Quality and Improvement Director

Job summary

NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership is one of five pathology networks in London and is seeking a board-level Quality and Improvement Director. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a tight-knit director team. As one of the largest pathology networks in the NHS, we carry out over 100,000 tests a day for over three million patients.

As Quality and Improvement Director you will be responsible for delivering all aspects of the Pathology Partnership's clinical governance, quality management, service improvement, training, compliance, risk, and health and safety across all Pathology Partnership laboratories.

You will also be deeply involved in broader strategic and day-to-day decision making for the organisation to ensure that we stay true to our vision 'to always deliver consistently reliable and timely pathology tests for every one of our patients'. You will be a member of the Pathology Partnership's Board, together with four other directors, six executive directors from our three owner trusts and an independent Chair.

The Pathology Partnership is hosted by Barts Health and so you will have the support of one of the NHS' largest hospital groups.

Main duties of the job

You will be the board director responsible for leading clinical governance, quality management, service improvement, training, compliance, risk, and health and safety across all seven of the Pathology Partnership laboratories.

This will include accountability for accreditation with UKAS, MHRA and other regulatory bodies, management of Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and complaints processes, maintenance of the Partnership's risk register and delivery of service improvements identified as part of service changes or any agreed Cost Improvement Programmes (CIPs) for the Partnership.

Through these activities, you will contribute to ensuring that services provide optimum patient care, experience and value for money.

You will be a member of the Partnership's Strategic Management Board, which is responsible for the strategic direction and effective operational management of the Pathology Partnership and - as a member of the Partnership's director team and wider senior leadership team - will collectively provide leadership, drive and direction for the Partnership.

The Quality and Improvement Director will be responsible for quality and improvement-related leadership for any expansion of the existing pathology network to incorporate new member organisations.

About us

The NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership is one of five pathology networks in London and one of 27 networks nationally. Formed in 2021, the Pathology Partnership brought together the pathology services of three London NHS trusts: Barts Health NHS Trust, Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

This partnership, which is hosted by Barts Health, created a single NHS organisation that is entirely focused upon the provision of pathology. Its purpose is to provide patients and clinicians with a high-quality, cost-effective service that ensures the long-term sustainability of NHS pathology services in east and south east London and beyond.

The Partnership employs circa 850 staff with world-leading experts across local, regional and national laboratories located at seven hospital sites. The Partnership operates a hub and spoke model of service delivery, with the network's hub laboratory situated at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

Following a three-year transformation programme, the Partnership operates a single, shared Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS); a single, shared Quality Management System (QMS) and has a single UKAS accreditation for all services. The Partnership carries out circa 100,000 tests a day, which is approximately 3 % of the national total. The 2025/26 total operating costs across the Partnership were circ. £126m.

Job responsibilities

The full job description and person specification attached below provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, together with the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. The Pathology Partnership is hosted by Barts Health and we embrace Barts Healths WeCare values. The WeCare values are set out I the job description. attached.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Pathology Partnership and Barts Health at this band.

Person Specification

Experience · Essential

Significant senior level experience of quality management in Pathology services Significant experience of delivering continuous quality improvement, ensuring consistently high standards of clinical safety and quality and working with regulators/accreditation bodies, e.g. UKAS and HTA Experience of managing regulatory compliance inspections

Skills · Essential

Able to build and lead teams and to work effectively as part of a team

Knowledge · Essential

Detailed knowledge of UKAS, HTA, MHRA and other regulatory/accreditation requirements

Qualifications · Desirable

HCPC registration

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab) . From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab) .