Patient Safety Learning and Improvement Lead

Go back Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 21 September 2026

A fantastic and exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated, experienced and enthusiastic individual to join the Quality and Safety Team at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as our Patient Safety Learning and Improvement Lead.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in improving patient safety across the organisation by supporting the delivery of high-quality, systems-based learning responses and translating insight into sustainable improvement. The ideal candidate must have a flexible proactive attitude as they will work alongside clinical teams across organisational and professional boundaries to support the delivery of high-quality patient centered care.

The successful candidate will be an experienced patient safety professional with a strong understanding of systems thinking, human factors and quality improvement. You will be an excellent communicator, capable of building effective relationships across organisational and professional boundaries, and confident in working autonomously while supporting and developing others. Previous experience within a healthcare setting and experience of leading patient safety learning responses are essential.

The role will support the Associate Director of Quality and Safety in providing Trust-wide leadership and oversight of patient safety learning, improvement and assurance. You will lead high-quality patient safety investigations and reviews, ensuring they are compassionate, evidence-based, and focused on learning rather than blame. You will work collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to understand how care is delivered, identify contributory factors and support the development of meaningful, measurable actions that reduce risk and improve care.

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group - a formal partnership between Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

The post holder will be designated Trust Patient Safety Specialist, sharing the responsibility with the other designated Patient Safety Specialists. You will be a highly visible and accessible leader, providing expert advice and guidance on patient safety, safety culture and improvement. You will support delivery of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy and help strengthen partnerships locally, regionally and nationally. A flexible approach is needed to manage the changing picture of healthcare patient safety in line with the national agenda.

The post holder will contribute to the development and delivery of patient safety education and training across the Trust, promoting systems thinking, human factors, psychological safety and just culture principles to help build organisational capability for learning and improvement.

• Educated to master's level (in a relevant discipline) or equivalent level, or equivalent experience of working at a senior level.
• Post-graduate management, leadership or specialist qualification or previous experience.
• Level 3 or 4 patient safety syllabus training, or equivalent (or willingness to work towards)
• Quality improvement qualification or equivalent experience.
• Clinical experience and registration (GMC, NMC, AHP etc)
• Qualification in NHS leadership
• Qualification in Human Factors
• Post-graduate patient safety or human factors qualification, or willingness to work towards or previous experience

• Experience of leading patient safety learning responses in a large/complex organisation using systems learning approaches
• Experience of translating learning into measurable safety actions or improvement plans, working collaboratively with clinical, operational…