matters.
• Embed the Liaison Triple Lock approach as a cornerstone of clinical preparation, quality assurance, governance oversight and organisational learning.
• Develop and maintain clinical quality standards, audit frameworks, peer review processes, quality dashboards and assurance reporting mechanisms.
• Analyse intelligence from audits, incidents, complaints, safeguarding concerns, quality reviews, client feedback and practitioner feedback to identify risks, trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure quality intelligence is translated into meaningful improvement plans with clear accountability, measurable outcomes and demonstrable benefits.

Patient Safety, Risk and Safeguarding

• Provide strategic leadership for patient safety, clinical risk management and safeguarding across Liaison Care.
• Ensure risks and safety concerns are identified, assessed, escalated, mitigated and monitored appropriately through robust governance processes.
• Oversee organisational learning arising from incidents, complaints, safeguarding alerts, audits and quality reviews, promoting a just and learning-focused culture.
• Ensure safeguarding policies, procedures and training requirements are effectively implemented and maintained in line with statutory, regulatory and organisational requirements.
• Provide expert advice and guidance to the Chief Nursing Officer, senior leaders and governance forums on significant clinical quality, safety and safeguarding matters.
• Champion the safe, ethical and effective use of digital technologies to improve quality, consistency, productivity and assurance.

Service Improvement and Organisational Development

• Lead and support quality improvement programmes that enhance clinical practice, reduce unwarranted variation and improve outcomes for individuals, families, practitioners, commissioners and clients.
• Support the ongoing development of the Clinical Care Team operating model, ensuring it remains clinically led, quality-assured, digitally enabled, scalable and sustainable.
• Contribute to service mobilisation, transformation and commercial opportunities by ensuring clinical quality, governance and safety considerations are embedded from design through to delivery.
• Work collaboratively with PMO, operational and transformation teams to ensure change initiatives are structured, prioritised, benefits-focused and aligned to organisational objectives.
• Support agile service delivery by enabling teams to respond effectively to demand, reduce duplication and make timely and informed decisions.
• Establish meaningful outcome measures, evaluation frameworks and reporting mechanisms to assess the impact of quality improvement and transformation initiatives.

Stakeholder Engagement and Assurance

• Act as a senior clinical ambassador for Liaison Care, representing the organisation with commissioners, clients, NHS partners, providers and external stakeholders.
• Provide clear, proportionate and professionally credible assurance regarding clinical quality, patient safety, governance and service performance.
• Build and maintain strong collaborative relationships across clinical, operational, commercial, digital, governance, finance and people functions.
• Prepare and present high-quality reports, assurance papers and performance updates to senior leadership teams, governance committees and the Liaison Care Board.
• Support external reviews, audits, inspections and partnership activities, demonstrating Liaison Care's commitment to safe, effective, evidence-based and continuously improving services.
• Promote Liaison Care's reputation as a trusted clinical partner through professional leadership, stakeholder engagement and the delivery of measurable quality and safety outcomes.

EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• Proven track record of leading and developing high-performing teams to deliver ambitious objectives, achieve challenging targets and drive continuous improvement.
• Significant senior clinical leadership experience within health and/or social care settings, with extensive expertise in clinical governance, quality assurance, patient safety, risk management and safeguarding.
• Demonstrable ability to inspire, motivate and develop both clinical and managerial colleagues, fostering a culture of accountability, engagement and professional growth.
• Experience of developing, implementing and delivering strategic visions that improve service quality, operational effectiveness and patient outcomes.
• Evidence of successful collaborative working across multidisciplinary teams, coupled with a strong commitment to staff engagement, empowerment and inclusive leadership.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to manage sensitive, complex and challenging situations with professionalism, discretion and sound judgement.
• Expert understanding of current NHS priorities, healthcare policy, clinical governance requirements and the evolving healthcare landscape.
• Strong analytical, decision-making and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate strategic priorities into measurable outcomes and quality improvements.
• Experience of leading organisational change, quality improvement initiatives and service transformation programmes.

Desirable

• Experience of Continuing Healthcare (CHC), commissioning, integrated care systems and partnership working across health and care organisations.
• Experience of working with NHS commissioners, providers and independent sector partners to develop and deliver innovative care solutions.
• Knowledge and experience of digital clinical safety frameworks, including DCB0129 and DCB0160 standards.
• Experience of service redesign, transformation and mobilisation programmes within complex healthcare environments.
• Understanding of quality improvement methodologies, benefits realisation frameworks and programme management approaches.
• Experience of implementing digitally enabled models of care, including clinical systems, data-driven quality improvement and AI-enabled technologies.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

Clinical Governance and Quality

• Demonstrable ability to provide strategic leadership on clinical governance, quality, patient safety and assurance within complex healthcare or care environments.
• Extensive knowledge of clinical governance frameworks, including audit, quality assurance, clinical risk management, safeguarding, incident management, complaints handling and continuous quality improvement.
• Proven experience of developing, interpreting and presenting complex reports,