Central Watford - Quality Assurance Co-Ordinator - Part time (22.5 hours) - £17.93 - £19.92 per hour

Our Client provides a wide range of services for the patients / carers and their families who are living with a palliative care illness in South West Herts. The clinical care we provide is either in our 12 bedded Inpatient unit, or via their Hospice at Home community team or through our Starlight day, rehabilitation and wellbeing centre. They also have 12 shops at various locations across South West Hertfordshire.

Our Client has a great opportunity to join their team as a Quality Assurance Co-ordinator
The Quality Assurance Department reports to the Director of Patient Services and Quality. The post holder will lead on the development, maintenance and improvement of the organisations audit program and policy schedule and improve processes to gain feedback from service users to provide assurance to the Trustees, Executive Board, Committee meetings that services at Our Client are of high quality, safe and effective.

Professional/Leadership
1. To support the Head of Quality and Assurance in the line management of the Quality Assurance team.
2. To deputise for the Head of Quality and Assurance as needed.
3. To actively participate and support in leading any further developments and implementation of new initiatives to improve processes within the Quality team.
4. To actively participate in the monthly Quality team meetings and as a member ensure agreed actions are completed.
5. To have a detailed understanding of processes within the department, outputs required and the related deadlines.
6. To represent the Quality Assurance team at appropriate meetings and promote its function both internally and externally
7. To report any incidents or identified risks through the Hospice risk management system notifying the Head of Quality and Assurance.
8. To act appropriately in the event of any accidents and emergencies and to report any incidents according to Hospice policy.

Managerial
1. Keep up to date with new requirements and external developments to ensure that Quality Assurance practices, processes and related documents at the organisation are up to date and in line with both internal and external standards.
2. Lead in compiling and promoting the annual audit plan to ensure all staff are aware of the schedule and their responsibilities.
3. Track progress against the agreed audit plan prompting the audit lead in a timely fashion when audits are due to be carried out or escalating appropriately if audits are not completed as planned.
4. Advise in best approach conducting audits and accompany the audit if required.
5. Assist managers where necessary to write audit action plans and monitor these ensuring they are delivered to the documented timeframes.
6 Ensure the audit schedule is kept up to date so that it provides and at a glance status of progress.
7. Consider best methods for communicating to staff the learnings from audits to ensure the audit results in improvement to process.
8. Advise on policy gaps, new policies needed, and additions/amendments needed to existing documents.
9. Ensure the policy schedule is kept up to date so that it provides and at a glance status of progress and that document owners are prompted in a timely way when updates are needed.
10. Ensure that updated policies are sent to the correct internal meetings for ratification and that there is a process for communicating when policies have been published.
11. Ensure all staff use the agreed templates for audits, policies and guidelines resulting in a consistent approach to written audit reports.
12. Implement ways of improving engagement with users of our services, which will influence service delivery.
13. Input and analyse service user feedback received through all available sources
14. Oversee and prompt amendments to the survey format used to improve quality of feedback where possible.
15. Lead and co-ordinate staff and volunteers to carry out user surveys as necessary.
16. Work with System One lead and champions to understand where data is held and best ways of running reports.
17. Prepare papers relating to audits, policies, guidelines and service user feedback for internal and external meetings and present these where required.
18. Any other tasks to assist in ensuring the smooth running of the Quality and Assurance Department.

Learning and Development
1. To undertake any training deemed mandatory or helpful to the role.
2. To provide a verbal or written report and disseminate to colleagues and other team members any learning, knowledge gained from attending study/ training days.
3. Regularly attend departmental and team meetings and other intra hospice meetings, ensuring information is cascaded to colleagues accordingly.
4. Proactively be aware of and promote the wider quality assurance and improvement agenda.
5. Actively participate in the on-going system of Appraisal and regular 1-1 meetings with line manager.
6. Work with other members of the Quality team to support them in achieving team goals.
7. Build relationships with others in similar roles and attend external audit group meetings as required, sharing learnings with the wider organisation