Sexual Assault Referral Centre; SARC; Clinical Director

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the Gloucester and Swindon SARC service as Clinical Director.

The role provides senior clinical and forensic oversight of the SARC service. The postholder will have professional responsibility for the quality and safety of clinical and forensic care delivered within the SARC, including appropriate clinical and forensic documentation, forensic practice, practitioner competence and adherence to relevant regulatory, professional and best practice standards.

The postholder will work closely with the SARC management, lead nurse and Quality Manager to provide clinical and forensic input into governance, audit, quality improvement and accreditation activity. The service is currently working towards UKAS accreditation against ISO 15189:2022 and compliance with the Forensic Science Regulator's Statutory Code of Practice, and the postholder will provide clinical and forensic leadership in maintaining these standards.

The post is part-time at a specialist level, 2 days per week (15.5 hours / 4 PAs). The role is hybrid, with on-site working and some working from home. We expect the candidate to be available on-site at least fortnightly.

The applicant must be able to attend the SARC within the 120-minute response time when on call.

The successful applicant must hold MFFLM, have at least five years' experience in sexual offence medicine, and be a current member of the FFLM in good standing with the GMC.
The applicant should have experience of teaching, training, mentoring and supporting the professional development of forensic healthcare practitioners.

The service is a 24/7 adult (18+) SARC service, with both nurse and medical Sexual Offence Examiners providing clinical and forensic cover across the service.

We are looking for an experienced forensic practitioner who can provide visible and effective clinical leadership, support high standards of forensic practice, and contribute to the continued development and accreditation of the SARC service.

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Provide professional and clinical leadership for SARC services across Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.

Ensure delivery of high-quality forensic healthcare services that are safe, evidence-based, trauma-informed and compliant with national standards and regulatory requirements.

Lead and oversee robust clinical governance systems, including:

• Audit and quality improvement
• Clinical incident review
• Risk management
• Peer review
• Patient safety processes
• Learning from complaints and feedback
• Clinical outcomes monitoring

Ensure effective systems are in place to identify, escape and mitigate clinical and forensic risks.
Provide oversight of forensic medical examination standards, ensuring forensic integrity and adherence to FSR Codes of Practice and relevant guidance.
Lead on development, implementation and review of clinical policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), pathways and governance frameworks.
Ensure safe and effective medicines management within the SARC service.
Ensure…