Head of Integrated Quality Governance in England

We are recruiting for a Head of Integrated Quality Governance. You will be accountable and responsible for delivering the Patient Partnership, Safety and Learning pillar of the Nursing and Quality Strategy, ensuring that the experiences of patients, families, carers and staff inform organisational learning, service development and continuous improvement. The role will lead the development and oversight of robust, integrated governance, risk management and assurance arrangements, providing clear Divisional-to-Board reporting on the quality and safety of care.

Through the triangulation of patient safety incidents, clinical risks, complaints, patient experience, audit findings and regulatory intelligence, the postholder will ensure that emerging risks and concerns are identified, appropriately escalated and acted upon and learning is embedded in change. Working collaboratively with clinical and operational leaders, the postholder will promote a culture of openness, accountability and continuous learning, ensuring that patient partnership is central to how services are delivered and improved. The role will champion PC24's values of Dignity, Respect, Compassion and Care, translating learning and insight into measurable improvements in patient outcomes, safety and experience.

What will I be doing?

• Lead delivery of the Patient Partnership, Safety and Learning pillar, translating the 2026–2029 strategy into an annual delivery plan with objectives, owners, milestones and measurable outcomes.
• Lead the organisation-wide patient safety portfolio, including the implementation and review of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), associated policy and patient safety incident response plan.
• Ensure incidents are triaged and responded to proportionately, with systems-based learning responses and compassionate involvement of patients, families, carers and colleagues affected.
• Oversee arrangements for Duty of Candour, safety alerts, learning from deaths where applicable, and the tracking and evaluation of actions arising from safety reviews.
• Provide leadership for patient experience, complaints, concerns, feedback, engagement and co-production, ensuring that seldom-heard communities have meaningful opportunities to influence service development.
• Work with the Engagement Lead, operational teams and patient participation groups to develop proportionate involvement approaches appropriate to general practice, urgent care and community services.
• Use themes from complaints, incidents, patient feedback, safeguarding reviews, clinical audit and colleague insight to identify improvement priorities and close the loop with patients and teams.
• Oversee organisational patient experience and complaints governance, ensuring themes and learning inform patient partnership, co-production and service improvement.
• Lead the corporate clinical audit framework, ensuring agreed audit priorities, oversight of completion and escalation of themes; service Heads and Matrons remain responsible for clinical audit delivery and implementing findings.
• Prepare and present high-quality assurance reports for senior leadership and relevant committees, making clear the risks, actions, accountabilities, timescales and evidence of impact.
• Support appropriate management of serious incidents, complaints, inquests and claims within the postholder’s delegated remit, escalating matters requiring executive or specialist oversight.
• Lead the corporate CQC assurance framework and inspection coordination, working with service-facing Heads of Quality and Nursing who retain responsibility for operational compliance, clinical standards and local readiness.
• Provide direct line management, supervision and development for the Engagement Lead and Quality, Safety and Governance Team Coordinator, subject to confirmation of the proposed structure.

What do I need?

• Degree level qualification in healthcare, quality, governance or related field and / or equivalent knowledge and experience.
• Expert knowledge of clinical governance, patient safety systems, PSIRF and systems-based learning.
• Understanding of Duty of Candour, confidentiality, risk management and healthcare regulatory requirements.
• Excellent leadership, influencing, partnership-working and communication skills.
• Experience leading incident response and organisational learning programmes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex aspects of quality governance in a style that all staff can understand and implement.
• Ability to lead a team providing advice and support in all areas of their work.

What’s on offer?

• Permanent contract.
• 27 days annual leave (pro rata) – previous NHS service will be taken into account.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Eligible to apply for blue light card.
• Colleague wellbeing package - which includes a doctor line, access to Westfield rewards, wellbeing support and gym discounts.

About us – Primary Care 24 (PC24) is a not-for-profit social enterprise established in 2004, predominately delivering NHS contracts. The majority of our surplus is reinvested in patients and staff. We believe that primary healthcare should be accessible for everyone and are committed to delivering the best quality care we can, challenging social exclusion and working locally, where and when we can, to support our communities. We combine the best of the NHS with social enterprise innovation, developing solutions for NHS primary care and caring for our clinicians so that they can, in turn, care for our patients. Come join our proud team!